"I'm booked solid for the next year"

Hang up and call someone that might say, "Yes." Were you formally trained in telemarketing?

There are two schools of thought.

1. Battle every objection as if it's a death match

2. Take the path of least resistance. Hang up and call someone else.

Do you really believe there is anything you can say that will make that person change their mind? Good luck with that. Just remember - that time you waste - it's gone forever!

What Optin said.

When you get that as an objection up front, take it to mean one of two things;

"I truly am booked up for the next year" or
"I always start out my sales relationships with a complete lie to get you off the phone"

Either way, the best thing to do is call the next person.

This is one real difference between selling in person, and selling over the phone....

When I used to get a deal killer objection like this up front, it was worth taking a few minutes to try to get past it.....because it took some time to get in front of my next prospect. And it paid off.

But over the phone? When your next prospect is only a few seconds away? Just call a better prospect.

The only exception would be if you have a very limited list to call (let's say under 100 names) and you can't call anyone else . I have no idea why that would be the case.

When I was selling my local online marketing service. I'd hear "We only use word of mouth and we are booked solid"..I would ask "Would you like to attract the most profitable customers, so you can be more selective?"

How often did this allow me to keep going in the presentation? Not often. Maybe 10% of the time. But it was certainly worth the 10 seconds it took.

I was selling in person, not over the phone. It may be worth a try for a week, to see if any of them come around.

Thanks for the quick response guys - I will try what you said Claude, to see what happens.

I've said similar things and usually they get irritated at that point lol. Idc though. Like you said, it's worth the 10 seconds.

I have really been focusing on my tonality and objection handling lately - But this is almost more like them qualifying themselves out.

Personally, now that I think about it. I don't want to work with someone who either A) lies up front or B) Is not interested in growing as a business anyway.

As you said. "pretty much a lost lead."

However, to some it's sport to test you
when in fact what was said may not be true.

There could be other reasons for that statement
to get you off the phone too.

They could be doing something urgent, their mind
is on something else so they use it as a canned response...

Like "No thank you" when asked if they would like help
when in a store.

So one way to test the validity of the statement is to repeat
it back in a quizical tone.

Two things will either happen...

1 They will soften on thei stance

or...

2 They will stay the same.

If there is no softening then move on.

Best,
Ewen

I agree with all the expert answers you've had...however.

Am I right in assuming that this 'objection' is in response to a question you've asked very early on about whether they'd be 'interested in getting more customers?'

If it is then, as others have said, they're using it to get you off the phone maybe. To stop you continuing to 'sell'

Try this......Call and make the first words out of your mouth be

'Hello, are you able to take on a new client?'

They don't know who you are at this stage and you are therefore much more likely to get an instant [and therefore truthful] response rather than the sales resistance considered response.

Assuming they answer in the positive, you can go from there.

You just need to adapt that opening to your market/product.

It works. ;0)

Thanks for this question MitchHoward, as well as thanks to everyone that offered great replies. It's a good a good reminder that you have to know when to cut your losses which in this case is your time and move on to something or someone who is a better prospect that can give you results. Some people may look at this as giving up but there comes a time when you have to know when to move on and use your time wisely, thank you.

"Takes skill of course, to transition into what your offer is...but it works just fine."

OK I admit...it takes huge skill and I wouldn't recommend it unless you have learned to
'bob-and-weave' and have some experience under your belt but if I was getting more than a few 'we have all the clients we need' then this approach is worth a try.

As for the next step?

How about something along these lines.

"I've potentially got a handful of left-over clients from some lead generation work I've been doing in (your field of expertise.....)

......and I'm having a call round to see who might be able to handle some new clients? [hopefully you can guess what comes next]

JUST ADDED

I am currently working with a client who is selling into a market that has been absolutely hammered by tele-marketers. The customers they are calling keep trying to tell them that they have 'all the business they can handle' [we know that this is just their way of ending the call]

I quickly implemented a new approach and strangely we are getting a great reception on the phone and we are getting great conversions too.

The approach I devised for them is totally different to the competitors approach and we start by asking a similar question to the one I suggested in my initial response to this post. We don't get the phone put down on us. My client is over the moon and can't believe how well things are working.

I thank you ;0)

The minute I hear this one... I KNOW im wasting time on the call... so I throw out " What about the year after? how is that looking? " I do it more to amuze myself.. but have found it does open up discussion every once in a while. LOL

Hello Howard,
It's really a great a fantastic reminder you need to understand when to cut back your losses that in this circumstance can be your own period and continue on into something or somebody who's really just a better possibility that may provide you results. Have a nice day.

Mitch I know this is a TOTAL change up LOL....but I say, "OK."

Then another client ready to work with me finds me, or I make another sale, or a business partner brings an idea to me.

My take; if someone makes an objection to me, if I try to convince them out of their objection, I fear losing the individual. Since I am not afraid to lose any human business-wise, I let go the person and like clockwork, something or someone real cool shows up.

Maintaining this level of posture feels very uncomfortable for most folks. Sure as hell did for me. But the upside rocks; things and folks and success keep flowing to you from all directions, super easily.

Ryan

"I have enough customers" or "I'm not taking on any new clients" or "I'm booked solid for the next year"

Have you tried this?

What if you respond by sincerely asking, "ummm, could you help me out then and recommend another [same business] that may be interested in what I have?" -- just to see if they take a moment to reflect on what they're passing on.

OR

What if you respond by saying, "there's no charge" -- just to see if they're interested in getting leads or truly are filled up.

Of course if they say yes to that then laugh at them, say, "Gotcha!" and hang up.

Hi everyone and OP, I just wanted to add my 2 cents... I used to be a stockbroker in New York, from the late 90's to the late 2000's. I was trained directly under "JB".

One example of something I would hear all of the time is " I already have 2 - 4 brokers " yada yada...

I would quickly say, "oh now that's great, its not a bad thing to diversify, all brokers are different and some are better then others, I hope they are all treating you right and making ya lots of money, hehe... and Just so you know.. right out the gate here, I am not looking to step on anyone's toes or interfere with anyone you are currently working with..."

I would follow this logic:
1: address ( address what they said by saying it back to them, subconsciously it makes prospect understand that you are actually listening to him/her.. this works wonders!! try to repeat some of the stuff they say back to them in the form of your sentence...

2: rebut ( you see how I just said to that person that it is ok to already be working with brokers and I am not looking to interfere ) ..potential client didn't expect me to say that.. they fall silent and listen.

3: overcome or segue : I always have an ace up my sleeve / a back door offer sort of speak... One being offering a free service ( so I would always offer commission free trades to give me shot )
Offer something free, or a test run, always have something free to offer... because if they like it, trust me, they got plenty of business friends they could and will recommend to you.

so you can say something like this for example.. "oh that's great to hear, you probably make a lot of your competitors jealous haha, its a great feeling to be raking in the dough. you know something... I got a few clients working with me that just hired on some new employees to delegate and manage the additional business that we're sending them and they're really raking it in now. Why limit yourself to what it is only you can handle when you can hire on more staff to take care of the additional business, Rome was not built in a day. it expanded over time... Now I know ( persons name ) I'm sure you get a lot of these phone calls all of the time, and Quite Frankly... you simply do not have the time to hear everybody out.... ( i'd segue from here... )
( PS, the three dots ... after the sentence, those are important ' silent drops ' because pause is powerful )

and like everyone else said; They are either lying to get you off the phone because they do not want to hear another sales call... or they are really, really booked out.

My best ' address ' and 'rebut ' are always logic filled with just a touch of sarcasm. It gets people to listen, because as you address it, they come to realize they got a sharp tack on the other end of the line that just shot that rejection down with logic... it gets people to continue to listen.

I'm not saying this is a 10 out of 10 win victory, but yes... I had a lot of people laugh and drop their defenses real quick and hear me out.

It's always good to practice, and become real quick witted. Just be yourself, don't be a sales person. Just shoot it from the hip ;-)

Thanks for the quick response guys - I will try what you said Claude, to see what happens.

Price increase then should have been made. If the demand is too high - the product quality and the price are the two changeable variables.

When a client throws an objection at you...

and you respond with, "That's not a problem", you usually throw them off guard.

"I can't afford it".

"That's not a problem", we have three easy payment options.

"I'm working with someone else"

"That's not a problem", this will supplement your ----

"I don't have time".

"That's not a problem", blah blah blah.

The customer is usually trying to create their best problem scenario. When you inform them it isn't a problem...the game is on.

As with anything, it doesn't always work, but it's always helped me.

There's more training on this concept different places online.