4 step process for handling objections

When it comes to sales, objections are inevitable. Every person you speak with will have questions or reservations about the product or service you offer. If they didn’t, they would have already bought from you.

Objections shouldn’t stop you in your tracks. Objections are an opportunity. They are a request for more information and a signal to you that the buyer is engaged.

The opportunity for more information comes from the fact that a lot of objections are just misunderstandings. The prospect doesn’t fully understand your integration with their other software products or they don’t understand the value they’ll get. Typically, you can work through these types of objections by reviewing some aspects of your product or service and ensuring they’re clear on exactly what you do.

But what about the other kinds? The kinds where a prospect says “you’re too expensive” or “your product doesn’t do XYZ.”

Those are different kinds of objections that you can often solve with more information. This objection is potentially giving you feedback on how to improve your product or service in the long run. If you’re doing an excellent job of gathering this information from prospective clients, you can start to look for patterns in what they’re saying.

The key to being successful is to learn how to uncover and resolve objections quickly and effectively. At this point, you can greatly benefit from 1:1 sales advising. There is nothing worse than letting an objection go unaddressed through the sales process. The faster you isolate the objection and resolve it, the quicker your prospect can let go of the objection and move into a buyer’s mindset.

There are four steps you can follow to help your buyer feel more at ease:

1. Listen to the Objections

Listening is key. When trying to surface objections through the sales process, the buyer will often provide what’s known as a false objection. They might say that they don’t have the budget when what they really object to is the product or their trust in you.

Don’t get defensive or try to provide solutions right away. Give your prospect space and allow them to share all of their concerns freely while you practice your active listening skills to take in what they are saying.

2. Acknowledge what you heard.

Once the prospect has expressed their concern, take a moment, and repeat back what you heard to ensure you understand what they’re saying. This is an important step as not only does it clarify their points, but it helps the prospect to feel heard and valued. All of this enables you to build trust.

3. Make a statement to validate their concerns.

Once you’ve confirmed that you understand where your prospect is coming from, you can continue to build trust by empathizing with your prospect and validating their point of view.

For example, if you are selling a marketing automation software and your prospect is wary that making a switch will cause confusion or their worried data could be lost in the transition, you could say, “I understand, changing platforms can feel daunting. Thankfully, we have an incredible tech support team who has experience working with similar organizations, and can handle a seamless transition for you.”

When you respond by acknowledging that their concern is valid while offering a solution, you can mitigate their fears and increase trust.

4. Ask a follow-up question

Once you hear an objection, you must keep things moving. If you’ve followed the steps up until this point, you still might feel your prospect pulling away. Use follow-up questions as a way to keep them engaged and dig a little deeper to uncover any additional roadblocks.

Remember that each sale is different, so even though you might think you understand what your prospect needs, you still need to bridge the gap to their desired outcome. Use open-ended questions to uncover a need and dig deeper with at least three additional questions to find the why behind that need. Allow your prospect to do 75% of the talking as they will use that time to open up and reveal pain points you can help solve.

Remember, the more information they provide, the more you have to work with to potentially turn the sale around. In this video, Vice President of Sales for Cultivate Advisors, Nicole Gallop, demonstrates how to handle objections both offensively and defensively.

Adding this tactic to your sales process can help you uncover your buyer’s needs and start closing more deals. If you’re not sure where to start or need more help with your sales process, you don’t have to go at it alone. Schedule a free two-hour session with Cultivate Advisors to dig into your business.

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Objections are a natural step in the selling process. Be wary of a buyer with no objections because they probably have them, but they’re just not sharing them with you. When objections are viewed as a necessary step toward gaining commitment, they’re less likely to derail your sale.

Think of any great sports team that competes consistently for championships. Do they expect winning to be easy or difficult? Do they dismiss other teams or respect them? Do they avoid thinking about obstacles or prepare for them? Great teams win because they expect challenges and prepare to overcome them. The same is true in selling.

Sales Objections are Good

Objections are buying signals — a sign buyers are engaged. It means your offer is being considered, and this sure beats apathy or being ignored. Objections help identify areas where you haven’t fully communicated the value. They provide you with the opportunity to learn additional information about your buyers and what’s important to them. Objections are a good sign, and when handled properly, they can help you win the sale.

4 Steps to Overcoming Objections

When a prospect indicates that they aren’t ready to buy, take deep breath and employ this four-step process:

1. Listen fully to the objection. When you hear an objection, don’t jump right in and start responding immediately. If you react too quickly, you risk making assumptions about the objection. Take the time to listen to the objection completely. Beware of reacting defensively. You need to train yourself to ignore any negative emotions you might be feeling. Stay focused on what your client is saying and the business challenge you’re helping to solve. Emotions are natural, but you can’t let them interfere with your buyer interactions.
    
2. Ask questions to understand the objection entirely. Many objections hide underlying issues that the buyer can’t or isn’t ready to articulate. Often the true issue is not what the buyer first tells you. Especially when handling price objections. It’s your job to get to the heart of the objection and then understand it, and its true source. Start by asking permission to understand and explore the issue. Then, restate the concern as you understand it. This ensures that you’re not making any false assumptions. Continue by asking, ‘what else?’ and ‘why?’ questions for clarification. These help sellers get to the heart of the issue. Often times it’s the answer to the last ‘what else?’ question that contains the biggest barrier to moving the sale forward.
    
3. Respond promptly and properly. Once you’re confident that you’ve uncovered all objections and arrived at the heart of the issue, address the most important objection first. After you work through the greatest barrier to moving forward, other concerns may no longer matter or feel as important to the buyer. Do your best to resolve the issue right away. When you face a more complex objection, your instinct may be to put the discussion on hold so you can research the matter further. The more you can resolve in real-time, the greater chance you have of moving the sale forward. This is where your preparation and practice pay dividends. If you do need to investigate and uncover more information, don’t wing it. Buyers can sense that, and it only creates distrust.
    
4. Confirm you’ve satisfied the objection. Once you’ve responded to the objections, check if you’ve satisfied all of their concerns. Just because they nodded during your response doesn’t mean they agreed with everything you said. Ask if the buyer is happy with your solution. You don’t know if you don’t ask. Don’t take a lukewarm “yes” or “I think so” for an answer. Many buyers will accept a solution in the moment, but once you’re out of sight or off the phone, the objection still remains. Explain your solution further if necessary and start over by asking questions to fully understand the remaining concerns.

The next time you’re in a situation and there’s an objection, follow this simple, yet powerful, process to respond and move the sale along.

Mike Schultz is a bestselling author of Rainmaking Conversations and Insight Selling, Director of the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, and President of RAIN Group, a global sales training and performance improvement company. He and RAIN Group have helped hundreds of thousands of salespeople, managers, and professionals in more than 62 countries improve sales results and unleash their sales potential. Follow Mike on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn.