Handling Objections

Michael Krause is president and founder of Sales Sense Solutions and delivers Fortune 500 strategies, tactics, and tools.His goal is to customize success sales strategies employed by the world’s largest companies for small and mid-sized businesses. A noted speaker and writer, Krause is the author of Smart Prospecting That Works Every Time.

Objection handling is by far the most common problem sales professionals have in selling. Seriously, it took me YEARS to master objection handling. In fact, I mastered objection handling by selling to lawyers − a tough group to sell since everything is an objection to them as part of their jobs!

Your strategy: Handle any and all objections head on. Don’t turn around and run or patiently wait for the objection to pass. Eventually the objection phase of the sale will pass and, if you follow this proven strategy, you will continue moving forward on your journey – in this case, with your future client.

Your tactics:

Step 1. Listen to the objection and make eye contact as you are listening. “It’s way too expensive.” Then pause for two seconds before responding. Let there be silence. You are prepared, confident and there is no need to rush so collect your thoughts before proceeding.

Step 2. Clarify the objection by restating it in your own words. “So, you’re saying that you think the price doesn’t match the value you’ll receive?”

Step 3. Ask a question in return. My favorite question is, “How do you mean?” You can also ask, “Could you please elaborate on that?” or “Tell  me more about that, please.”

By the way, the first objection is generally not the real objection at the heart of the issue. You will likely need to ask second and third level questions to get to the real issue. “Well, we had some expenses that came in higher than planned and my project’s budget has taken a hit.”

Practice makes perfect: rehearse your response to the common objections you get most often so you can feel confident in delivering your answers. If someone brings up an objection to which you have no ready answer, it’s all right to say, “Well, that’s a great question. I’ll have to talk with our technical experts and get back to you. Is that OK?” Then make sure you get the response back to your prospect as quickly as possible. Then ask for the sale again.

NO sale has ever occurred without at least one objection. Practice, practice, practice to tame those pesky objections, make the sale and achieve your goals.