Jeffrey Gitomer The Isolation Process, A powerful path to more sales
Psst — hey — c’mere! I’ve got a secret to tell you…Sometimes prospects will stall you, sometimes they will lie to you, sometimes they won’t tell you the real reason why they won’t purchase. When a prospect gives you some lame excuse (stall) about why they won’t buy now, he’s really saying, “not yet.”
There are two basic types of stalls: People stalls and Thing stalls.
Thing stalls are when prospects say — I’m too busy now, your price is too high, I have too many other obligations.
Frustrating, isn’t it? Want to make the stall go away? Simple. Here’s the strategy: Isolate the stall or objection as to the only obstacle, and then eliminate it from the situation by asking, “what if it was gone, or was not the situation…would you buy?”
Isolating and eliminating creates a new situation AND a possible sale.
You repeat the stall back to the prospect and then take it away. For example — you say, “I understand, Mr. Johnson. So, what you’re telling me is if it wasn’t the fact that you were too busy, this would be a perfect opportunity for you, is that correct? (get the commitment). (then double qualify) In other words, if you had the time, you would get involved? (then say) Well let’s look at the situation closer, you say you have no time, but you also said that you’re not earning all the money you need. Maybe there’s a way to use this opportunity to buy back some of your time with increased earnings.”
Another example — The prospect says, “I don’t have the money.” You say, “If you had the money, would you buy it?”
The best way to handle a stall or objection is to take it away and consider new options or solutions.
You say…If it wasn’t for…then insert the stall — price, the timing of workload, other obligations — would you buy it?
People stalls are worse. Does this sound familiar? Sounds good Jeffrey, but I have to talk this over with my wife, husband, boss, accountant, lawyer, the executive committee, the home office, my cat whiskers, my two-year-old son, or my girlfriend. People not being able to decide on their own — Don’t you hate that?
Well, here’s how to overcome it.
First, isolate the person to a decision that does not include the others. “Bill, if it was only you…what would you decide?” This gives you a chance to find out how they really feel (will they support you).
Second, double qualify the commitment. Ask – “Is there anything you would change or object to if it was only you?”
Third, secure the prospect’s support when he meets with the third party. “Bill, when you go to the others, will you support the purchase?”
And fourth, find other ways to get a decision now. Suggest alternatives that might get Bill to act now without risk. “Bill, since you’re in favor, and we only need your spouse’s approval, how about if we fill out the paperwork — give it to me so you can be in before the end of the month, and when your spouse says OK, we’ll be ready to go (and if your spouse says no, we’ll tear up the papers — no obligation.)” Hard to say no to that.
One of the most interesting things about objections is that even though they continue to recur, they continue to stymie or dumbfound salespeople. I don’t get it. You put your hand on the stove once, you get burned, you don’t do it again. You learn the lesson.
Salespeople continue to get burned. If you think about it for any length of time, it’s kind of silly.
The isolation process is a powerful way of getting to the truth, finding out the real objection, AND in about 30% of the cases actually making the sale. But it’s only one of an arsenal of weapons available to salespeople for stalls and objections.
You can prevent them by covering them in your presentation, or you can at least prepare “best responses” for the ones that happen all the time.
Most of the time an objection is actually a buying signal. They’re saying, “I’m interested, but you haven’t sold me yet. And the sale is always made. Either you sell them on yes, or they sell you on no.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerLearningAcademy.com. For information about training and seminars visit www.Gitomer.com or email Jeffrey at [email protected] or call him at 704 333-1112.
