“I’m Happy With My Current Supplier” Sales Objection

Is your sales team using flawed sales rebuttals to this objection?

In a recent post on Linkedin, a user asked advice on how to deal with the: “I’m Happy With My Current Supplier” Objection.

I read a few of the responses and I have to say, most of the “advice” would lead to more "hang-ups" than "sales".

Here are some of the common yet inaccurate responses that will lead to call failure after a prospect says “I’m Happy With My Current Supplier”:

1. That's fantastic... If everyone I spoke to were 100% happy I wouldn't have a business.
2. Are you 100% satisfied or is there something you would love your current supplier to do for you that they aren't?
3. Does that mean you don't keep your options open at all? Ever? Really?

Why are the suggestions above not recommended? Several reasons.

First off, if you are getting this objection on a regular basis, we need to back up and asks ourselves a few questions.

Whom am I speaking to? Who is giving me this objection? Is it the gatekeeper? Or is it the decision maker?

If it’s the gatekeeper, the only way you are getting this response is because your objective of the call is off the mark (as is your opening statement).

If the gatekeeper is giving you this objection it tells me you are probably leading with “what you do” (we provide copier paper) instead of “influencing” or giving the gatekeeper a valid reason why your call should be put through to the decision maker.

(Note: If your team is having difficulty with gatekeepers, solve that problem right now by signing them up for this online workshop)

If it’s the decision maker that is giving you this objection, I’m willing to bet a few things are amiss here as well. Namely:

• Your objective for the call is off the mark. It should be to pique the prospects interest just enough to where they are willing to answer some questions in order to determine if what you have to offer may be of some help to them - not try and “sell” your prospect;
• Your opening value statement was probably more of a “pitch” than it was a “pique” curiosity of a common problem your targeted audience has;
• Questions weren’t developed ahead of time and then asked that would uncover a potential pain or a problem. Most prospects don’t know they have a pain or a problem. Effective questioning skills will help you and your prospect determine if there is a valid reason to continue the sales call.
  

So if you want to eliminate the “I’m Happy With My Current Supplier” objection, the key isn’t to “be prepared” for it, but rather to stop selling in a way that provokes it from coming up in the first place.

About the Author:
Michael Pedone is the founder and CEO of SalesBuzz.com, an online sales training company. As a world-class phone sales coach and mentor, Michael developed an original phone sales training method that has helped companies and individual sellers increase conversions dramatically. Get a free sales lesson here.