Last month's topic of selling the mom and pops, even though it stands on its own, can be helped with with a tutorial on handling objections (concerns).

Your potential customer will not always agree to place your publication in his store just because you asked him.  They may have space issues, concerns with the margin or any of a number of other issues.  To ensure regular success, you can't give up when the customer says "no."  It's important to find out why the customer believes as he does and either correct his beliefs or show him that the benefits outweigh whatever truth there is to his doubts.  This is handling objections. 

The first step in this process is to listen to and understand the objection, and there needs to be a clear objection.  Many times the customer will just say "no" or "not interested".  It's not easy to sink your teeth into that, so you need to have him elaborate.  The easiest way to do this is to ask, "do you mind if I ask why?"  Unless he is intent on not giving an answer, this will get a response that will help you close the sale.

Next, you need to make sure you understand the objection.  You have to understand your customer's point of view before you can show him that you have a solution for him.  Let's say that your customer's answer to your attempted close was, "I don't have the space."  You would paraphrase, "you don't think there is anywhere to put the magazine?"

Now that you know why he says no, it's time to make sure that what he has told you is the only reason he does not want your product in the store.  This is called isolating the objection.  I do this by asking, "if we can find a space in your store that we both like, would you be willing to let me place my magazine here?"  If you get a "no" then you know there is another reason or that you didn't understand to begin with.  In this case, you need to ask a question akin to, "what else is bothering you?"  When you learn what the other issues are, make sure that you understand each of them by paraphrasing.  In addition, make sure that you are dealing with all of the their concerns.

At this point, it's time to address the concerns.  The best way to do this is to ask questions that leads the customer to your point of view.  This is because when you arrive at the answer to the objection, the customer has contributed to it, and he, therefore, feels it is also his solution.  The next best way is to explain that you have a solution to satisfy him. 

Let's start with the questions.  Start with broad, open-ended questions and then move to specific, closed-ended ones.  As an example, you say, "if you were in my place, what would you do to convince you to let me place my magazine in your store?"

He says, "show me to where to put that magazine of yours with no space."

You say, "what restrictions do you have for size and spacing of your fixtures?"

He says, "the aisles need to be at least three feet wide and the gondolas no higher than five feet.  I also, need a rack that doesn't fall over if it is bumped.  But look:  there's no space!"

You say, "if I show you a fixture that doesn't narrow your aisles or reach over five feet high, would that satisfy you?"

He says, "I'd say stop with the sales guy talk and let me see it."

That was a little simplistic, but the point is:  address the real issues; then close the sale.  If another issue arises, address it the same way.

In addressing the concern, if you decide to take the route of simply offering a solution, you can say, "I see a space on the side of the mainline magazine rack where we can attach one of our racks, and it won't take up one inch of additional floor space.  That's like making extra money without investing in any extra resources.  Let me go get that rack out of my truck."  If you meet any resistance, work with it the same way stated above.

Having a formula like listen, paraphrase for understanding, isolate the concern, address the concern and close helps you to think on your feet by organizing your thoughts.  You can help yourself even more by preparing for the objections you get on a regular basis.  Have responses ready for your regular objections, and use the formula for the ones you don't often get.

There's an old saying in sales that the selling doesn't begin until there is an objection.  When you can effectively answer objections, you can begin selling.

Ray Boddie, Jr.