Coaching notes for helping staff resolve client objections

Here are some coaching thought starters for managers to help staff resolve objections: 

What are the basic philosophies/ behaviors we want to reinforce for when our people get objections?
Be curious. When objections come up…

    1. Stop presenting the product or trying to talk them into it
    2. Respond positive - let them know it is OK to have the objection
    3. Ask questions to understand the objection

• Clarify that product features and benefits match needs
• Introduce potential objections if they aren't forthcoming

      4. Solve the problem
      5. Ask for the decision again

What do we know about a staff member who never gets any objections?

• They potentially do not attempt to sell anything unless the client asks for a product. They are transactional or order taking.
• They are likely not asking the client for a decision.

How can we reinforce the content and make sure they are using the skills to effectively resolve objections?

• Sales Meetings - retrain the skill
• On-on-ones - meet to understand specifically what they doing, or not doing.
• Phone coaching for remote locations
• MBWA – Coaching on the fly
• File reviews - why specifically did a client not decide to buy from them? What did they say or ask to resolve the objection?

How will we know if they aren't using the skills?

• Sales are rarely, if ever, made on the first visit.
• Clients leave without buying.
• Staff can't explain what they did to attempt to resolve the objection other than to tell you what the client objection was.
• Rate inquiries don't convert to appointments/ sit downs.
• Spot check – poke your head in and ask: "where are we at with the Smiths?" If we haven't got the sale yet ask about what was the conclusion of the last appointment and next steps.

What coaching questions can we ask when we met with someone and we find out the sale was not completed?

    Tell me about that appointment.
    What is holding them back from doing business with us?
    What concerns do they have?
    What did they say… what was their reason for not buying?
    How did you respond to that?
    How do you normally respond to that objection?
    Have you ever been able to overcome that objection?

Coaching questions to different objections:

"They went home to think about it."

• What is it that they are thinking about? How do you know? When will they know? When will you follow-up?

"They need to talk to their husband/wife/partner".

• What are they going to be talking about? What did they think their spouse would say? If the spouse was not a factor, what would the person you met with decide to do? Did you ask? When have you got both of them scheduled for an appointment together? When will you follow-up?

"They were just shopping around for rates."

• What information did they ask for? Then what did you say? What information did you give them? How did you know that that product fits their needs/ fits with the rest of their investments? What is the best possible outcome when we get an inquiry like that? How could you have offered a higher level of service? What could you say next time?

"They couldn't stay to have a sit down… I just gave them the rate on what they asked for."

• What was it they asked for? How do you know that product meets their needs? What are they planning on doing with our rate? What is the next step? How could you offer a higher level of service than what they asked for? What could you say?

"Our rate wasn't as good as the competition."

• What product did you quote the rate on? Who is the competitor & their product? What was the competitor's rate? Are the products a fair comparison? What did you say to try and resolve the objection? Who would they rather deal with? How big is the rate difference? How did you build value in doing business here? How close is the difference to their potential patronage dividend?

"We gave our very best discounted rate but they still want to shop."

• Were we expecting that? What rate did they want? Did they already have a competitor rate? Did they commit to do business with us before we gave our best rate? How could we have gotten more commitment before we got the rate exception?

"They didn't need that product."

• What was it that made you think they needed that product? How did you confirm their needs before presenting the solution? What did they say / you say? This one can be a big red flag for Product Dumping behavior.

"They didn't want the insurance."

• How will they be making the payment should something happen to them? Probe for specific details to see how deep the discussion was with the client.      

What will we do when the staff member always seems to get the same objection

• Suspect that they may be creating their own problem by not following good sales process or that they just don't know how to resolve that objection.

What will we do if we suspect someone creates their own objections by not following good sales process?

Role-play the scenario that gives them problems and look for:

•     Did they get the client to acknowledge a problem?
•     Are they linking product benefits to a specific problem the client acknowledged that they had?
•     Do they actually introduce the objection?( i.e. by suggesting the client go home and think about it)
•     Do they ask for the decision?
•     Do they hesitate when presenting the price or asking for a decision?
•     Is their tone apologetic or confident?

Observations and Action Items:

Getting more skilled at resolving objections is just like moving from transactional or order taking behavior to being more proactive in client service. Passive behavior is to give up at the first objection with the consequence typically being that a competitor ends up filling the need. The more proactive approach is to ask more questions to fully understand the objection and then try to resolve it.

Coaching people to a higher skill set around objections requires the same approach as resolving objections. We need to be curious and ask more questions so that we understand exactly what it is they are saying. It's not ok to just let it go when you ask about how it went with Mrs. Smith and staff tells you: "she wants to think about it". Only by asking good coaching questions can we help them find a more effective approach.

Action Items:

Help your team to get more confident resolving the common objections by reviewing the Fusion advanced training material and providing practice sessions. All of the scenarios we use in training are reproduced in your workbook appendix. Give them a scenario and ask: "what would you say"? Make resolving objections a recurring topic for your:

• Sales Meetings
• On-on-ones
• Phone coaching for remote locations
• MBWA – Coaching on the fly
• File reviews

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