Overcoming Holiday Objections

It’s the month of Halloween, which means Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s ads – and sales objections – are right around the corner.

Most salespeople do not look forward to the Holidays. It’s the fourth quarter for most companies, which means the final push to make your number if you’re on the sales side. But it’s the fourth quarter, and time to hold on to your money if you’re over budget, if you’re on the buying side.

This means you and your prospects are not in “congruency.” You need to make a sale, they need to either not spend or will only spend if it’s a smoking hot deal, which hits your margins, your commissions and your pride if you’re a professional sales person.

However, professional salespeople are, by definition, prepared. Since you know that every 12 months “the holidays” and the holiday objections are going to pop up let’s see how to tackle the “Call me back after the holidays,” and “Call me after the first of the year” stalls and put-offs. Personally, I’d rather hear “No” or “We’ve decided to buy from someone else” than the nails-on-the-chalkboard holiday objections.

You see, stalls and put-offs are not really objections. They’re weak no-decisions or a prospect’s attempt to be nice when they are actually insulting you by not giving you the courtesy of a definitive answer. When you get this from a prospect it’s their way of saying “I’m too busy or distracted to take the time to give your offering any serious consideration. Now go away and tweak someone else while I tend to more serious matters.”

Like all stalls, though, you must get to the heart of the matter, the reason for the stall, if you are ever going to make a sale with this prospect.

The following 11 responses and tactics can help you turn these holiday objections around:

1. Close. “When I call you on the 2nd will it be to discuss things again or will you be placing your order?”

2. Get an appointment to meet. Ask, “When will you be back at work after the 1st? Can I be your first appointment of the new year?”

3. Get an appointment to speak. Follow-up calls are important but deadly. If they are one-sided they will wear you out. Follow-up calls must be scheduled and mutually agreed to or you’ll never reach the prospect. Have them schedule it and agree to it before you hang up.

4. Stand your ground. “Mr. Prospect, for us both to have a happy holiday an order needs to be placed here. I need the sale and you need this decision off of your plate and your company needs the benefits of what we offer. Why delay any longer?”

5. Get creative. Have them cut the P.O. now with a December 31st date so they won’t receive the order or be invoiced until the new year. Split up the hardware and software portions of the order. Offer a discount for a larger one time order or for a larger order that will be scheduled to arrive throughout the first quarter or even all of the next year.

6. Go “Columbo” on them. “Excellent idea. Why spoil the egg nog with business now, right? Let me ask you something while I’m here: What will be different after New Year’s Day? Is it a budget thing or is there something looming on the horizon that could make you unable to order? (Your prospect will say, “Oh no. Not at all.”) “Whew! What a relief!” you say, and continue with “You know how busy we get this time of year with last-minute orders. Why don’t we jump the line and get your order in the queue so you can get this off your plate, schedule the exact delivery, which we can guaranteed if you order now, and even split up your payments or not invoice you until the last day or first day of the year, whichever meets your accounting needs.”

7. Lottery winner. “You’re the 37th person to tell me that today, which means you get to have lunch with me and you get to name your price – within reason of course. What are you in the mood for?”

8. Leverage specific testimonials. This should be done ahead of time to PREVENT the stall in the first place. But either way, show them a testimonial from a happy client that bought last year during this time period where they discuss how happy they are that they didn’t wait and how wonderful you, your company and your products and services are.

9. Bring or send a gift. Send a real gift like candy or a fruit/cheese/meat basket or a funny gift like a fruitcake and a note like “The gift that keeps on giving….just like owning (my new Infusionsoft book). When can we schedule a time to answer your questions and help you take delivery now?”

10. Create real urgency. We are having a 10% off, End of Year promotion AND by ordering now you’ll save the 7% price increase we are applying across the board on our entire product line on January 1st. So an order today puts 17% back in your pocket compared to waiting for an arbitrary ‘after-the-holidays’ date. Don’t you want to keep that 17% for yourself?”

11. Use humor. “How’s August 18th next year? I’ve had so many clients and prospects hit me with the ‘after the holiday objections’ that I’m completely booked until mid-August! Can you believe that? You can beat the rush by meeting now and as luck would have it, I have a few openings between now and December 31st. Whadaya say?” A little humor – like dynamite – goes a long way towards establish trust and getting beyond put-offs and stalls.

Business and life are all about relationships. Relationships are built on communication. If you are getting these stalls it means you don’t have a great relationship with the prospect, which means you are not communicating with them as often and with the type of quality they expect, want and/or deserve.

If the best defense is a good offense, then the best way to defeat holiday objections is to not get them in the first place. Here are some ideas on how you can prevent these holiday objections from ever cropping up in the first place:

• Start early. I’m publishing this post on October 1st, 2012. I wrote it before then. So I’m eating my own dog food. I want to get out ahead of the New Years, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Super Bowl holiday objections just like you so I’m putting myself out there now.

• You should always be raising your prices. (I like to say I’m “reassuringly expensive.”) So commit to raising your prices on January 1st and announce it to the world. Nothing creates a little urgency like a looming price increase.

• Always have a fantastic Call To Action. Create an end-of-year special that is either limited quantity and/or limited time frame and announce it to the world. Better yet, call your best prospects and clients ahead of time so they can prepare to jump on the special first. They’ll appreciate you looking out for them.

• Have a contest. You’ll be amazed at how creative your team will be when there is money and pride on the line.

• Throw a nice party. Everyone loves parties. Make this one memorable and let invitees know there will be a “one-night-only” special you’ll announce at the party so they’ll want to bring their checkbooks. (Never back away from offering value to your clients.)

Business is there for the taking…by the most creative, consistent, persistent, persuasive. That can and should be you. If you need a little help with any of that hit me up…after the holidays. Doh!

Good Selling,