5 Types Of Fear Prospects Feel When Meeting Agents

The underlying reasons for prospects to put up resistance barriers to salesy agents can be group together as one…

Fear

Fear is what stops people from picking up your calls even though they have been ringing for 2 minutes. It is also what makes them reject every single benefit your product or service offers without justified reason.

And fear is the source which delivers that most painful blow when a prospect is so close to buying but backs out at the last minute.

You can’t control the fear of prospects. But you can at least manage it.

If you are able to pinpoint which form of fear someone is feeling, you should be able to tailor your presentation to alleviate it.

The following are the most common types of fear that people feel.

1) Fear of aggressive agents

Some people literally run the moment someone stands up and start selling at a social gathering. You can give it a try by attending a ballroom event and start selling web marketing services when everyone are casually enjoying a night out.

Yes, it’s true that people can be scared of salespeople.

And if you are really hardcore into selling your services as a real estate agent, you might often find yourself conducting selling activities unknowingly at events that has nothing to do with doing business.

Insurance agents are great examples of this.

So deeply trained they are at grasping opportunities to sell, they frequently get into beast mode as soon as a topic arises where they can stealthily sneak in other topics of coverage and claims.

Just start a conversation (with an agent around) about how your cousin got into a car accident last month and you will see this in play yourself.

These occurrences tend to destroy casual and social conversations.

The worst part is that it leaves a bad impression on those just trying to enjoy a night out without having to think about more “serious” stuff.

And this common encounters have transpired the fear of salespeople.

The best way to handle clients with a fear of you for being more of a salesperson than an agent is to avoid confrontation body language and interactions as much as possible.

Then demonstrate your abilities and resources or allow them to use it themselves.

Invite them to come to you rather than intrude into their personal space.

Try sitting adjacent to him or side-by-side on tables. Put the product in their hands, guide them how to use it, and perform a demonstration if the situation allows it.

2) Fear of failure

Probably everybody has had the experience of buying a product that does not meet expectations or does not even do what it is supposed to do. Bringing them back for a refund can be a tedious process that is not worth the effort and hassle.

So this regret lives with a lot of people when it comes to buying things or signing up for services of significant value.

Most of these shortcomings are due to quick-talking salespeople who promised too much and delivered too little. And this is why the fear of failure will come back to haunt them when they meet up with a salesman who reminds them of their bad experiences.

Maybe your hairdresser totally approved a hairstyle to suit you perfectly. And you walk out of he salon looking like a lion.

Maybe the used car dealer promised that the refurbished vehicle is as good as new. And it broke down within a month of purchase.

Maybe on a trip to Turkey, the shopkeeper in the carpet shop insisted that your carpet is made with high end authentic fabric. And you find out later than it is not worth even a third of what you paid for after going to a collector.

Bad past experiences tend to haunt buyers like an evil spirit. Because not only did they lose money, their confidence and self-esteem gets battered as well. They then become more wary when buying items.

The good news is that this form of fear is just about the easiest to conquer. To provide a genuine taste of what value your services provide, you can:

• offer free services or products for customer to try beforehand (widely used in beauty products)
• giveaway free trials ranging from a week to a month to test out it’s performance level (popular with software)
• provide a full-proof 100% money back guarantee that is convenient to activate (frequently practiced in retail)
• display testimonials of the good things previous and existing users say about the product

No level-headed businessman will want to have a high percentage of refunds or unsatisfied customers.

3) Fear of hidden costs and debt

Very few adults will need to be reminded about the dangers of hidden costs and taking on too much debt. At the same time, consumers are well known to charge their shopping to credit cards.

And many fall into the debt trap for putting too much stress on their credit. Or signed up for something that seemed affordable at first, but find out later that to fully utilize it, they need to pay more.

Every parent would have warned their children about lying and conniving salesmen. And everyone probably has a friend or knows someone in their social circle who is beaten down by loans and credit.

With how people are generally buying properties these days, it’s not that difficult to find someone in a mountain of mortgage debt within a minute of you walking onto the street.

Financial issues are real world issues that many people face. And there is little you can do if your prospect indeed cannot afford what you are selling.

Maybe they can just afford it. But when the hidden costs kick in, they would be livid and even fall into depression.

You might be tempted to alleviate his dilemma by offering payment plans that come in the form of installments and interest. But please. Avoid going this route if your service does not really add value to the customer’s life.

You could very well drive him into deeper financial problems by going with a hard sale.

Surely you are better than that?

The most you can do is to go through his numbers with him and show him how he can afford your services.

4) Fear of the unknown

This is often a big problem when you are dealing with products that are disruptive and totally “new”.

Consumers simply do not know what to expect should they hire you. This is especially so when there are strong competitors who delivers a solution that has been in used by the market for as long as you can remember.

Why take a risk by buying something unknown when you can just buy a proven product from a company with a proven track record that meets your expectations?

You can theoretically resolve this sales objection by educating what your services do and how it does what it says. But even that can often be a long shot.

The best way to handle this requires a higher level of involvement.

It will require advertising, press releases, demonstrations, mass education, etc.

If your company does not have the funding to jump in, maybe the service is not as breakthrough as initially thought.

5) Fear of truth in bad reviews

If a person truly tried your services, that person will have a legitimate right to share his experience and user experience with others.

And since online forums and social media has made it so easy for an individual to express his grievances, almost every product or service you can think of will have a bad review somewhere in the digital sphere.

Third party reviews can often dissuade prospects from taking the plunge. And there is nothing you can do about it even if they are fake writeups from trolls.

This is a tough resistance to eliminate.

But usually negative impressions caused by bad reviews can also be buffered with… good reviews.

So have a handy reference guide in your folder so that you can point a prospect to the authentic good reviews you are getting online and offline.

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