Objections Handling Requires Advanced Preparation
Objections are unpleasant because people are genetically programmed to dislike being turned down. As we gain more years of experience in sales, the feeling of objection will hopefully become less painful, but the unpleasantness will still come to us when we are told no. In this blog, we talk about how we can make handling objections even less painful by preparing ourselves ahead of time, before the objection even occurs.
When you ask for a commitment from a prospect in a face-to-face or virtual meeting, you typically get one of two responses: an affirmative “yes” or an objection with a reason. If you ask for a commitment through email or LinkedIn, there is also a chance that you will not get a response at all. Regardless of the channel of communication, you want to get to "yes," "no," and “maybe” deals as soon as possible. It is with the “maybe” deals that you will immediately encounter some objections. If the objections are handled productively, the “maybe” deals will have an improved chance of turning into "yes."
In almost any profession, experience matters. The difference between a 25-year veteran salesperson and an inexperienced one is that the veteran has seen all kinds of objections and can anticipate them ahead of time. The veteran has practiced a counter-response in hundreds of sales discussions, while the inexperienced salesperson may be caught up in the emotion and have to think of a response on the spot.
There is good news for everyone: the majority of objections can be categorized into a few types. Salespeople can then anticipate them ahead of time without being caught off guard. This article is not about teaching you the script to each objection but rather about giving you the tools of preparation ahead of time. In general, the types of objections are the following:
Simply not interested.
We don’t have such a need for your product.
We are happy with the current vendor.
We are on a tight budget and cannot afford you.
I’m not the best person to discuss this.
We are too busy to discuss this now.
We tried a similar product and didn’t like it.
I might have missed some that are more industry- or product-specific, but I am confident that once you have a proper answer prepared for at least the 7 types of objections, you will feel less stressful on the spot when being objected to. You will not be a deer in the headlights.
Handling objections is a useful skill that can be practiced in a predictable way. In your day-to-day life, there are many chances and data points for you to work on. All you have to do is set aside an hour each week from your busy sales job to analyze the most common types of objections you receive. It is the one skill worth your investment as soon as possible.
After you have identified the common types that make up 80% of your objections, you can come up with a root response that you can adapt to the situation. It’s important to understand that sometimes objections are from an emotional level, particularly those that sound like brushoffs, such as “not interested” or “too busy." In reality, they may just be a way for the buyer to get rid of you because he or she has dealt with so many other sellers before you. In this case, a good response to an objection should be able to break their thinking pattern and get their conscious brain involved. In this way, you can dig out the real objections behind the brushoff response.
Advanced preparation for objection handling requires dedicated time. It’s like sharpening the axe before you cut down the trees. (I don’t advocate chopping down trees, but you get the message.) However, unlike the axe that needs resharpening, your skills in handling objections will only get sharper as you gain more experience. It’s better to invest that time today so your skills will have more opportunities to improve.
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