Ways to Handle Customer Objections Essay

Introduction

Some of the ways to handle objections in marketing is forestalling, direct denial, indirect denial, translation/boomerang, compensation, questioning/assessing, or third-party reinforcement. This report will discuss in detail 2 effective ways to handle customer objections; namely Direct denial and Indirect denial.

Direct Denial

Babylon’s dictionary defines Direct Denial as handling a buyer’s objection by contradicting it in a “head-on” manner (Babylon Dictionary, 2007). Although by this process the customer’s objection is confronted directly but the denial is supported by facts. This method of opposing customers can be confrontational depending upon various circumstances like the necessity of the product to the customer, cost of product and personality of the customer.

This method of denial should be used with caution as no customer likes to be told that he or she is wrong (Siguaw and Bojanic, 2004). This method will generally be used emphatically by the sales person when the customer has wrong information about the product or company resulting into affecting the reputation. Typical example of this kind of denial will be: ‘I’m sorry, Mr.Smith, but our hotel is not closing. Indeed, as you can see here, our annual report indicates how well we have been doing’ (Sig;uaw and Bojanic, 2004, pp. 112). I find the use of this method of objection as most challenging as the success rate of this method of objection depends on many factors such as emotions of the customer and the manner in which the direct denial is made.

Indirect Denial

This is a more softer approach of direct denial where the sales person negates the opinion of the customer but indirectly. In this case, the sales person initially agrees with the customer but then politely disagrees to him. This process of handling customer objections is lighter however its more tactful and courteous than direct denial. Indirect denial has a typical characteristic of the use of the statement ‘yes, but..’ phrase (Cant and Heerden, 2006, pp 170). This kind of denial can be observed from the below examples:

Prospect: Your price is much higher than other competitors. Salesperson: I agree, our price is higher, but we do offer the extended warranty (Cant and Heerden, 2006, pp 170). Another example in this type of denial will be:

Prospect: You only offer the product in 5Kg tubs, but we need 250 Kg bulk containers. Salesperson: I can understand that you are thinking we only supply in 5Kg tubs because that’s what we sell the most of but I may not have made myself clear (Cant and Heerden, 2006, pp 170). In both cases, the salesperson first agrees to the customer but then politely disagrees. I would adopt this method of denial in most cases with the customers as it’s a safer option of not upsetting the customer unlike the direct denial which I would use sparingly and cautiously only when the reputation of the product or company could be hampered.

Method of Communication

In both types of denial the method of communication is vital. Method of communication of denial to a prospect happens verbally as well as behaviourally. Research shows that both fields of communication has a direct impact in the outcome of customer (Futrell, 2008). As seen from the above examples the method of denial determines your choice of words and behavioural pattern. The bottom line of any method of communication in sales is based on the end result of relationship building with the customer. Hence, direct denial requires careful speculation of both verbal as well as behavioural communication with the customer because if wrongly used it can hamper the relationship development process with the customer.

References

Babylon Dictionary (2007) Babylon Dictionary. Web.

Siguaw J.A. and Bojanic D.C (2004). Hospital Sales: Selling Smarter London: Cengage Learning.

Cant M.C. and Heerden C.H. (2006). Personal Selling. London: Juta and Company Limited.

Futrell C.M. (2008). Fundamentals of Selling. London: The McGraw Hill.