Alper goes into rational and emotional resistance factors clients face, and that your slide deck can only carry part of the role in overcoming that resistance.

Episode transcript:

Matt Krause
Alper we’ve done on a previous episode, we spoke about resistance from the audience. But today you would like to dive into something more specific. And that is resistance during the sales process. Tell me what do you mean by that? What’s on your mind?

Alper Rozanes
I didn’t come up with this. I actually thought about this, because this is one of the questions that I’m asked quite frequently in presentation trainings, because most of the cases, those are tailored towards sales processes or, you know, company visitations and we talk about slides, we talk about content, we talk about presentation, but almost in every training, there comes a question of okay, how do we deal with rejection, not rejection, I’m sorry, resistance. And more particularly dealing with high price resistance.

Alper Rozanes
It may not have to do much with sales presentations or presentation trainings. But when I thought about it, it actually does because we always face those situations, whether we want it or not.

Alper Rozanes
And and I wanted to, I wanted to dig deeper and see some of the underlying factors behind this, this resistance that we may face from the from the customer, especially during the sales process.

Alper Rozanes
And I was able to come up with two categories of factors, actually, there is the rational factors that contribute to especially the high price resistance in sales and then there are the emotional factors. Those are my favorites, by the way.

Alper Rozanes
I can identify with them much better than, or much stronger than than the rational ones. And when I dug deeper, I found that there are actually ways to tackle these resistance points.

Alper Rozanes
They’re not just like with anything in life, they’re not failsafe, they’re not foolproof, they’re not 100% guaranteed, but I believe the lack of them, and I’m going to talk about them in a minute, I believe the lack of them can pave the way for leaving that presentation, leaving that encounter with uncertainty and ambiguity well after you leave the room and things don’t proceed.

Alper Rozanes
So in terms of the rational factors, I think the perceived value of what we’re proposing in the presentation or in the meeting in general, plays a crucial role. And everyone may have an idea of what the perceived value is.

Alper Rozanes
So I wanted to I mean, you have it I have it, people who can ask, they have they have it, but I wanted to find a more general idea of what I thought that is, and…

Alper Rozanes
I came up with no, I didn’t come up, I came across the idea that it’s actually a very subjective assessment that the client makes when you talk about when you talk to him or her about their product’s worth, and this, I think the key word here is subjective, and, and I love it.

Alper Rozanes
Because you can throw all the data in the world, you can throw all the research charts, graphics, you know, the stuff that you and I have been talking about for more than a year in presentations, you can throw everything in there. And in the eyes of the other person in his or her subjective assessment, if they don’t see it as as worth, or as worthy, based on their own perception of its benefits and costs, that information is not going to mean anything.

Alper Rozanes
And this perceived value is not just about numbers, it’s not just about the price tag of the product of the service that we’re trying to sell. It’s an encompassing, overall value proposition, let’s say. And I love the fact that although this is under the rational factors, I love the fact that it is strongly connected to the heart. And I think the perceived value is something that you determine not with your brain but more with your heart while others are that’s my personal opinion.

Alper Rozanes
So, there can be other rational factors as well, like, okay, the simplest one could be well, we don’t have the budget. So you may be faced with budget constraints. Or they may not see the value, they might not see a good ratio between the cost versus benefits. So you may have to address those in your presentation as well.

Alper Rozanes
If you believe that you can provide a good cost benefit ratio, or simply they may not be able to see the return on the investment that they’re going to make.

Alper Rozanes
So the question is, do we I mean, how do we include these in the presentation? Of course, I’m not talking about just throwing bunch of numbers, chunks of information, because there’s also the emotional factors, which I’m going to dig deeper in a minute.

Alper Rozanes
But these four things are items that I think should be on our checklist before going to the presentation, or before going to the meeting when preparing the presentation, and cater to the needs of those people who are more analytical and objective.

Alper Rozanes
So those are the rational factors. And on the other side of the coin are emotional factors that can play a role in in high price resistance in the sales. And that is my favorite part, because like I said, in the beginning, I can identify much more stronger with those than the rational factors.

Alper Rozanes
And in this area, we’re talking about, say, fear or anxiety about making the wrong choice by the customer, or are they could be, they could have a strong desire to avoid risk at all costs. Or they are simply they might be worrying about the financial implications of the sale, and spending the resources, the company resources or their own personal resources.

Alper Rozanes
So these are some of the things that that can go into play on the emotional side, sure. But I don’t believe people are divided, like black and white between Hey, are you rational or emotional, choose, pick your side. So it will be it would be in my opinion, it will be wrong to say, okay, analyze your client go there with a completely rational presentation or a completely emotional presentation.

Alper Rozanes
I think it’s important that in the sales presentations, we for them to be effective, I think it’s important that we address both sides, the more analytical and objective side and the more driven by emotions and personal preferences side.

Alper Rozanes
So how do we do that? Well, I think the rational factor side is easier, you can include data facts, or or some logical arguments, show return on investment, draw a timeline, etc.

Alper Rozanes
And on the emotional side, I think it will be more beneficial for the sales presenter to focus on like building trust with the client, offering some reassurances or highlighting the benefits of the product or, or the or the service that he or she is trying to sell.

Alper Rozanes
And these are more tailored towards concerns that, again, the potential buyers will have on the emotional on the emotional side.

Alper Rozanes
So, at the end of the day, I don’t believe there is a clear cut solution to overcoming high price resistance in sales. I think it’s always an evolving topic. But I think it will be important to anticipate those beforehand, include relevant information, or I would say feelings in the presentation.

Alper Rozanes
Now, I don’t think you can use PowerPoint to include feelings, to input feelings into the presentation. But this is something that you can do as a person in the meeting. To cater more to the to the emotional factors.

Alper Rozanes
And I think this also underlines the importance and the value of analyzing your audience before you interact with them. And if necessary, and I think if is redundant, because I think it is necessary, that you tailor at least the opening of your presentation, the opening of your interaction, to cater to the needs of the person or people in front of you.

Alper Rozanes
So there is a big amount of homework to do beforehand. And I’m not even talking about in the meeting room I’m talking about before. There’s a there’s a good deal of homework to do before we start the encounter, begin the encounter with the with the people, but I think the rewards are worth the effort because if you can deal with this resistance in sales during the presentation, during the meeting itself, I think it would be a great way of avoiding a lengthy process of ambiguity or even buyer’s remorse after after the meeting and be prepared for it in a better way.

Matt Krause
I so I have a kind of a case study that I want to run by you and I want I want to hear your diagnosis. Is that cool?

Matt Krause
So one common thing that I run into in sales meetings is that the client is basically kicking the tires. This is what I refer to as the other fish to fry form of resistance.

Matt Krause
And the client is thinking, Okay, well, in my business, I’ve got 10 things I need to take care of. And Matt can help me with number four, but I’ve got to work on the first three first. So it’s nice to kick the tires. It’s nice to talk to Matt. But I’ve got these other three things that I need to do first. Would you… how would you, would you even try to address a concern that or a form of resistance that really doesn’t have to do with you?

Alper Rozanes
It’s a good question. And I think I would start by asking, what is your goal? In that meeting? What is it that you want to accomplish?

Matt Krause
Well, my main goal is just to not waste time.

Alper Rozanes
As well as probably making the sale, right?

Matt Krause
Yeah, getting money is always nice. So making the sale is nice. But even more important than that is I don’t want to waste time. If this is a person who ultimately is going to say no, money is nice, I’m not going to deny that having a bigger bank balance is… You know, I mean, having a bigger bank balance is always nice. So I’d love to get the sale. But if the answer is going to be no, then I want to know that quickly. I don’t want to sit there through a long sales cycle, and then finally, have the client say no, because they’re thinking we need to do these other three things first. What would you do in that case?

Alper Rozanes
I think you answered your own question. I think I would want to get to the no, as soon as possible. If it is going to be no, I don’t want to waste forty-five minutes of your time, or my time if it is going to be no.

Alper Rozanes
And sometimes that happens sometimes, you know it from the beginning. There is no need to beat around the bush. It’s okay. I mean, it could be a complete waste of time and resources to have the meeting to go to the meeting and to realize, like 10 minutes into the meeting that there is not going to be a match. And this is going to be a no.

Alper Rozanes
I don’t think at that point there is need to have fake courtesy kick on the tires, waste the other person’s time your time in this case, and ultimately end up with the inevitable no. So if you feel that let’s get to that as soon as possible, in fact, we might even have an entire episode on on getting quickly to the no.

Matt Krause
Before we run out of time for the day. So I’ve got another case study question for you. And the case study question here is potential customer does not like vendor personally.

Matt Krause
And of course, I never have this problem, because everybody always loves me. But…

Alper Rozanes
You’re the most lovable person on the planet.

Matt Krause
Let’s say that the potential client is sitting there across a table, and they’re thinking, this is the perfect solution. This is exactly what I need. But man, I hate this person. I don’t ever want to see this person again. Is there… Well, maybe maybe it’s not that severe, maybe they just have simple reservations or questions about working with you.

Matt Krause
Is there any imagery that you can you talked about the emotional side, and I’m wondering if there’s any imagery that you could use in your presentation to, I don’t know, put the potential client in a better mood, so that if the potential client might in the future be on the fence, they’re not going to be on the fence anymore? Because they’re going to be in a better mood, and they’re going to be more likely to personally feel good about this transaction that they’re considering? Is there any imagery that you would use for that?

Alper Rozanes
Can I start answering that with a quick question?

Matt Krause
Sure. Of course,

Alper Rozanes
Why do you believe the client is sitting on the fence in the first place? What is missing?

Matt Krause
Because the client has, the client has identified this as a priority problem. The client is acknowledging that your service is a good fit. But for some reason, the client just is not pulling the trigger. They’re not they’re not, you know, pulling up their checkbook and giving some money right now maybe they’re saying something like, we need to interview some other contestants or something like that.

Matt Krause
So there’s, there’s there’s a good fit, and the client has identified you as the top priority or your service as the top priority. But the client for some reason, the client is just dragging their heels and maybe you don’t even know why.

Alper Rozanes
If I were to find myself in that situation, and that’s a very valuable information that you give, by the way, if you’re able to feel that as the vendor or the practitioner in this case. I think I would just ask about it.

Alper Rozanes
I would just declare that hey, I have this feeling. I feel that there’s a good fit between your need and my service.

Alper Rozanes
But I also feel that you don’t feel fully comfortable in giving me the green light. Is there something I could do to build on your trust to offer you reassurances or, you know, elevate your worries about our engagement? I think I would just ask that.

Matt Krause
Yeah. Good idea. By the way, we’re about out of time for today. But I would totally we should definitely dive deeper into this. I mean, there’s there are some podcasts that deal with this topic alone. And they go on for years and years talking about this one particular topic, so there’s plenty of material to talk about here.

Alper Rozanes
Sounds good. Let’s do that.

Matt Krause
Yeah. All right. So I’ll see you next week, then.

Alper Rozanes
Take care. Bye bye.

Matt Krause
Alright. Thanks a lot. Bye bye.