The Sales Call Introduction Consultative selling Sales call structure Introduce yourself Lowering resistance Explanation of products Asking questions Back at the office The second call Smoke objections Straightforward objections Second call objections The fastest way to increase sales! Participate in this award-winning, newspaper-specific ad sales course on-site or in a Webinar.  • Get past upfront stalls and objections without any pushing  • Make the account believe he really needs you  • Get better information from your prosepct  • Develop quick ad strategies that work the very first time  • Eliminate size, frequency, content, cost and most other objections before they ever arise  • Get dramatic responses for all kinds of advertisers  • Never have to push an advertiser to run again click here

Now that you've shown you've cared enough to listen and return with a great strategy, you've moved from the vendor relationship to that of a trusted advisor or consultant (hence the term consultative selling).

Anything you say from this point on will have a much higher level of credibility. Many of your suggestions that would have been dismissed by the account on the first sales call–where many salespeople try to deal with objections–will often be seriously considered at this stage. And that's why you want to hold off dealing with cost, rate, circulation, size, frequency, content, and just about any other objection until you get to this stage.

That's not to say you won't get any objections on the first sales call. You'll probably get some right when you walk in when the prospect realizes you're an advertising salesperson. I call them the "please go away" objections.

It's strange, but since people are afraid of being sold, sometimes they won't give you their true objection but rather the one that they think will get rid of you the fastest or most diplomatically. You've got to recognize when objections are just smoke, that is, they're hiding another objection. Most times people are just trying to be nice, figuring they're saying something less hurtful (as in "It's not you, it's me. Really.") Too often salespeople spend time trying to overcome a smoke objection and can't understand why they're not getting anywhere. Here are the big four smoke objections and how to deal with them:

I have no money
With the thousands of presentations I've made to advertisers, in all types of areas–in some of the smallest towns to the largest cities, from extremely depressed areas to booming markets, I don't think I've ever run into an advertiser who actually didn't have any money. What they're really saying is: "I have no money for you since I don't believe you'll make me any money."

Don't fall into the trap of dealing with the objection they offer by saying something meaningless like, "It takes money to make money" (or the U.K.'s variation, "You must speculate to accumulate.") Instead, spend some time lowering resistance with the prospect (so he'll actually listen to what you have to say) and go to work on the real objection, that he doesn't believe you'll make him any money. Say, "That's OK, I just wanted to introduce myself. If there's ever a time in the future when you do have money, give me a call then." Then hand over your business card and get ready to leave.

Of course, you won't leave. You're just lowering resistance. In our advanced course, we recommend you then address the real objection and wallow with them further to lower resistance, "You know, we have other advertisers who have told me they have no money, and do you know why? Because every time they ran with us they didn't get any response. Certainly not enough to justify our ad rates."

Now that should get the advertiser's attention. You'll probably be the first ad rep who has ever acknowledged his real issue–that he doesn't think you'll make him money–and, more importantly, you're admitting that some of your advertisers don't make money with your publication. While I occasionally run into ad reps who believe saying anything negative is nothing short of sacrilege, it's one of the most powerful sales techniques you'll use and has a firm foundation in sales theory. Besides, what you're saying is certainly true–some advertisers don't get a response. Typically no fault of your own publication, of course, but because of an ineffective ad.

Next, show a case study of an advertiser who wasn't making any money and how you helped (we have a good example at another Web site of ours). Until you get your own set of "before" and "after" ads, see if your newspaper might have some good testimonials that you can use, as long as they are using the principles we discussed in the spec ad section.

You've done three important things here. First, you've converted the smoke objection (no money) into the real one (no profit potential). Second, you've stopped the advertiser from thinking about how to get rid of you by giving the appearance that you're agreeing with the objection. Third, you've gone on to show how you helped other advertisers who didn't believe it was worth the money either.

You have justified your existence to the advertiser like very few ad reps will have in the past, and you'll find that it'll be easy to move on to the next phase of the sales call by saying something like, "I'd be happy to come up with an ad for you, but I'll need a little more information." And that's where you'd move on to the questioning phase of the first sales call. But it all starts with overcoming that first objection.

I have no time
You'll know if the advertiser really has not time by looking around the store. If it is really busy, then get out of the way and return another time. But if it's empty, you may conclude that the issue isn't time at all. What the account really has no time for is being sold. So instead, approach the objection as if he's saying, "I have no time for you because I think you're just like all the others who just took my money and got me no response."

Sound familiar? That's right, you should proceed in the same way as you would have with the no money objection. The trap to avoid here is saying, "Well, is there a better time to come back?" There won't be one. Instead, just as before, say, "That's OK, I just wanted to introduce myself. If there's ever a time in the future when you do have time, give me a call then." Then hand over your business card and get ready to leave.

Of course, again, you won't leave. Instead say, "You know, we have other advertisers who have told me they have no time, and do you know why? Because every time they got enough time to put an ad together and run with us, they didn't get any response. Certainly not enough to justify our ad rates."

Again, that will get the advertiser's attention. Next, show a case study of an advertiser who didn't have any time due to lack of response. Once the prospect believes you're uniquely qualified to get him a response, you'll find that it'll be easy to move on to the next phase of the sales call by saying something like, "I'd be happy to come up with an ad for you, but I'll need a little more information. And that's where you'd move on to the questioning phase of the first sales call.

My budget's all set and I can't change it
The reality is that most local businesses don't put much thought into how to budget and most don't really have a budget at all, despite what they might be claiming. They spend what they feel like spending and when advertising doesn't do a whole lot for them (usually because they're not using the medium properly) they tend to spend much too little–just enough to keep their name out there.

However, since a business is in business to make a profit, there always seems to be plenty of money available once you convince an advertiser you can make them a lot of money. So focus on that and the money will be available at the end of the sales process after you've made your recommendation.

Since this objection is really just a variation on the I have no money objection, treat it the same way. Say, "That's OK, I just wanted to introduce myself. If there's ever a time in the future when you begin budgeting, give me a call." Again, hand over your business card and get ready to leave.

Of course, you won't leave. As explained above say, "You know, we have other advertisers who have told me their budgets were all set too, and do you know why? Because every time they did put us in the budget and ran with us, they didn't get any response. Certainly not enough to justify our ad rates."

Then continue the sales call in the same way as it with the last two objections.

I Don't Advertise
If this person is telling the truth, then they might not be the best prospect for you. But, as we discussed earlier, if you found his ad in another paper, then take this as "I don't advertise with you" and treat it like any other smoke objection.

What's the Deal and How Much is it?
Many businesses will try to short-circuit your sales process by trying to get you to simply tell them about what you're selling and how much it is. Don't fall for it.

Instead, tell them, "Well, I'm not sure what the deal is because I'm not sure where or even if you should be running in our newspapers and other products we publish. Maybe you can tell me a little about your business first." This way, you can make a stronger recommendation than other salespeople who took the bait because you first found out what the account really needed first.

Next: Straightforward objections