Relief and Pre-Emptive Strikes
When I was a junior in college, my mother called me on a Saturday night. She said there was a family emergency and she needed me home right away. She said she wanted to tell me in person.
That hour drive was one of the worst in my life. I did not listen to music. I simply couldn’t. My head was in a million directions. What happened? Car accident? Fire? Emergency surgery? Was someone arrested? Did an entire limb of my family tree die all at once?
When I got home my mom told me that my grandfather had died. I felt relief. Really. Relief. I loved my grandfather, and his death was a total shock to me. He was only in his mid 60’s and was in pretty good health. I should have been distraught and a total mess, but I was relieved.
The thing is that I had the most nightmare scenarios going through my head for a full sixty minutes. I spent an hour thinking of all the horrible things that could have happened to my family. When I saw my mother and she told me my grandfather passed away of a heart attack, it was better than the alternatives I concocted in my mind. Yes, it was still tragic, but it was one elderly family member as opposed to a full car-load of them.
To this day I like getting bad news up front, and I have extended that courtesy to my prospects and customers. I like to tell them EXACTLY what they will hate about my products. I tell them the shortcomings and how they they can best deal with them.
You see customers KNOW your product is not perfect. Nothing is. However most salespeople let them spend the presentation “guessing” as to what is wrong. This is where many objections come from. By be pre-emptive and telling people the obstacles right up front, they won’t be surprised. They will feel relived.
It also lets them know that you are the kind of person who deals with problems head-on. People do not expect your company to be perfect, but they do expect you to own up to your mistakes. By being brutally honest from the beginning, they know you are the right person to work with.