How to Turn Objections into Sales

Before World War I, I was selling paint, cement roofing, and other allied products in Louisiana. The prospects on whom I called had never heard of the particular line I was selling. It was necessary for me to create my own sales, and, of course, I encountered a variety of objections.

When is a prospect a prospect? When he will listen to your story. Therefore, he must listen to your story before he can offer a reasonable objection. You can always rest assured that he is interested the minute he objects. He is challenging your ability. He is testing your knowledge about that which you are trying to sell. He is tendering you a definite clue to proceed. He is saying: "Go to work, big boy, I'm listening, but I'm still from Missouri. You have to show me."

Many objections are based on prejudice. When they are, the prospect is judging and sizing up the situation or prop- osition prematurely. He is failing to give due consideration. He is being unfair to himself and also to the true spirit of live and let live.

Some objections are merely excuses. The prospect does not disapprove of your product, but he poses an objection as an excuse to relieve him of something he really thinks he should do, but that he wants to postpone.

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HOW TO TURN OBJECTIONS INTO SALES 45

In selling you will encounter numerous objections, but never give the prospect the slightest opportunity to doubt or distrust you. Never tell him anything you can't prove and back up with facts. In place of

caveat emptor

(let the buyer beware) as a working motto, substitute

caveat vendor

(let the seller beware).

In the past 42 years I have sold many different products and many different services to many different people. In that time, I have frequently encountered objections, which I have turned into sales. The principle on which I operate is to make full use of my ability. Ability is the capacity to act. It is the power to perform and to think. The application of thought can turn a reasonable objection into a sale. The trick, therefore, is to discipline yourself to think before call- ing on the prospect, while you are in the presence of the prospect, and after you leave the prospect. Always remem- ber you can change your product, you can change your sales technique, you can change your prospect, but you can never change human nature. However, by thinking you can adjust yourself to human nature, and it will yield anything you desire.

I want to relate a few actual experiences, showing how I have turned objections into sales. These experiences give the gist of the conversation that took place between me and the prospect, the objections encountered, and the results obtained. I could fill a book with these experiences, but the ones related are typical and serve to illustrate the value of using your ability to turn objections into sales.