The Invisible Objection

Last week, I attended a panel discussion hosted by the Association of Professional Consultants. The panel accepted questions from the audience, and I queried:

How must sellers and marketers adapt to the economic challenges and changes taking place?

The speaker that gave the best answer was Pat McClure of the Connexia Group. Pat is an author, speaker, and consultant. His practice is built around helping clients improve sales performance.

His answer: beware the invisible objection.

Now, I've taken a fair amount of sales training and have a pretty good understanding of objections. Originally, I thought he was talking about "hidden" objections: the ones the prospect won't share with you.

But he wasn't.

Invisible objections, Pat explained, are the objections that we agree with.

We don't see "invisible objections" because the thinking behind them mirrors our own.

Because we don't see them, we don't respond to them.

Because we don't respond to them, we lose the sale.

What's that got to do with adapting to what’s going on? Plenty.

We've been barraged with a steady drumbeat of bad economic news on every media outlet for a very long time. It's only natural that we've come to believe the message.

Layoffs, plant closings, bankruptcies, lost savings – they’re all great reasons to not buy anything right now, aren't they?

But here’s the rub: if we agree that the economy is so bad that people should hold off on buying, then we'll hold our tongues in silent agreement as our prospects talk themselves out of deals.

According to Pat, here’s what we gotta do instead: make sure our prospects understand why they need – and will get value from – our products and services right now.

Thanks, Patrick. An excellent recession fighting tip!

Book Review: The New Positioning

Jack Trout's books are always an entertaining, easy read, and The New Positioning is no exception.

Sure, some others reviewers gripe because (despite the title) there's nothing particularly new in his book. Some suggest you read The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding instead.

I say they're spoiling the fun. Anyone who's good at anything knows that success comes from repeating the basics. The fact that you've heard this all before (especially if you've read work from Jack Trout and/or his partner Al Ries) doesn't mean you shouldn't read it, or that you'll get nothing from it.

Here are some tidbits that are worth revisiting:

• If your assignment... is to change people's minds, don't accept the assignment. (p. 36)
• Think small and don't tinker. (p. 55)
• Today, the marketing wars are being won by the well-focused specialists. (p. 64)
• A picture is not worth a thousand words. (p. 101)

Sure, it's focused on big-company branding for companies with $zillions to spend. Even so, there is a lot for the 'tween entrepreneur:

• If you don't have a simple, differentiating idea to drive your company or brand, you'd better have a great price. (p. 167)
• Don't trust your customers to give you all the answers. Trust your instincts. (p. 137)

Despite my overall agreement with his content, I took issue with his claim that positioning/differentiation is basic common sense.

If your differentiation is obvious, someone else is probably already using it! Why else would so many organizations believe that they're differentiated on the basis of quality, service, or commitment to their clients/customers?

As an aside: if there's anything less common than common sense, I'd like to know what it is!

Differentiation is difficult for 'tweens. Your organization works the way it's always worked, which is the way it should work!

Am I right or am I right?

Your approach and processes are different, but the differences are transparent to you because they're such a natural part of who you are.

Sure, once you understand your differentiation, it'll be obvious. But that puts differentiation into a very broad category: that group of understandings which is much clearer in hindsight!