How To Handle ‘No Budget’ in Today’s Economy
I want to expand on telephone scripts a little bit because I’ve been getting so many emails asking how to be effective in today’s market.
Let’s start with some basics. First, as we all know, things are tighter today than they were a Year ago, but that doesn’t mean businesses have stopped buying and using your products and services.
Now more than ever, however, it’s crucial for you to Practice Perfection, and to make sure that your skills are as sharp as they can be. Because of the added rejection you’re likely to face, they had better be.
In addition to that, you actually have an opportunity to build up one of the most important aspects of your sale - the relationship you develop with your prospective client. Let’s face it, even real buyers today might not be ready to pull the trigger, but that’s going to change. The thing you need to do now, is put your prospects at ease, overcome their initial resistance, and get in the door and develop the relationship which will lead them to turn to you when they are ready to buy.
Here’s how you do this. When you get the objections:
“We’re not in the market now”, or
“We don’t have the budget now”, or
“We’re waiting for things to get better”, or any other put off that is tied to the economy, use this:
“I didn’t expect you to be, and that’s not what this call is about. I’m more interested in seeing if and how we might become a valuable resource for you down the road.”
And then either:
“You see, we’re a fit for some companies and they really love working with us, and for others, we’re not. Let me ask you…” (Then begin your qualifying questions). Or,
“Do you mind if I ask you a couple of quick questions to see if we could help you?” (Be careful with this - it could set you up for a no. I’m listing it as an alternative, but I prefer the first one!).
Once you’ve used this and gotten past their defenses, you can now qualify and identify a real buyer for your product or service, or you can disqualify those who would never be a buyer for your product or service.
And once you have identified a buyer, you can use the “Next in line script”. This is the perfect way to make sure that when this prospect is ready next time, they will think of you first.
That’s how you deal with those buyers who would normally buy from you right away, but now might need a few extra weeks. You’ll still get the sale, and those sales will add up. And using this technique will assure you do.
Have a great week, and keep focused on success!
Mike Brooks, Mr Inside Sales, helps business owners turn under-performing inside sales teams around by teaching them Top 20% core sales skills. Visit: http://www.mrinsidesales.com/cd_page3.htm