David Kolssak, managing partner of Turnkey IT Inc., a Wheeling, Ill.-based solution provider, sells voice solutions based around office-in-a-box appliances. Here he discusses handling objections from SMB customers when it comes to all-in-one technology:
REALIZE YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL: You're not going to win every deal or every opportunity that comes your way.
SMBs CAN BE THRIFTY: Usually, objections are a function of price. They can get systems from consumer-grade vendors for less money. People are more concerned about price. I've lost deals based on $1,000 to inferior systems. You can lead them to water, but you can't always make them drink.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES SCARE SOME SMBs: They're concerned about VoIP. They see VoIP as complex for whatever reason. There is a little bit of educating the customer to not be so afraid. A lot of them have a phone guy they've worked with for a long time; you're not always going to replace that guy. They're gun-shy sometimes. If they can't overcome that, you don't win their business.
EDUCATE THE CUSTOMER: I try to give them my own experience. I tell them we have implemented this technology in our offices. We're a 12-year-old company. We let the demo speak for itself. The demo alone can be so compelling.
BE HONEST: I tell the customers that the system may not be for them. They might not see it's beneficial for them now. It may be too much horsepower than they're ready for. But I also tell them that this system allows a normal small business for $600 a port to have these tools that were miles away a few years ago.
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