You also need to see whether the rapport building is working for you. Calibrating is an excellent method of doing this. Simply watch to see if the customer or client is mirroring and matching you! If you say something that they like, they will match your movements. However, watch to see if they start to mismatch you in any way, as this could imply that they don't like what you're saying.
Anchoring:
One of the most effective ways of bringing a customer to the point of sale, or reproducing a positive experience in another person is by way of anchoring. This can be done through verbal or non verbal clues.
Basically, anchoring can occur when you use certain words, gestures or sounds that the other person associates with a pleasurable emotion. It literally triggers the part of the mind that remembers a particular experience.
For example, I've seen this done very effectively with people associating words with actions. I was at a conference one day and the presenter leaned forward and said: “If you know a better way of doing this, I'm all ears.” As he said it, he brought both hands up to his ears, pulled them forwards. The audience thought this was amusing as the presenter did indeed have very prominent ears!
In creating an anchor, timing the application of the trigger precisely is critical so that they associate it with a particular state. The best time to anchor a state is when rapport is high. You can use words, phrases, pointing a finger, snapping your fingers or even raising one eyebrow.
A consultant friend of mine was selling some design services to a customer. As they were chatting, the customer mentioned that they liked fun and interesting brochures, as he said that my friend raised his right eyebrow. The rapport built between them and then my friend said: “I've got these really great design ideas in mind for you that I think you'll love.” As he said it, he raised his right eyebrow. The deal was sealed!
Touch is a particularly powerful and subtle anchor to use in anchoring. If you pay someone a compliment or they are in a peak state, simply touch them gently, for not more than 3 seconds, on the arm. When you want to envoke that state again, simply touch their arm, with the same pressure, in the same place.
No, Means Opportunity:
When someone objects to buying something, it usually means that you haven't answered all their questions and satisified their worrries. Also, objections can be emotional objections.
There are usually four reasons for objections to buying:
- Your client can't, won't or regrets their decision in buying
- The risk/reward ratio isn't great enough
- Your client wants to make a point
- Your client needs proof about an element of your product/service
We've all heard of buyers remorse. This is when you purchase something and a day, two days, a week or month passes and then you forget all the reasons and benefits your bought it and only focus on the cost.
This tends to happen with large purchases such as cars, houses or holidays. You can try to overcome this remorse by giving the customer more information or finding out if it's an emotional reason for their indecision or regret.
The risk of buying something where the benefits don't outweigh the money that has been spent on the purchase is another reason why people object to buying things. Make sure that during your discussions you are very clear on what the customer thinks is a benefit and what they think is a risk.
Some people hate to think that a salesperson has the upper hand. This is when your rapport skills will come to the fore. When you sense you're encountering this type of objection, you will need to make them feel as it they've got one over on you!
A guarantee is the best way of overcoming the fourth objection as this is a great way of proving to the customer that if the product or service doesn't live up to your expectation, then they can simply have a refund in full.
Feel, Felt and Found
I love this pacing technique in answering a customer's objections to a sale. This is an example of the Feel, Felt and Found technique, especially valuable when selling to kinesthetic customers:
Your customer may say something like this: “I'm not sure, I think it's really too expensive.” Your reply can be this: “I understand how you feel. Other customers have felt the same way until they found out that it could dramatically save them money, time …..”
