Avoid Troubles by Forethought
Almost every difficulty and opposition you are likely to encounter can be anticipated. Don't wait until you come face to face with an obstruction in the way of success. Let forethought carry you imaginatively into just such a situation. Think yourself out of a possible difficulty before you actually get into it. Then you can win the respect of your prospect by proving on the spot that you are not a man who can be dodged or blocked, or cornered. Every time you pass an obstacle, you will be a long step nearer to success in selling your services.
Suppose an employer says to you, "You are too young. You have had no experience in this line of work." You cannot deny your youth and you should not defend it as if it were a fault. Nor can you claim experience you have not had. But it is unnecessary for you to indicate any feeling that inexperience is a demerit. An ordinary applicant might be discomfited by such resistance to his purpose. If you are a skillful salesman, you will be prepared to deal with this very obstacle and will turn it to good account. You can say at once:
Value of Adaptability
"Because I am young, I am adaptable to your methods, instead of being set in ways that might differ from yours. True, I am not experienced. Therefore, I haven't any wrong ideas to unlearn. Think of me as raw material that won't have to be re-made, and that can be easily shaped as you want to form it. I realize it will take some work on your part, but the product will be satisfactory to you when it is done. It seems to me that the only question involved is whether or not I would make it worth your while to do the work on me. The fact that I have come to you of my own choice proves I really want to be employed here. I assure you now that I will make my services worth any pains you take to teach me your methods, and I will be just as eager to remain as I am to start."
Use Objection As a Sales Help
Analyze this method of dealing with any particular obstacle. Plan to get rid of the obstruction completely, leaving the way ahead smoothed. When the objection of the prospect is so skillfully disposed of, his desire for your services is stimulated. He wants you more, because he likes you better now that you have cleared away the obstacle. Thus you have utilized the objection as a help in selling yourself successfully. Just so a mountain climber uses the rocks he encounters as holding places to help him climb higher.
Your prospect may say that he has no need for such services as you offer. He may state reasons why you are not needed in his Business. But if you have prepared yourself thoroughly, each disclaimer of his lack, every suggestion of an objection, will give you an opportunity to prove in some specific way your service value to him.
The president of a manufacturing company had an ironclad rule that all positions in his business were to be filled by promotion. He never hired a new employee except to start at the bottom. A competent young office man applied for a situation. He was turned down flatly. The company's policy was quoted as the reason. He met this obstacle in a new way.
Making an Exception