Do you ever encounter a sales wall? When people encounter a sales person, or are about to be sold, they have a wall that quickly goes up. Figure out what you need to be doing when a lead comes in to make sure you get around their own personal sales walls!
OVERCOMING THE SALES WALL
We all have a sales wall. When we feel like we are encountering a sales person, or we are about to be sold, we have a wall that goes up. Every single one of us does.
Think about when you walk into a department store. What is the first question everybody asks you? “Can I help you find something?” And what do we all say? “No, just looking.” Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve found myself walking into a department store knowing I needed help, only to have them ask me “can I help you find something?” And what did I say? “No, just looking!”
I had to catch myself and go “wait a minute, as a matter of fact, I do need help finding something. Do you know where this item is or do you know where that object is?” Because I did need the help, but that sales wall went up the minute I encountered that sales person’s question.
So how do we deal with that? How does that manifest itself in your business? Think of it this way: let’s say that you get a lead that comes in and they are interested in a property or they’re interested in the value of their home. You get them on the phone and what do they say? “I was just curious.” Or “I’m just looking. I’m not really ready to buy right now or I’m not really ready to sell right now.” That’s their sales wall.
We all have that initial sales wall and the reason we have it is because about 87% of sales people will not push past that initial sales wall. They will hear one objection and they will stop. Think about what you could say if you want to push past that wall. For example, if I walk into a department store and I say “no, just looking”, the best thing somebody could say to me at that point is to say “really? What are you looking for?” I’m not prepared for them to come back at me with another question so I’m much more likely to engage in the process.
If somebody says “I was just curious. I don’t want to talk to a salesperson. I don’t want to talk to a Realtor. I was just curious what my home was worth…” what you want to say is “wonderful! And in my experience, when somebody is curious about what their home is worth, usually that means that at some point in the foreseeable future they’re thinking they might be ready to sell. So I’m curious, what would that timeframe be for you if you were thinking of selling? Or what would that timeframe be for you if you were thinking of buying?”
Most people will start to engage with you in that process because you moved past that initial sales wall of just looking or just curious. They’re not expecting you to come back with another question. They’re expecting you to quit.
If you can be a part of that 13% of sales people that push past just one question, you’re much more likely to get them to engage and you’re much more likely to be able to help them, which is ultimately what they want and what you want for them. Push past the sales wall, ask an additional question, and look at the different objections you’re getting.
Ask yourself this: Where do I usually quit? What question could I ask to turn that objection or that sales wall back at them in a way that is valuable and that could ultimately turn around to help them?
