Sales managers who have any self-doubt or negativity in mind need to change their mindset. Ensure your team is performing at their best by consistently checking in with them and uncovering any issues they may be having, before they turn into serious emergencies.
Being the best manager you can be involves eliminating negative thoughts about yourself, your team, or your product. It requires being proactive and optimistic. Offering objection handling training can transform your underperformers into top sales professionals. These are the fundamental lessons to teach your sales team:
Learn from your failures
This is the most important objection handling technique. Even if your team member fails to make a sale, ensure they record all of their interactions with customers and clients for the future. Having an effective customer relationship management system (CRM) is the most essential tool for a salesperson to be transparent and keep track of their successes and failures.
Handling objections in sales means that a “no” is not the end of the world, or even the end of the conversation with a prospective customer. Sales professionals should always make a note of their details, and what was discussed, for the future.
If you can get your team to change their mindset, it will be much easier to challenge them. Winning customers over with low prices so you achieve your quota is counter-productive. It’s imperative to find out what the customer needs, rather than just trying to making a sale.
Consider persistence
Be straightforward with customers and find out what their objections are. If you encourage your team to do this sooner rather than later, the guess work is eliminated. They will then be able to figure out and provide solutions to a prospect’s concerns promptly.
When sales professionals speak to their prospects, their mindset should be that a sale is inevitable. If you reinforce the mindset of thinking ahead to when they will make a sale rather than if, they can focus on closing rather than trying not to lose a customer.
Being persistent doesn’t have to mean you start overselling your product, or discounting it in a panic to keep the prospect’s interest. Instead, coach your sales team to be honest with themselves about why someone said “no” and to do some self-reflection.
Using this emotional intelligence skill - known as reality testing - your sales team member will understand what to do in the future to persuade that customer to buy a product.
Was it really a definite no? Maybe the customer just couldn’t afford your product on that occasion. Emotional self-awareness can make a salesperson stronger.
Never take a rejection personally
Taking sales rejection personally is a trap that we all fall into at some point in our careers, but it is almost never personal. When people hear the word “no”, they instinctively take it personally and can even feel physical pain. This is not a productive mindset, because hearing the word “no” is an inevitable part of sales, and it’s not always a bad thing. Not internalising it as a negative reflection on yourself or your product is vital to maintaining the tempo and energy you need to close sales.
Any sales professional who is giving out discounts to meet their quota and to avoid rejection is not a higher performer than someone with a lower success rate who makes more money for your company. Quality customers over a large quantity of customers can be more lucrative for companies.
Overcoming objections is all about mindset – encouraging your team to stay positive is the best way to change their mindset for the better. If someone says “no”, don’t overanalyse it, just learn your lesson and move on to the next potential customer.
To find your next sales role or a talented candidate, find your nearest Reed office.
