Many times we as sales people fail to address the logic of information that is provided to us. We tend to agree with phrases or statements that honestly make no sense to us. When we do this, we create a sense of understanding to our customers when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
When a potential customers makes a statement that logically makes no sense, ask for clarification. I once had a customer tell me "The economy is bad and no one is spending right now so we are going to just reduce our advertising and see how things go next year"....Now, I could have said I understand or I see what your saying but I did not. My response was simple and helped me to stay engaged in the sales conversation. Had I agreed, I would have started to turn control of the conversation over to my customer. He would have felt that his statement in fact made sense and further hardened his position.
So what did I say? I responded by saying Mr. Customer, I don't understand. This of course prompted a response of what do you mean, at which time the door now opened for me to address the objection head on with logic. I went on to explain how doing nothing was not an option for his business and that you can only tread water till your arms get tired. The end result was I was able to keep this customer from making a huge mistake by not agreeing with his reasoning.
Challenge your customers to explain their responses. Don't simply agree or empathize if there is no true understanding of how they came to that conclusion.
Happy Hunting
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