How to Write A Proper Rebuttal

Always use what I refer to as a F-A-B

FAB’s

For a professional salesperson, the answer to an objection must always be scripted and delivered as rehearsed. This response should be in the form of what I like to refer to as a F-A-B.  A FAB is simply an acronym that stands for fact, advantage, and benefit.  These are the three components that need to be in every answer you respond with to every question of concern that the potential buyer asks.  Fact, advantage, and benefit are structured in every rebuttal that you write regardless of whether it is to answer a question.

First of all, it is absolutely crucial that a salesperson fully understands the differences between what a fact is, what an advantage is and what the benefit is.  Comprehending the distinction between the three of these is paramount in going forward towards closing a sale.  The terms can be easily confused while often being mistaken for one another. Therefore, understanding the distinction is crucial in keeping potential clients cruising along down the straight line.

A fact is what is at the core of your selling point.  As a rule of thumb, the fact needs to be able to be stated in three words or less.  If it takes a complete sentence to say what it is that you are referring to then it is not a fact.   A car, a software program, an insurance policy are all facts that need no explanation. They cut to the specificity of what you are speaking to.

When you say the word ‘CAR’, what you are talking about is generally understood. There are no descriptive words required or any explanation requisite to understand what a car is.  It is simple for the person sitting across the table from you to understand what you are talking about.  Once the fact is established, then the salesperson can move on to the meat of the pitch, the significance of what you are offering.

For example, the ‘control mechanism’ of the product that you are attempting to sell is a fact.  Immediately the listener understands exactly what the object is that you are discussing.  Saying something like ‘the piece of the assembly that allows the user to control all aspects of the device’ is not a fact.  That would be a brief description of what the fact is all about.  This fundamental concept must be fully understood by the salesperson so that relevancy in the pitch, or in the rebuttals, can be maintained throughout.

A description, no matter how thorough in nature, is not the premise of which you are focusing your sale upon.  To discern between the two is necessary because later when you start to explain a benefit derived concerning the fact, your explanation may become confusing to the potential client.  One thing that is a definite, that is confusion will certainly delay the sale if it does not kill the close altogether. 

Nobody is going to pay their hard-earned money for something that they do not fully have a good understanding of in their head.  The buyer needs to know how they will benefit from the purchase of what you are offering.  Making the purchase of any decent amount is an important step.  If the client believes that what they are getting from you matters, then they have become invested in going forward.

Always remember to stay on point.  Clients will attempt to ask questions that will take you off the road to the closing.  Do not let them get away with it.  You must know the points that you want to get across, so stay focused on the process.  These points are the items that you want to stress to the client as the seller.  Every point should be written down and memorized to allow the words to flow effortlessly from your mouth.

These are the central themes to your story that you believe are the reasons that the individual should be purchasing what they are looking for.  These are what separates your product from the competition, the reason why the client should be making the purchase from you and your company.  These are the central ideas that must be made with an air of confidence when you say them. 

An advantage is a singular issue that, when stated properly, is the main difference which makes the fact the better choice over the competitor’s option.  This is where you separate your product or service apart from the competitions.  You are offering up a singular reason the item or service that you are offering is superior in a specific area over anything else in the market.

The salesperson does not want to give multiple advantages at this stage.  One is more than sufficient.  You want to stay on point with the one advantage that you referred to so not to complicate the issue.  This allows you to keep the potential buyer focused while hammering home your point.  By rapid firing all the different advantages up front, it takes future rebuttals out of your quiver.  That can allow the potential buyer to drift far off the road, never able to bring them back onto the Straight Line highway. 

One thing to keep in mind when preparing to pitch is that the potential buyer is always going to have questions.  Rarely does someone say that they will buy what you are selling unless they come to you in desperate need for the item.  For example, if a driver blows out a tire and your tire store is across the street, the odds of them searching for another tire store for a replacement tire is minimal.  But, if they are looking for an engagement ring and the salesperson is not sharp enough to pick up on the buy signals, they will likely hear that unwanted phrase, “Thank You.  I will be back.”

Stick to the one advantage that you believe is the most outstanding that your product has over the competition.  When you tell the clients what that advantage is, express it in a matter-of-fact way.  By stating the advantage in a sobering way, the message now comes across as public knowledge.  By making the advantage seem obvious, it will immediately make the client defensive, wanting to learn more about the advantage and setting them up beautifully for the B in the FAB.

A benefit is quite simply what the fact saves the individual in terms of time, effort, or money.  Those are, coincidentally, the three main reasons that a client purchases a product or service.  Naturally, there will be ancillary preferences that may come into play down the road.  If someone walks into a car dealership, they may want the car in cherry red only after they believe that the car itself is the one that they which to purchase.  But being cherry red is not the reason that they want to buy the car.

Part of the reasoning that you include three facts in your opening pitch is that you are trying to identify what is most important to the client.  Once that information is obtained by listening to the answers and the questions from the buyer, that is the area you focus upon.  They are in essence telling you what is important to them.

Once that fact is discovered, clearly define the benefit that applies to the fact.  The benefits add more substance to the advantage while keeping the buyer squarely on topic.  The salesperson needs to fight the desire to go off on a tangent regarding the benefits.  It becomes extremely easy to stray into another subject.  That is why you write the rebuttals and stick to the process. 

A word of warning needs to be interjected here.  Do not become too comfortable once you start having success following the program.  Do not mistakenly think that you will be able to freelance and maintain the same closing rate.  Once you go off script, your sales numbers will suffer.  You will no longer be sticking to the straight line which ensures the direction you take every one that comes in front of you.  Without a road map, you will become lost in the wilderness.

Stick with the program.