What are the most common objections that you hear from prospects and customers? Chances are, they are what I call “value objections.” Objections like, “I can’t afford it”, “it’s not a priority” or “it’s not in our budget”… We have bigger problems… We’re doing OK with what we have…
The absolute worst value objection is actually an unspoken one – it occurs when you have a decent initial meeting but then nothing happens thereafter, and you are unable to re-establish contact. Sound familiar?
With objections like this, the customer is telling you that their need is not big enough to justify making a change… in other words, the VALUE they PERCEIVE that you offer isn’t big enough to offset what it would take to implement something new.
And let’s face it, the # 1 competitor you have today isn’t another company. It’s the customer’s decision to do nothing, to make no change at all. To win against this most difficult of all competitors you must identify more customer problems and needs, understand why those needs exist, and probe the ripple effects and costs of those problems on the customer’s business.
That means you can’t stop with talking about only the first need you discuss with a prospective client. While that is the issue/need that is of greatest concern for the prospect at that time, for all you know, the first need they mention may be something identified by one of your competitors in a meeting the day before! By failing to probe for the second need, you may be allowing your competitor to define your customer’s vision of a solution.
Clients usually have more than one need, and the second need is almost always less developed and less explicit than the first need. Same goes for the third and fourth needs. Exposing these additional needs and underlying root causes of problems will be critical for developing a solution that the client perceives as superior to all other options.
