What does it sound like?
“The timing doesn’t feel right.”
Where does it typically show up?
Closing Call: selling an Approval to a prospect.
What do we do with it?
Turn around. Key Objective: to turn around the objection, engage the lead further, and continue to guide the lead through the sales process to ultimately close and fund!
How do we turn it around?
“You must have very good reasons for feeling that way, what’s going on?”
Why do we say it?
This isn’t an objection of terms, but of timing. Considering the current economic and business climate, due to Covid, things tend to change on a dime – every day.
If the merchant feels this way and is telling you about it, there is more than likely substance behind it, especially these days.
Before you start to feel like you’re getting stiff-armed and you have to rush to get this deal done, slow down. This is the time to get curious and listen well.
“You must have very good reasons for feeling that way.”
You’re acknowledging that there must be real reasons for what they’re saying (that you will help uncover).
“What’s going on?”
You’re toning down the formality and opening up the space for them to talk to you peer-to-peer about what’s going on their world right now.
This provides the platform for them to start to vent about what issues and challenges they are now seeing or just popped up that are now making them question the timing for funding.
While running their businesses, merchants have tons of new information hit them continually throughout the day, but they usually don’t have the chance to really take a deep breath and think through what all of these new data points mean, and what they’ll do as a result.
Asking this open-ended question helps them unpack everything that’s been swirling around in their head. As they spew it all out, listen intently and list out their concerns.
The merchant, more than likely, hasn’t been able to think about this logically yet, but that’s where you come in as their Trusted Advisor. They have reached this present conclusion that the timing doesn’t feel right because they have premises that are supporting that conclusion.
Feed them back their reasons and then ask what they’d do to solve them.
You are serving them by directing their mind into a solutions-based frame. Just hearing themselves speak these issues and potential solutions out loud will allow them to connect the dots where they couldn’t before. That right there may help them get them over the “feeling” obstacle so they can make an informed decision to move forward now.
But the hard truth may be that working through all of this may reveal that this truly is not the right time to fund. Between the time they applied and now a lot may have changed: a contract was voided, a government mandate was issued, a riot may have broken out, new industry data, etc.
The funding is not an end unto itself but a means to an end, and if the funding cannot help the merchant achieve their Key Business Objective now because new variables have shown up, this is not the time to pressure close.
Of course you’ll communicate this Approval will not be open forever, but now its time to chart out when may be the next best timeframe to button this up and fund. If the timing isn’t right right now, it isn’t right. You must help them improve their business, not harm it.
Although the deal my not close now, you have garnered trust with the merchant. And, yes, time kills deals – but merchants’ projects are never-ending month to month, year to year. This is a very uncertain time – when the coast is clear, the merchant will more than likely remain loyal to the Funding Pro who helped them think through some tough issues and looked out for them than some new slick voice.
*ABS*
Always Be Serving!
-FundingStrategist
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