Turning an "objection" into a PLUS

For some of you folks who "sell" something....either in person or remotely... here's a case where prospects tell you WHAT they want....and if you can satisfy that "want"....you can go forward.

Case in Point:
One of the programs I sell are TV Channel Guides. These are Full Color pieces of card stock placed in a plastic stand and sit beside a tv set in hotel rooms. The hotel's tv channels are on the front, along with hotel info and usually an ad for a Pizza delivery biz. On the back are ads for restaurants, beauty salons, gift shops and/or realtors.

Well...these are OK for hotels with NO on-site dining HOWEVER....yesterday I decided to try and see if a big, fancy hotel with a fancy restaurant on the first floor would let me place MY stands in their rooms.

The GM told me he "didn't want competing restaurants" in HIS rooms. He wanted his guests to eat at HIS restaurant.

Well....I paused for a moment...considered what he had just told me AND...
because I KNOW what my product is meant for (to SAVE their front desk staff TIME from having to answer a bunch of calls from guests asking "WHO can I call for a Pizza?"...."Is there a Mexican Restaurant in town?"...etc.

So....I asked the GM, "Even with your onsite restaurant, does your front desk STILL GET CALLS asking about "who to call for a Pizza"...."where's a Mexican or Chinese or Italian restaurant?...etc?

His answer was, "Yes! We DO get lots of those calls...daily!"

I told him MY product would stop guests from calling the front desk asking for;

1) TV Channel Info (even with In-Room Directories, which have TV Channel info buried within the pages...guests STILL call the front desk)

2) Which Pizza place do I call?

3) Where's some OTHER restaurants?

and....here's the clincher;

Thinking QUICKLY on-my-feet, I added; I COULD make my Guide wider...put all the ads that are now on the back, on the front AND....put his main Dinner Menu ON THE BACK!

I took a blank piece of paper...drew some lines on it and showed him what this would look like.

He AGREED to let me put THIS version into HIS ROOMS!

WHALA! When faced with "obstacles"....see if you can CHANGE the existing format to "give your prospect what THEY want"!

Thought some of you would appreciate what happens "On The Battlefield".

Have a great day.

Don Alm...."Sales Warrior"....putting on his "armor"...getting ready for another glorious day of SALES....picking up dollar bills "off the street"
http://www.donalm.com
Some of my Unique, Programs

Don,

I heard an interesting twist on what you are talking about from a bunch of librarians. They talk about keeping a "no log." It is a list of every request to which the people at the circulation or reference desk who take questions from patrons say no. Then the staff get together to brainstorm ways in which they can say yes to those people instead - i.e., change policies and procedures, institute new services, etc.

I love this idea. It works for product development too. When someone asks, "Do you have a ___?" or "Can you do ___ for me?" and you are tempted to say no and just go back to your usual business, instead see it as a request for a new product or service or a twist on your existing one.

It's really just another name for what you, Don, do instinctively.

Marcia Yudkin
Launching Information Emperors
http://www.yudkin.com/informationempire.htm

Nice to see you posting again, Marcia.

Now, how about adding a 'Gee, I wonder if so-and-so has or offers...' that you overhear somewhere. Keep your ears open and you'll find lots of 'Gee, I wish someone would...or had...or could do...' It's pure gold just waiting to be picked up and acted upon.

Sandi Bowman

Here's a tip that I learned a ways back in the restaurant business.

When a customer would ask for something, or make a special request,
my immediate response was about as basic as it gets:

LET ME SEE WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU!

Gave me time to go back and forth with the customer, and to hussle
back into the kitchen to talk with staff, etc., focusing on what we
could do to help them!

Whether there was anything I could actually do or not, (and yes,
sometimes it was nothing more then a little chirade) at the very
least it gave the impression that I was doing everything I could.

Basically just another way of doing exactly what Don did, but a
very effective approach.

Rod Carr

[Glenn]

Hi,

Thanks.

Good stories folks.

Here's one more about Getting Beyond objections.

One of my Real Estate clients was pulling his hair out. He'd just sold a former Burger King Restaurant to 18 people.

Picture the closing in an attorney's office:

18 buyers.
4 sellers
One attorney
My friend the realtor

All in a small room.

Anyway...

Jake was trying to come up with marketing ideas for their new restuarant. Figuring if they do well. They'll buy another property thru him.

He couldn't get the committee of 18 to agree to ANYthing.

So he called me...

We got to laughing hysterically as he described rule by committee of 18.

All 18 work in the restuarant!

I told him it sounded like a Laurel and Hardy movie. Or the crash and burn
craziness of the Silent Film Keystone Kops.

So...

We brainstormed a bunch of WACKY ideas.

Pics taken large to small. Tall to short. Have one end of the group photo 18 kneel.

All wear goofy chef's hats. Some tall. Some crooked. Some smashed flat.

Wear signs across the chest with their Job titles.

The game plan
was to run a list
of wacky ideas
past the group.

Until we get to a few that MATCHED what they were already doing.
Where we would get a YES. Because they were backed into a corner of "HEY - You are doing a version of this already."

What a HOOT.

Jake was in SHOCK.

Our plan didn't survive contact with the client.

All 18 loved the idea of a group photo - with their job titles on their chests. Wearing Chefs hats. Or Maybe Holding a sign with their DAY JOB on their chest. CPA, Banker, Secretary, Mortgage Broker.

Press Releases to DIE for.

Newspaper articles to follow that "18 Owners" HOOK.

CHIEF Bottle Washer
Chief Chef
Junior Chef
Mop Pusher
Window Washer

The crazy thing is it should work.

I know I'd come in to watch 18 co-owners work in a small restaurant. They WOULD look like the Keystone Kops reincarnated. At least in the 1st few weeks.

Glenn

P.S. - And - Talking about avoiding OBJECTIONS...

Here is a you tube video of a Hypnotist who is putting Warm, Fuzzy Pick Up Lines into 3 girls minds. While telling them he is "reading their minds."

Great mis-direction Objection by-pass NLP sales strategy...

http://archive.enchantednlp.com/ezine.php?issueno=1056