For this assignment, first watch the Marc Wayshak video:
7 (Proven) Tips to Overcoming Objections in Sales That You Hear Constantly [Avoidance] (YouTube video) (Links to an external site.)
Then, read the following excerpt about using the LAARC communication method from The Professional Selling Skills Workbook by Ramon Avila, Thomas Ingram, Raymond LaForge, and Michael Williams.
LAARC, an effective process for dealing with sales resistance from a buyer, has been developed in industry training programs. The term LAARC is an acronym describing a process for salespeople in working with sales resistance:
Listen: Listen to what the buyer is saying. Avoid the ever-present temptation to anticipate what the buyer is going to say and cut her or him off with a premature response. Learn to listen – it is more than just being polite or professional. The buyer is trying to tell you something that he or she considers important.
Acknowledge: As the buyer completes his or her statement, acknowledge that you received the message and that you appreciate and can understand the concern. Don’t jump in with an instantaneous defensive response. Before responding, you need a better understanding about what the buyer is saying. By politely pausing and then simply acknowledging his or her statement, you set yourself up to be a reasonable person – a professional who appreciates other people’s opinions. It also buys you precious moments for composing yourself and thinking of questions for the next step.
Assess: This step is similar to assessment in the ADAPT process of questioning. This step in dealing with buyer resistance calls for the salesperson to ask assessment questions to gain a better understanding of exactly what the buyer is saying and why he or she is saying it. Equipped with this information and understanding, the salesperson is better able to make a meaningful response to the buyer’s resistance.
Respond: Based on his or her understanding of what and why the buyer is resisting, the salesperson can respond to the buyer’s resistance. Response typically follows the method that is most appropriate for the situation. The more traditional methods for response include: putting off the objection until a more logical time in the presentation, switching focus, using offsetting strategies, using denial, building value, and providing proof.
Confirm: After responding, the salesperson should ask confirmatory questions – response checks to make sure that the buyer’s concerns have been adequately met. Once this is confirmed, the presentation can proceed. In fact, experience indicates that this form of buyer’s confirmation is often a sufficient buying signal to warrant the salesperson’s attempt to gain a commitment.
ASSIGNMENT: Using the strategies from the Marc Wayshak video and the LAARC communication method, write your response to each of the following buyer’s objections. The Listen step is not included since it is implicit in the process.
The Participation Assignment_Objection Handling.docx needs to be completed and uploaded to Canvas in order to earn participation points.
