Tag Archives: handling objections

Are you a contract employee, free agent, consultant? Better read this from NYTimes

Finding & getting through to sales prospects Handling sales objections & questions Marketing your skills No Comments

If you're a reader of this blog who is selling services, particularly consulting or other kind of contract work, then — alas — one of the objections you need to be prepared to respond to is this one:  "The IRS (and state tax people) look very closely over our shoulder when we try to work with contractors.  The IRS prefers that we just put people on the regular payroll, so it is easier for the tax people to be sure we've paid all the taxes and such. So, sorry, we just can't risk buying your services."

So, given that objection, how do you respond?  My suggestion: read this article in the New York Times Small Business Guide section. It's by Katherine Reynolds Lewis, and it links to some other comments and related articles. 

Link to the article: "Hiring contractors without getting into trouble"

The article is written to advise the businesses that may take on contractors; that tells you the concerns and hot-button issues, which you can turn around to your own situation.

One comment: I can't find the reference right now, so am relying on memory, but seems to me there was an article not long ago that the IRS was in the process of hiring 6,000 new agents, mainly to police this issue, of firms seeking to take on contract employees as the economy was so weak they couldn't risk taking on payroll employees.

The good news? That's 6,000 new jobs!Great news in the headlines!

The bad news? Let's not  even think about all the contractors, consultants, free agents and free lancers who are not working because of the shadow of a potential IRS audit hanging over the process. 

More bad news? Let's not think about the work and productivity that could flow if businesses didn't need to "invest" so much in fighting and avoiding audits.)

 

Overcoming objections: why prospects may be inclined not to buy, Part # 3

Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Free sales training articles Handling sales objections & questions Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training Selling skills for new business start-ups No Comments

"COLD CALL SALES AND PROSPECTING CHECKLIST: 14 PRACTICAL STRATEGIES WHEN COLD-COLD CALLING"  which had been here in four parts is  now  a short E-book,  available via Amazon. 

You can read it on a Kindle, or in various other E-reader formats, including your PC.  Amazon offfers free apps to enable you to do that.

Order e-edition of Overcoming objections: why prospects DO NOT buy

 

 

Objections and questions as buying signals

Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Free sales training articles Handling sales objections & questions Sales closing skills Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training No Comments

Objections and questions as buying signals — cues that the prospect is ready to buy, or at the very least, nearly ready.

Sometimes, when you look through a prospect's question, or even what appears to be an objection, you find that they are subconsciously signaling their readiness to buy.

For example, you may encounter the question, "How soon could you install?"


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Responding to objections and questions: why prospects DO NOT buy, Part #2

Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Free sales training articles Handling sales objections & questions Sales closing skills Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training No Comments

"COLD CALL SALES AND PROSPECTING CHECKLIST: 14 PRACTICAL STRATEGIES WHEN COLD-COLD CALLING"  which had been here in four parts is  now  a short E-book,  available via Amazon. 

You can read it on a Kindle, or in various other E-reader formats, including your PC.  Amazon offfers free apps to enable you to do that.

Order e-edition of Overcoming objections: why prospects DO NOT buy

Handling “easy” objections and questions

Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Free sales training articles Handling sales objections & questions Sales closing skills Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training Selling skills for new business start-ups No Comments

Some questions and objections are so easy that you can safely respond to them
quickly and directly, and move on.

For our meaning here, that kind of "easy" question or objection is in an area
in which your product or service is strong, or that raise issues that you can
handle quickly without raising secondary concerns.

For example, if the objection relates to a misunderstanding on price that you
can set right by pointing to a catalog, do that and move on:

"The answer is yes, we do guarantee our installations for three years, the
longest in the industry, according to this survey in Industry Times which I'll
leave with you. Now, moving on to the issue of . . ."

But if the objection or question is more complex, then use the Four-Step process for responding to objections. Go to that Four-Step Process for handling objections and questions

Responding to more difficult objections and questions

Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Handling sales objections & questions Sales closing skills Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training Selling skills for new business start-ups No Comments

Responding to an "easy" sales objection or  question? Then handle it directly, get it out of the way quickly, and move on. See the section on handling easy questions and objections. 

When you encounter more difficult objections and questions, it's best to work systematically through this Four-Step Process:


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