Last time, I talked a little bit about the BASS selling process/model. Just to recap, the acronym BASS stands for:
B – Build a relationship with your prospective client.
A – Ask great questions.
S – Solve a need and provide a solution.
S – Secure the next step.
As you go through the BASS selling model, when you get to somewhere between the A and the S, you’ll naturally start experiencing some type of objections from your prospective client. Today, I want to talk about overcoming these objections.
Now, besides asking for the business, overcoming objections seems like the second-most feared part of sales, and I think it’s because people approach it with the wrong mindset.
But before we start talking about overcoming objections, I want to point out something important: your product or service isn’t going to be a good fit for every single person you come in contact with. Never try to sell something that you don’t believe will help and benefit someone.
However, if you’ve carefully collected and vetted your leads, most of the time your product or service will be a good fit for your prospect, but they’ll still come up with objections for various reasons. Sometimes people will object just because they feel like it’s something they should do when interacting with a salesperson. Therefore, we need to have a model which is going to help overcome objections. The model I’m going to share with you today is also really good for communicating in general. Meaning, if you’re talking to someone about a controversial subject and they have an objection to what you’re discussing, this is a great way to overcome that.
The model, RACC, is an acronym that stands for:
R – Restate
A – Answer
C – Check
C – Continue
The goal of overcoming objections is really to make sure that you don’t gloss over any apprehensions that your prospect may have. You want to get to the core of the issue. A lot of people throw out objections that aren’t really true, but they have a core underlying objection that is true. So the goal is to get to the heart of the objection. And then if you’re able to answer that and provide a solution, then you move forward. Sometimes you won’t be able to. Again, not every single prospect will become a client. However, I would not want your fear to keep you in the way of really helping someone benefit from your products or services.
So here’s how it looks, practically speaking. Let’s say your product or service is a thousand dollars. As you’re going through the BASS selling model, you might get to the point where your prospective client says, “Wow, a thousand dollars is a little steep for me. It’s not going to fit in my budget.” Price is a common objection, and the first step to overcoming it is to simply restate the objection. For example, “So from what I understand, you love the benefits of what this service can give you, and you understand the ways it can help you, but the investment is a little bit steep for you to take on all at once. Is that right?” By restating the objection, you can then answer it.
The answer could be, “It sounds like that a thousand dollars, all up-front, is too much. But were you aware that we could break the investment down into 6 monthly payments? Would that be a better fit for you?” So you’re answering their objection. You make the often correct assumption that one large lump-sum payment is too much for most prospects, and you respond by offering another option – monthly payments.
Next, you check. Simply ask, “Would that work for you?” You want to make sure that you’re in agreement before you move on. And if they give you the nod or say, “Yes, that’ll work much better,” you can continue on with the BASS selling model. It’s really that easy. A lot of times, you’ll have to go through RACC a few times before you get to the core issue. And once you get to the core issue, you’ll either be able to solve their objection and take care of their need, or you find out that you can’t. But at least you’ll get to that point where everyone is on the same page, and you have an open line of communication.
Anyway, that is the RACC model to overcoming objections. I want to encourage you to take action and have fun as you go through the BASS selling process, as you overcome objections, and become a better communicator in general. Best of luck in selling this week.
* Thanks to E.J. Gallo Winery for training me in the RACC model.
