OK, you are in a sales role. Sales objections are going to come up.

It is one of the unfortunate ironies that you will get more sales objections when you first start selling than at any other time in your career. The reason that happens is that when you first start selling you don’t have the experience to accurately qualify your prospects or to present to them in a way that will cover what they want to know before you ask for an order.

Sales objections should not be feared.

That’s easy to say for me or any other experienced sales person but maybe not so easy to grasp if you’re new to this game.

So below I’m going to offer some advice about handling sales objections.

Five steps to handle sales objections for newbies:

• Breathe – Don’t panic.

Many an inexperienced salesperson when they get an objection has been known to react with fear or the appearance of being stunned (you know, standing there with mouth open but no words coming out).

Worse still, some salespeople try to argue with their prospects.

The thing you need to get is the attitude that objections are likely to come up and its important not to overreact to them.

• Acknowledge your prospect’s sales objection.

The objection may seem unusual to you it may even seem irrelevant but it is not to your prospect. Your prospect needs to know that you hear his sales objection, that you sympathize with their concerns.

By acknowledging the objection you start to build a relationship between yourself and the prospect and that will help you later in the sales call.

You may say something like, “I appreciate your concerns about the….”

• You need to ask questions about their objection.

This serves two purposes.

Firstly you are uncovering the details of what their objection really is and secondly by asking more questions you are showing that you are interested

Believe me; you’ll get a lot further in sales by being interested than by trying to be interesting. I firmly believe that curiosity is one of the most important traits of a salesperson.

Don’t start attempting deal with the objection until you fully understand what it is.

During this getting process your prospect may well enter her own objection.

Sales professionals know that there is more to answering an objection than the “answer.” They know the client is the key to the solution.

• Feedback their sales objection to them.

When you finally think you’ve got it you need to check with your prospect that you can really understand what their objection is. That way you are both on the same page and there is a chance for meaningful communication.

It often a good idea to feedback their objection to them in the form of question because as a salesperson you can answer a question.

 

• Qualify it as the only true objection.

When overcoming sales objections you need to qualify it as a true objection.

You may choose to say, “You mean that’s the only reason you’re not buying?”

Now he can either say yes or no. This smokes out the real objection. If it’s a fake objection the prospect will say “No.” then you can ask what are his or her other concerns. If he says “yes, that’s the only reason why I’m not buying” you now know the real objection and you can start to answer it.

The most important part in all of the above is to keep the dialogue going. The worst thing that can happen is stony silence from you when you get an objection.

By acknowledging the objection it gives you a chance to start gathering your thoughts on coming up with questions. Feeding back the sales objection further builds the rapport you have gained by acknowledging them. Finally by qualifying this is the true objection you are not wasting your time chasing phantoms.

Answering the objection will then happen as part of the dialogue between you and the prospect. Your success will depend upon your product knowledge, the fit of your product or service to their needs and your ability to communicate effectively with them (words are the most powerful drug known to mankind).

 

Following these guidelines will help you, but there is a lot more to handling sales objections.

Just ran across this article which gives some useful information.

• cold calling: how to answer, “what is this in regards to?” – question of the week. “when i ask to speak to the owner of the company, the gatekeeper asks in some form or another, ‘what is this in regards to?’ my question is how do you answer that question?” answer. just answer the question. …

• sales education: can sales be taught in the classroom? – that’s the question i put to my linkedin network, and the range of answers i got was illuminating. when i’ve talked about this in the past with sales pros, including some of our veteran account managers here at hoover’s and sales …

Some more interesting articles on sales objections are listed below:

• The 8 Objections – Just Sell®… it’s all about sales® – Objections are a requirement to a successful sales day. In fact, without them, you’re likely not engaging your prospects and customers. It’s the introduction of an objection that can spark a flow of information that can help you further qualify a sales opportunity and better understand the needs and current environment of your prospects.

• Requirements, Trade-offs and Sales Objections :: Medical Connectivity – This is another installment of a series on selling connectivity. You can read the first installment, with links to subsequent posts, here. There is no one product that best fits every customer’s requirements, yet the goal of product …

• Six Major Sales Objections and a Plan on How to Overcome Them … – You are an expert complex sales professional and you know how to use prospecting to your advantage. Before you even make a cold call you have already done …

• 4 Tips for the Non-Salesperson on Overcoming Sales Objections – In my previous post, we covered sales objections and some of the most common reasons why a potential client may be hesitant to do business with you. Once you know where that objection is rooted, you can start to work on helping the …

• I Object! How to Identify Sales Objections That Are Costing You … – In a perfect world, we would be able to just do the work we’re passionate about without having to worry about selling our services. But the reality is that we need a steady flow of business to keep our businesses afloat. …

• Overcoming Sales Objections the Easy Way | Chris Garrett on New Media – Overcoming objections is an essential part of the sales process, but it seems one that people I speak to either neglect or are fearful of. Really it can be very easy to counter objections, but before we get into that, I should describe what I mean by objections and what I mean by overcoming. Objections are anything that stops a customer from buying from you.

 

If you recall the last blog post the first thing I said was that when you get sales objections you need to Breath and not panic.

The next piece of advice I gave was to acknowledge the objection you have just received.

One of the worst things you can do when you get sales objections is to say, “ yes…but”.

Maybe you’ve already been told that by a sales manager or a senior sales person?

Did they tell you why?

You do not use “yes…but” because “but” negates everything that has been said before it in a sentence. It works like a mental eraser.

It basically says to the person you are talking to that what they have just said doesn’t matter.

Problem is, I’ve seen many sales people that do this. Customer says, “your product is too expensive” and immediately the salesperson responds, “yes… but it’s…” and follows with a few benefits of the product (worse still some salespeople just roll out a list of features of the product).

How do you avoid using “yes…but” or just avoid using “but” for that matter

If you change the “but” to an “and”, the sentence will sound less confrontational, you will be acknowledging what the prospect has just said and you are more likely to get your outcome. Especially, if you add a softener in front of the “and”

The next thing I said in the first blog post was to ask questions about the objection. This is what “and” leads into beautifully. And once again use a softener BEFORE the “and”.

This is the Agreement Frame and is a much better way of responding to sales objections.

So, in responding to people as a salesperson replace “but” with “and”.
Precede the “and” with a softener.
See the examples below.

·           I understand … and

·           I appreciate … and

·           I agree …. and

·           I respect …. and

·           I recognise…..and

 

Then use the following softeners after the “and”

·           ….I was just wondering

·           ….I am curious to know

·           ….I am interested to know

·           ….I am fascinated to know

·           ….I was thinking

·           ….I was (found myself) asking myself

·           ….you know I am interested in

·           ….I’m just interested to know

How about an example of this Agreement Frame in action.

Prospect says,
”The car you are offering us in not roomy enough.”

Possible responses:
”I appreciate that you think the car is not roomy enough AND I was just wondering how you determine what is roomy enough?”

“I understand that you think you need a lot of room for your family and I am curious to know how will you know if a car is roomy enough?”

“I agree that a car has to have enough room for you and I am interested to know how you figured out how much room you actually need?”

When you use The Agreement Frame to respond to sales objections you’ll get a much better response from your prospects.

 Below are some interesting articles:

 

• are salespeople worth the money they get paid? – this is a question that is often asked when i speak to managers looking to recruit. it is often uttered by operational staff and managing directors who resent paying salespeople their relatively high market rates. …

• Objection-handling techniques and methods – Objection Chunking: Taking a higher or lower viewpoint. Conditional Close: Make closure a condition for resolving their objection. Deflection: Avoid responding to objection, just letting it pass.

• Chapter 12 – Handling Objections – An objection is anything the prospect says or does that is an obstacle to smooth closing. Learn to Accept Objections as a Challenge Which, When Handled Correctly, Will benefit you and Your Prospect. If You Fear Objections You Will Fumble Your Response Often Causing You to Fail.

 

 At the start of this Blog I said it was important not to panic when you hear a sales objection.

One of the best ways to do this is to have an automatic response.

An automatic response not only prevents you from respoinding with a dumbfounded look on your face but also gives you time to think about a respoinse.

I have already mentioned that for many years my automatic response to “your too expensive” was to respond with “compared to what?”

When you hear an objection other than price you coulod employ a method I learned from Lee DuBois.

Whenever, Lee encountered any objections he would say,

”Obviously you…” often followed by “just suppose”.

I’ll give you an example.

Customer raises objection.
You respond with.
”Obviously you have a good reason for saying that. Do you mind if I ask what it is?”
Then the customer gives his/her reasoning.
Then you meet the prospect’s condition exactly with:
”Just suppose ..( meet condition )… then in your opinion do you feel you could proceed… etc”.
If the customer says “No.”, then you repeat the process. 
(i.e. you say “Obviously you” again.)

This automatic response stops you from being stuck for a response, allows you to smoke out the real objection while at the same time showing respect for the prospects sales objection (the “good reason” comment shows respect for their opinion).

Try it, you might be surprised how effective it is. 

Here are some articles you might like to read

• • • Sales education: Can sales be taught in the classroom? — Hoover’s … – That’s the question I put to my LinkedIn network, and the range of answers I got was illuminating. When I’ve talked about this in the past with sales pros, including some of our veteran account managers here at Hoover’s and sales …

    • 9 Signs the Online Job Market is Broken – 100 years ago companies started putting job ads in newspapers. They still do, although much less. That’s because they’re putting those same job ads online. The Internet took hold offering hundreds of places employers could post their …

    • Real Estate Marketing is Changing Fast and Furious – Dec 18 2009 . I agree 100 that those of us with sales skills will be able to always make a living. Knowing how to work with people on a personal level is .

 

What are the three underlying factors behind sales objections?

Salespeople face objections that are due to :

1. Skepticism
2. Misunderstanding
3. Stalling

The best way of handling objections is to be a knowledgeable, interested salesperson whose mission is to help the prospect achieve his objectives. Remember that the word “sales” is derived from the Norweigen word “selje” which literally means to serve.  So, if you keep it in mind that you are there to serve the prospect you’ll be well on the way to responding appropriately.

Remember to stay positive and respect the prospect’s objections  as legitimate concerns. The Agreement Frame mentioned in an earlier post will help you react to objections as legitimate.

I’ll discuss the first group of objections today and the other groups in a later post

Skepticism

If the prospect seems skeptical about your presentation, your product / services or your ability to deliver, it could come from one of the following situations:

Promising too much. If you promise too much or trivialize the uniqueness of the prospect’s situation you run the risk of being unbelievable.

Failing to establish rapport. You must listen and respond effectively. Concentrate on being interested in them and not on trying to be interesting to them. There’s a vast difference. You can get away with all sorts of mistakes if you are interested. Learn to listen and respond effectively.

Not asking the right questions. Know enough about the prospect’s needs to be able to ask probing questions. Asking good questions is just as important as giving good answers.

Not fully answering questions. The prospect’s questions are real; do not think that they are ‘dumb questions’, and do not avoid a question because you think it is trivial. By not answering all questions, the prospect could think you are trying to conceal something.

Becoming defensive. If you appear to be defensive to an objection, you might antagonise the prospect. Always be open-minded, responsive and reply enthusiastically, not defensively.

Not Client-Centered. If you speak in general terms and do not address the specifics of the prospect’s objection, you have not given him the answer he is looking for.

Being hasty. If you rush through your presentation or do not give enough consideration to the prospect’s concerns, you could make the prospect feel uneasy. Never linger on any one point, but do not give any quick answers either.

Avoid these mistakes and you’ll avoid skepticism.

 

Here is a list of articles you might like to take a look at:

 

• Sneaky Way Of Overcoming Sales Objections – The easiest way of overcoming sales objections without being pushy or obnoxious.

• Sales training tips for handling cold calling objections, part I – One sales skill which can significantly alleviate the pain of prospecting and dramatically improve your cold calling skills is learning how to handle sales objections effectively. One of my clients directly attributes £1 million pounds …

• 10 things to expect from your logo designer – Choosing the right designer is vital. Anyone can design a logo, but not everyone can design the right logo. This article details 10 things to expect from a logo designer, helping you make the right decision. 1. A strong portfolio …

• are salespeople worth the money they get paid? – this is a question that is often asked when i speak to managers looking to recruit. it is often uttered by operational staff and managing directors who resent paying salespeople their relatively high market rates. …

• when the rules of the game change – customers seem to be a little more fickle lately. no wonder given the tumultuous world economy and the tried and true financial models that have not been able to predict anything correctly. add to this the conflicting data they are …

 

• Handling Objections in Sales Copy (Before they Come Up) | The Home … – The better your home business sales copy can address objections, the more effective it will likely be!

*Handling* Price *Objections* and the Real Reasons We Get Them

Handling price objections and closing more sales by overcoming this common objection with techniques developed by a working sales manager for professional sellers.

Use “CPR” on prospect *objections*

Many insurance sales professionals fear, or worse—hate—handling objections. What you tell yourself at the moment you field an objection is critical. Is it something negative: “This is the part of the job I really hate,” or “Oh no! …

*Overcoming objections* by turning them into the fuel for selling *…*

8 Responses to “Overcoming objections by turning them into the fuel for selling”. Mockingbird says: Knowing how to field objections can go a long way in good marketing of your product or service, as you truly understand your business …