{"id":16978,"date":"2024-01-29T09:29:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T09:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/?post_type=know-how&p=16978"},"modified":"2024-01-29T09:33:02","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T09:33:02","slug":"objection-handling","status":"publish","type":"know-how","link":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/know-how\/objection-handling\/","title":{"rendered":"Objection Handling"},"content":{"rendered":"

In sales there are times when you just cannot close the deal.<\/p>\n

You rock along presenting, thinking you\u2019re onto a winner.<\/p>\n

Then it happens.\u00a0 Objections rear their ugly heads and you come to a complete stop.<\/p>\n

After all \u2013 we\u2019re told the customer is always right and you just don\u2019t want to be pushy.<\/p>\n

Damn it!!<\/p>\n

A lot of the new guys coming into sales have never had to deal with face-to-face sales presentations. They\u2019re just not trained to handle objections correctly.<\/p>\n

You know what it\u2019s like, you and your sales teams spend an inordinate amount of time pitching and presenting to prospects, for what?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll think about it\u201d,<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you email me those details?\u201d<\/p>\n

or the worst, \u201cWe never decide on the day\u201d<\/p>\n

What a waste of time presenting<\/p>\n

A waste of advertising spend<\/p>\n

A waste of salary<\/p>\n

AND most importantly (because you could\u2019ve been in a selling appointment) time.<\/p>\n

Well, how do you overcome these objections?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What if I told you, you can remove the most common objections before they become objections?<\/p>\n

Cool huh?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In no particular order I have prepared a guide to handle to most popular excuses not to buy, erm \u2013 sorry I mean objections.<\/p>\n

7 ways to overcome objections.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Listen, Question, Repeat, Think, Handle<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Whatever the objection we need to make sure we identify exactly why there is a hold up in the buying process.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Listen to exactly what is being said, stop talking, stop presenting and just listen to what the real objection is. Listening also buys us a bit of time to evaluate how we will handle the objection.<\/li>\n
    2. Question the prospect in an understanding, empathetic way. We don\u2019t want to appear confrontational, but by asking questions you\u2019re encouraging the prospects to explain their objection. It maybe they just understand one small thing you have just explained.<\/li>\n
    3. Repeat the objection, sometimes just saying out loud, exactly what the prospects have said to you, has the objection clarified. Let them understand what they have just said to you and ask if your right in thinking, that this is the objection.<\/li>\n
    4. Think about the solutions at your disposal. Never just blurt out the first thought that comes into your head.\u00a0 Think what will happen if you offer A, B or C solution.<\/li>\n
    5. Now that you fully understand the objection, we have isolated it and clarified it, we can handle it. Give the prospects your solution, explain the facts again and ask if that solves their dilemma.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Identify and isolate the objection. Make sure that is the only objection.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        So we identify the objection as in step 1 above, but there\u2019s more than one. Don\u2019t panic, take a breath. We must isolate each objection.\u00a0 There may be more than one, but we can only deal with oner at a time.\u00a0 Spend time isolating and understanding each objection as I step 1 above.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Clarify the objection \u2013 make sure you understand EXACTLY what is being objectified.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Once you clarify each objection and you understand what and why it is an objection, you are in a much better position to overcome it.\u00a0 Again, if there are more than one objection, clarify the first and deal with it, then move on to the next.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Is it the price?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            It is almost always the price.\u00a0 Unless you are skilled in price conditioning, the price of a product (at the end of a presentation) will always come as a shock to prospects. AND their knee jerk reaction is to say they cannot afford it.\u00a0 Your job now is to isolate that price is the ONLY objection.\u00a0 I can work with money \u2013 I can\u2019t do anything with a lack of interest.<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Always use the phrase \u201cIf I can, Will you?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              I loved this phrase, it was taught to me way back in my early days of being a field sales agent.\u00a0 Let\u2019s imagine cost is the objection. We know we can reduce the price a little but to just offer a lower price will destroy any faith you have built with the prospects.\u00a0 Identify, clarify etc and then ask, \u201cSo is it just the cost you are objecting to?\u201d\u00a0 They say \u2018Yes\u2019<\/p>\n

              Now you say \u201cIf I can reduce the price, Will you be placing an order?\u201d\u00a0 Or \u201cIf I can offer a better deal, Will you be able to say yes today?\u201d\u00a0 Words to that effect.<\/p>\n

              However, never ever just drop the price to try and cement a deal, you MUST offer a justifiable discount. I always offer a discount if I can use the before and after photos (cheaper than running ads right?), or a testimonial.\u00a0 Whatever you chose to do \u2013 it must be believable.<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Lack of urgency \u201cWe don\u2019t need it\/them yet\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Sadly this is something the sales agent needed to address in his\/her presentation.\u00a0 The prospects may love the products, really want to buy it\/them but just not at this time.\u00a0 Trouble is, if you don\u2019t close this now, they will look elsewhere and all your hard work will drive them into your competitor\u2019s business.\u00a0 Never the less \u2013 we need to deal with it now.\u00a0 You can overcome this by offering to \u2018hold\u2019 the price and deliver at a more convenient time, but I need a small deposit today.\u00a0\u00a0 By placing a deposit today, you will also bypass the impending price rise we have coming soon.<\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Re-phrase.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  By re-phrasing the objection and repeating it to your prospects, sometimes it can trivialise their objection and make it seem such a small thing they got hung up on.\u00a0 I once had a client didn\u2019t want to place an order because I don\u2019t deal with scaffolders and they didn\u2019t know a scaffolder.\u00a0 So, I asked them if that was the only objection \u2013 they said yes.\u00a0 I took out my phone and Google\u2019d local scaffolders and got a quote there and then.\u00a0 The objection dissolved as quickly as it came up and I got the order.<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  1. Testimony<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    One great way to solve an objection issue to use testimonials of other satisfied customers.\u00a0 I keep a presentation folder and have lots and lots of testimonials which deals with just about every objection you can imagine.\u00a0 Social proofing is a great way to get other prospects on side.\u00a0 If Mary isn\u2019t sure what white walls will look like on her home, I have lots of photo\u2019s of other houses and how they looked prior to the work being done.<\/p>\n

                      \n
                    1. Feel, felt, found<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      This is one of the best ways to handle objections I have ever heard and used.\u00a0 Whatever the objection you need to see it from the prospects point of view and say, \u201cI know how you feel, (understanding, empathy, taking their side) I felt the same way when I first looked at this.\u201d\u00a0 At this point they relax a bit, knowing they\u2019re not the only ones with this objection.\u00a0 Then you need to say, \u201cWhat I found was, when I went ahead etc etc etc\u2026..\u201d<\/p>\n

                      Then I always say \u2013 \u201cdoes that make sense?\u201d<\/p>\n

                      So this little cheat sheet may help you with any objection you may get in the future.<\/p>\n

                      Try them, let me know how you get on \u2013 happy to help if you have any persistent objections that keep re-occurring.<\/p>\n

                      Having said all of that \u2013 I very rarely get objections. Do you want to know how?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      In sales there are times when you just cannot close the deal. You rock along presenting, thinking you\u2019re onto a winner. Then it happens.\u00a0 Objections rear their ugly heads","protected":false},"author":12313326,"featured_media":16981,"template":"","know_how_category":[],"class_list":["post-16978","know-how","type-know-how","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-how\/16978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-how"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/know-how"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12313326"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-how\/16978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16980,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-how\/16978\/revisions\/16980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"know_how_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know_how_category?post=16978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}