I’m a sales success coach that helps motivated sales professionals to sell beyond what they thought was possible. As a sales coach, I ask empowering question that causes my clients to dig inside themselves for answers. It’s this same method of coaching that I will teach you to overcome sales objections or resistance.
Finding the cause behind a sales objection isn’t the easiest thing to do and is subject to your buyer’s honesty. Once you discover the “reason behind the reason” the closer you will be to closing the deal. In other words, what are the real intention and the meaning behind the sales objection?
Getting clarity on the objection by probing the buyer is better than assuming you know the answer. Allow the buyer to find their own conclusions without influencing or leading them.
Many sales professionals have confusion between a sales objection and a condition, so let’s start by defining them.
Is It A Sales Objection or Is It A Condition?
If you get resistance, you must determine if it’s an objection or a condition; and is it real or just a smoke screen.
Regardless of the reason, many people are not forthcoming in telling you what is holding them back from signing. It’s your job to open them up and find out.? Once you find out the reason you’ll then have the opportunity to overcome it.
I say “real intention” because some objections can just be a smoke screen (excuse) that is used instead of the truth or the real reason. Maybe the real reason has to do with the price or they want to get another quote?
I say “meaning” because it’s possible to misinterpret the message that the buyer is trying to convey. For Example: What does it mean when the buyer says “the price is too high”? It can be interpreted many ways – too high and can’t afford it, too high compared to another quote, too high based on their budget, etc.
What is an?Objection??
Objections are statements or questions which may indicate that they aren’t ready to buy or they need more clarity. Your buyer hasn’t rejected you, but they may have concerns related to price, reputation, value, competition, time or if they really need what you are selling. It can also be a stall for many reasons.
Maybe they don’t see the value in terms of cost vs. benefits and it’s not worth their investment?
Another interpretation could be, that although they are serious and have interest in your product they still need additional information to make a final decision.
So when an objection comes up, consider that you were given an opportunity to share more information with the possibility of closing the deal.
When you get an objection stay positive and DO NOT become defensive. Ask questions and probe to find out the concerns of your buyer. Finding out their concerns will allow you to address them.
Examples of Possible Objections
- I/we have to think about it.
- We can’t afford it.
- It cost too much or you are too expensive.
- We have to speak to our accountant, son, daughter, mother, father, banker, etc.
- I want to wait until….
- We had a better price.
- I/we are speaking to other companies.
What is a Condition?
A condition is a situation that may be beyond your prospects control or something?that?has to happen before they can make a decision.?
It’s most likely that it “cannot” be dealt with at that time and you will have no?choice but to delay the signing of the agreement.??This is something that should have been discovered during the qualifying stage.
Find out if the condition is something that you the salesperson can deal with, like providing more information to your prospect; or if it’s something that they the buyer has to deal with, like policies. Discuss the next step with them.?
Examples of Possible Conditions:
- We have to get approval from the marketing department.
- We require 3 quotes as per our policies.
- Is the current electrical system adequate to support the requirements of the new machine?
The way it used to be
The way it used to be and still used by some salespeople would be for them to ask questions to identify needs and wants of their prospects, make a presentation, wait for objections, handle the objections then go to close.
Objection handling is finding out what is holding your prospect?back?from signing, providing more information to satisfy your prospects?concerns and then trying to close the deal. That was the skill and whichever salesperson was great at closing on the objections got the business.?
It can become a battle trying to find the reason why your buyer is giving you resistance and not signing the agreement, and even more so if you do this after you were not successful in closing them.
If you can’t find out the reason for the objection, how are you going to sign them up unless your prospect is ‘straightforward’ and tells you the real reason?
So you would probe and keep working the prospect until you got what you thought was the real reason at which time you would then try to overcome it, or you would leave without signing an agreement.
The Best Way To Overcome Sales Objections is To Coach The Buyer
Ask your prospect open-ended questions so they can give you clarity on why they gave you an objection. Example: What did you mean when you said_______? Could you tell me more about ______? Why is this a concern to you at this time? What else can you tell me? and more.
You will notice that these questions are not leading the buyer. They are clean-questions that cause the buyer to dig down and explore the reason or the root cause behind their resistance.
If you keep digging, it’s possible that the objection is destroyed.
The more your buyer talks the more they let you in. As a matter of fact, if you keep digging it’s possible that the objection is destroyed and the buyer answers and overcomes the resistance on their own.
The Redirect Method: Another Way To Overcome Sales Objections
One of my favorites is to redirect the sales objection and take the buyer in another direction. Agree with whatever the buyer says, re-frame the issue and take them to where you want them to go. It’s a piece of cake!!
Example:
Buyer says: We have to think about it!
Seller: I agree you feel that way and the issue isn’t whether you have to think about it, but when do you want to increase your production and not fall behind in your orders as you already told me? So let’s discuss……….
Procedure:
- Always agree with your buyer to keep rapport and not to create a confrontation. You can say: I agree you feel that way, it’s understandable that ____, I partially agree with ______?
- Tell them that their issue isn’t the problem – “the issue isn’t __________(their objection)”.
- Use the word BUT – because anything that comes before the word “but” is forgotten and they only remember what is said after the “but”. Example: “But _____________ “( do a reframe by asking them a question that directs them to where you want to take them).
- Start talking about the new direction you have thrown in after the “but”.
In essence, you redirected their thoughts from something that they thought was an issue (resistance) to something you can work with and close the deal.
You will notice in the example above, I reframed the objection of “thinking about it” to “increase your production and not fall behind in your orders”. This was achieved because I was able to determine the needs and pain of the buyer. It’s costing the buyer a lot more by thinking about an ongoing issue vs. going forward to increase production and staying on top of their orders. I just helped them out for their best interest.
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