If you own a small business or start-up company, you might not have a dedicated sales or marketing team in place. That means you'll need to drum up business yourself, potentially with the support of a marketing agency or business development partner. Working with a garden-variety agency may bring you increased web traffic or sales leads, but without in-depth sales knowledge, it can be tricky to deal with prospects' initial objections to your proposition. However, if you give up too soon, you could miss out on lucrative deals. Here's how to tackle four of the most common arguments that salespeople hear.
You should already have carried out enough research to know whether or not your product or service is likely to be suitable for a particular company before you contact them. (An agency can help with this, to ensure you don’t waste money chasing leads who’ll never be interested in your products and services). If your targeting and initial marketing messages are correct, it's possible that your leads don't understand how working with you could benefit them. Encourage them to talk about their operations and explain their thought process. This will give you the chance to counter their arguments and highlight what you could do for them.
Most people you speak to will already be using a company similar to your own. It’s often dissatisfaction with the current supplier than leads people to respond to inbound marketing material or search Google for information. Try to find out which supplier they're using, whether they're satisfied with them or not, and when their contract ends. If they'd be happy to consider switching suppliers, you could offer them a discount for ending their contract early or arrange to contact them in the run-up to their renewal date.
If they say that they are content with their current supplier, explain what gives your product or service the edge. Many businesses are happy using two suppliers concurrently in order to assess and compare the quality of service, so in this case you could offer a trial period, or smaller starting volumes.
Some prospects will say this when they're trying to get rid of you, but others may genuinely feel that they don't have time to try something new. Therefore, you'll need to convince them that making the switch will be easier and more cost-effective than they think. Clearly explain the process of working with you, including setup, and highlight the benefits that using your product and service will bring, and explain how they could get a great ROI by making the leap. Use case studies and client testimonials to support your claims where possible.
In the wake of the corona virus pandemic, you're likely to hear this objection more frequently, but don't give up straightaway. While its worth reviewing your pricing strategy on a regular basis to see where you can make savings and be more competitive, it benefits neither you nor your customers to sell yourself short. Instead of racing to slash prices, let your prospect know the sort of ROI that they could expect when working with you, ideally using real life examples, and focusing on value rather than cost. If your service provides genuine value to your customers – i.e. helps them be more productive or save money – then it doesn’t really ‘cost’ them anything.
Try to find out if they have a temporary cash flow problem or whether they're too small to have sufficient funds. Can you arrange to get in touch with them at a later date? Could you offer them a shorter contract to get your relationship off the ground? Of course, if you consistently get this response it could be you’re targeting the wrong type of business and might benefit from reassessing your buyer personas. An agency will be able to help you with this.
The sales journey takes time and not all prospects will be able to buy from you immediately, so you'll need to have a follow-up system in place. While this may sound like an onerous task, a professional marketing agency will be able to help. Work with JDR, for example, and we can automate many of your processes, so you can boost your conversion rate, save money, and close more deals.
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