Customers and prospects can come up with an incredible number of excuses for not buying:

"Your price is to high. How do you expect me to be competitive with my customers if I pay you a premium?"

"Let me think it over. I'll get back to you."

"We're pretty happy with our current supplier. If they ever drop the ball, though, you'll be the first person I call."

I'd like to do business with you, you're a nice guy. But your company wouldn't set up an account for me when I went into business. I swore back then that I'd stick with whoever would give me credit."

Sound familiar? Any salesperson who has been the selling game for any length of time can add dozens of reasons to this list. The question is, which reasons are excuses and which ones are real?

As any well-trained and truly professional salesperson knows, what customers and prospects say is not necessarily a true reflection of what they are really thinking. When a customer tells you that your price is high, what he may really be thinking is, "I need to buy some time so I can shop these prices to your competitor. I might be able to get an even better deal."

When a customer tells you that he needs time to think it over, he may be really thinking, "I don't want to offend this guy, I need for him to keep calling on me so he can keep me abreast of what's going on in the market."

Journeymen salespeople, those whose concept of selling is working up a quote will be forever unrailed by these kinds of comments and statements. Professionals on the other hand, have learned how to call the customer's hand without being offensive.

For many years, I have used a highly effective technique when I receive information and I'm not sure I'm getting the truth or I suspect that what the client is saying is just a cover for something else.

I asks the following question: "In addition to that (whatever the client told him), is there anything else that is preventing us from doing business together?"

The rational for this question is:

1. I am not challenging their opinion, view or statement.

2. I am accepting whatever they are saying (not necessarily agreeing with them, but accepting their words, at least for the time being).

3. I am positioning myself for determining whatever else is going on beneath the surface that might stand in my way.

You'll also note that in addition to just asking a question, this technique puts a trial close at the end of the question.

The technique subtly says to the customer, "Tell me every objection you can think of that will prevent us from doing business together."

Salespeople using this technique may still have to deal with all of these issues or questions to close the sale, but at least they know that if they can do so effectively, they have a sale and won't face a whole new list of issues after they deal with the issues the customer or prospect reveals.