"I object!" -- and what YOU should do about it,

Research show that, in any marketing encounter, prospective clients will say 'no' an average of five times before they finally say 'yes.' So objections are really a fact of business life. Objections are generally arise from two sources: not enough information, or the wrong information. So you must quickly determine which one of these you're dealing with. This involves finding out everything that you can about the objection, demonstrating solution, and gaining agreement that the solution solves the problem.

Any business agreement is a balance between value and its cost. The client determines the relative importance of the items hanging in the balance. Your job is to influence the prospect's perception so that value is equal to or greater than cost.

For instance, if a buyer says, "Your price is too high", you can either demonstrate that the product is worth the price or lower the cost. If a prospect says, "Your product doesn't have the feature I want", you can reduce the importance given to the missing feature, increase the importance given to other features, or some combination of the two. 

Notice that all these options are focused on the nature of the product or service itself. There is nothing personal about this negotiation. That’s very important – yet it's difficult for many people to understand and act upon.

However, there is also such a thing as an insurmountable obstacle. We all like to think positive, but some objections really can’t be answered within your real world situation. If the buyer needs a hydraulic lift to raise a fifty ton object and the largest lift that your company is capable of providing is rated at ten tons, no amount of sales expertise is going to move those extra forty tons. The best that you can do is to create a relationship and move on to a more promising prospect. 

As a professional in any area of business, you should view overcoming objections as the most interesting and profitable part of you work. It requires experience, thoughtful interaction with your client, and the ability to think quickly and accurately. Those are skills worth developing. 

Prison Break! Part Two

Well, it appears the season for spectacular prison escapes more or less coincides with the Major League Baseball season. That makes perfect sense. Baseball, after all, has been called "the  national pastime," and nothing passes time like prison. 

Plus, baseball is a game in which long stretches of relatively little action can suddenly be broken by some really extraordinary even. It's the same way with prison. Nothing, nothing, and then BOOM!

First there was the escape from the Clinton penitentiary in upstate New York. That was a well-executed job that ran into trouble when the getaway car failed to show up. Good, but no cigar. 

Now we have the escape from a Mexican "supermax" slammer by Shorty Guzman, heap big drug lord and billionaire certified by Forbes magazine. Besides their entertainment value, what important business principles can we learn from these two escapes?

First, the Clinton escape seems like the work of inspired entrepreneurs -- but amateurs compared to the corporate power of Shorty's job. David Sweat and Richard Matt were "under-capitalized" in human resources, tools and machinery, and definitely with regard to money. 

They had to make-do with what they had, and they made the most of it. But what they had was nothing compared to what Shorty had. To help in the escape, for instance, they had to enlist the lady who worked in the prison tailor shop. A very nice lady no doubt, but not a pro, and finally unreliable. Shorty, on the other hand, could hire the best.  

With regard the actual escape procedure, the Clinton boys had to cut their way into a narrow pipe, crawl 400 yards, and then access the street through a manhole. But Shorty had an electrically-lit, fully-ventilated mile-long tunnel big enough for him to stand in (though, admittedly, he's not called Shorty for nothing) which even included some sort of motorcycle on railroad tracks! It's the difference between the Home Brew Computer Club circa 1980 and Apple Computer, the most well-capitalized company in the world. 

I actually think Shorty's tunnel under the prison may have been constructed long ago, just in case he was ever incarcerated there. Because success means planning for every eventuality. 

Finally, when Shorty powered out of that tunnel on the motorcycle, there was no doubt in the world that his ride would be waiting for him. We can be certain of that. Just like in Apollo 13, failure was not an option. "Right this way, Senor Guzman!"

"HELP!" -- How To Get More Referrals

For any entrepreneur, a key skill is obtaining referrals to
new clients from current ones. And it is a skill. There’s
a right way and a wrong way to do it.

For example, asking “Is there anyone else who might be interested” is a mistake. It’s a closed question to which the answer might simply be “No.” Further, when you ask for “anyone” it doesn’t really help the client to think about specific people you can contact. So try to be more specific. Ask for a specific “who” that has some of the same issues as your current client. Avoid a general and vague “anybody.”

The best approach is related to principle of “pain avoidance” that motivates so much of human behavior. In any sales or marketing presentation, you always want to identify any pain a client is in and show how you can relieve that pain. So in asking about referrals, you want to inquire about someone who has the type of problems that your product or service resolves.

The more specific you can be, the greater your chances of getting a referral. “Who do you know who is having product reliability problems? Who is having problems with computer support?” Those are the kind of sharply focused questions that have the best chance of getting results.

Asking for referrals should really be built into the agenda of a presentation right from the beginning. You’re not going to get a hit every time, so the key is getting up to bat as often as possible. Be creative. Make some calls expressly for the purpose of getting referrals. Go to some conferences and trade shows in your industry. Talk to people who are in positions of public contact, like reception staff and personal assistants.

After any business related conversation always ask for referrals. And always say “Thank you,” even if you mean “Thanks for nothing!”