Are objection handling skills the key to sales success?

I love this.....that is what it used to be like before we had 'interweb'
but long outdated now.

Takes me back a few years though....and millions were made this way for sure

When I am making a sales presentation the only objection I want to hear is mine. turning the client down because they are not a good fit. I personally will answer objections to a point, as in maybe 1. you want what I offer or you don't. and the moment they are objecting, well they have yet to reach the tipping point. <-- love this term

I as politely as possible hand the client my business card and ask that when they are ready to make a decision to give me a call.

I will say that over time I have developed sales funnels that pretty much remove the objection process. When I make a cold walk in for a new client, I generally will not even think of a sale the first visit, its about creating the thought, and checking for fit. It may be visit 3 and 4 or 15 in some cases that the idea of a sale takes place.

With my online avenues. I pretty much am as transparent as possible. I about have my online sales pitch down enough that I am really thinking of incorporating online purchase and payment ( my short term goal at this point )

The more informed your prospect is of what it is you do, the less objection there will be. It does not have to be information that you have provided, but that is always an added bonus.

I see this most in my Satellite Business. Once a week, usually Saturday afternoons, my guys and I will do some cold calling. (h elps to fill in some blank spots in next weeks schedule ) I will get a list that is determined by geographics, So I know who I am calling does not have access to lined internet. My targeted list of prospects have either looked at a Satellite Internet service, know someone that has it, OR already have it. NO ONE asks "whats that?" It comes down to no not interested, or whats the price? I ask a few match questions, and then sell the product that is the best match.

In any given phone session we might make 100 calls between 4 of us. Generally speaking we will each pull a sale out of the effort. so 4 sales out of 100 calls. Last Saturday we pulled down 10 sales... it was pretty awesome!

"Consulative Selling" Five Tips & Examples For Consultative Selling A good read for those that may not be familiar with the term.

I was raised in the arms of the largest Family owned print shop West of the Mississippi. At a very young age my StepFather would read Sales Books to me. ( I think he was more reading aloud for himself, and I was the excuse ) The point being I grew up with the principles of design and sales coming at me at every which direction.

The first book that I was ever required to read was "How to Win Friends and Influence People." I personally would rank this to be one of the most profound Sales books ever, if not one of the most profound books ever period. "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." will forever be etched in my mind.

The first sales material that I can recall ever buying on my own was "How to Master the Art of Selling" By Tom Hopkins I was like 11 or something and actually spent my own money to buy this book. Still have that copy actually! This was ground breaking stuff. I can recall being so motivated after reading this, that I started a business out of my middle school locker selling candy bars and sodas. I was pulling in BANK. The Principle was not to happy, when my stepdad had to come get me from school - we went for a business lunch ( how could he not be proud? )

Later came Spin Selling, again a great book and very timely in my growth, the very idea that many things I had heard and learned growing up could be the cause of failed closing was again ground breaking.

"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu HOLY MOSES.. by no means a "Sales" book, but by all means a MUST READ! Any prospect is your enemy, and you must slip in where they are unprepared and appear where you are not expected.

"The Seven Levels of Communication: Go From Relationships to Referrals" is again a terrific book. the premise of how many of your clients would attend your funeral - thought provoking to say the least.

All of my years, my Engineering Education my Sales Jobs, my Tech Jobs and these books have brought me down the path of "Consulative Selling" or as I like to call it "The Path Of Least Resistance"

If you place yourself into a position of listening, and not selling, ( for me anyways ) that is when sales take place. In a post earlier on this thread I commented that some times I will visit a client twice, three times, 15 times if needed to build that relationship. To allow the process of the sale to happen naturally. In that time I understand what the prospects pains are, I have already made the "Fit" determination, and I quietly wait for the tipping point, it will come.

Then I must admit there are my The Art of War moments usually with high price tag SEO jobs. I usually will hit a client HARD, and from a direction they were not expecting ( having and using the power of the internet to understand your enemy er uh I mean prospect, is a very powerful tool. Many Prospects are usually a bit shocked by the fact that I know that much about what they do, how they do it, and how much they spend doing it ) When you are throwing up a $30,000 or greater Guarantee, you had better know what really is going on, and not just get some numbers from a client.

On this board we continually speak about the lifetime worth of a client. This is how we base our potential pricing for leads as an example. I think we forget sometimes... that we need to step back and look at the value of the person we are speaking to. A long term client, is long term profits, and with any luck, that works both ways for YOU and your CLIENT.

Not that you asked... but that's how I figured it out