Ever hear of Riker’s Island?
It’s New York City’s biggest prison and – Alcatraz style – it’s on an island between the Bronx and Queens.
A couple years ago a friend of mine was visiting Riker’s and he told me something that absolutely floored me.
Apparently when you’re on the bus to Riker’s they tell you that you have a small window of immunity where you can turn over anything illegal before entering the prison.
Guns, knives, drugs – you name it.
If you hand it over to the officials before you get into the prison you will not be prosecuted.
Bring it into the prison, however…
And they won’t let you leave.
The story reminds me of something in sales called Silent Objections / Hidden Biases.
Silent objections in sales
Silent Objections are objections or biases that your prospect has on the sales call that NEED TO COME OUT if you want to make a sale.
Kind of like Riker’s – you need this landmine to come out in the open so you can handle it. If you don’t… you lose the sale – your prospect stays in jail.
If silent objections are so important, it begs the question:
How do you unearth silent objections?
After all, they’re hidden.
The answer is that you’ve got to be on high-alert looking for them and you need to know (based on experience) where they are likely to resurface.
Finding silent objections requires critical thinking, social skills, and practice to get good at it.
That said, let me give you an example of a BIG ONE that I know has killed a deal or two for you in the past.
It has to do with the prospects mistaken belief that your service doesn’t work.
It doesn’t matter what your service is:
- Facebook Ads
- Google Adwords
- SEO
- Whatever
For whatever you do, there’s a prospect out there thinking, “that ish doesn’t work”.
The thing about all of these silent objections is that they are illogical. Prospects have a gut feeling about your service but they’ve never thought about it critically.
Let’s assume you’re selling SEO (but this works for any type of marketing). This prospect has the silent objection / bias that, “SEO doesn’t work.”
Let me ask you – as a marketer who knows better – does SEO work?
Of course, it works!
Why this objection is hogwash
The only way it wouldn’t work is if:
- It were impossible to show up on the first page or
- first page placement didn’t result in more business
If you want to close the sale you need to address this bias without making the prospect feel like an idiot.
So here’s a script of how you could approach that conversation:
BEGIN SCRIPT
You: If you’re skeptical about SEO, I understand completely. You may have tried something before that didn’t work and even spent a ton of money without any movement. I would be ridiculously frustrated if that happened to me and I’d probably be even more skeptical than you that it’s a waste.
But consider this – are there businesses like yours on the front page of Google right now?
Prospect: Yes.
You: Do you believe that businesses on the front page of Google get leads?
Prospect: Yes.
You: Did the websites on the first page show up there by accident? Or do you think they took certain specific actions to get there?
Prospect: Not an accident.
You: Of course not! There is a finite set of actions that get you to the front page.
So if I were in your position I’d ask myself the question, “how do I find someone to take those actions for me?”
What does an SEO company need to have for you to evaluate that they can authentically help you?
Prospect: (answers)
You: (Acknowledge and affirm their response.)
(Repeat their criteria) is exactly who we are.
END SCRIPT
The biggest point here is that you need to let prospects decide for themselves what criteria to use to hire a marketing agency.
Now you’re not selling.
You’re listening.
If you found this post valuable send it around and share it with those who would find it helpful.
Also, consider having us put together your own, personalized sales plan for your agency by applying for a Strategy & Action Call.
This is the same coaching info that’s resulted in some clients closing 4 deals in 4 weeks.
Until next time..
Happy Closing!