Boost Your Sales

The ability to handle objections with ease, calm and even humor has a lot to do with how many sales you actually close.

Objections can occur at any time during the sales process. Since you can always count on objections showing up, you might as well view them as friends to be valued instead of enemies to be feared.

Here are effective steps for handling objections, no matter when they happen.

1. Listen And Analyze

It sounds easy, but studies have shown that salespeople don’t take the time to listen to what’s being said, or more importantly, analyze what’s not being said. The Wall Street Journal conducted a study of 432 corporate buyers and found their biggest complaint to be that salespeople are “too talkative,” reporting that less than 30 percent of the salespeople they met “really listened.”

What is the prospect saying? Is it a valid objection? What’s the emotional level? Is it really an objection or a simple question?

One of the partners in our firm tells of an incident with one of his salespeople. They went to a customer’s site to pick up a contract. The customer asked a simple question that should have been answered with a yes or no. The salesperson went into a lengthy explanation. His explanation brought up some additional questions in the customer’s mind that prolonged the signing of the contract for another two months.

Don’t over-explain. Just make sure you pay attention to what the prospect is saying.

2. Make A Supporting Statement

This is the most crucial step. Support the right of the prospect to have an objection. You are not agreeing with their position, only their right to have one. Don’t confront.

Here’s an example. Let’s say your prospect says your price is too high. Your supporting statement might go as follows:

“Well, I can certainly appreciate your concern for getting the most value out of your investment.”

This statement not only diffuses the price objection by seeming to agree with your prospect’s concern for price, it also shifts the focus to value.

More importantly, a supporting statement lowers tension and helps control the emotional climate.

3. Clarify

At this point you want to get to the bottom line of what has caused the price objection. Ask questions. Find out if there is a specific area of your proposed solution that has caused your prospect’s concern. Is he or she comparing your solution with another? Are they comparing apples to apples? Is there a misunderstanding?

Get all the issues on the table.

4. Respond Or Reframe

Now you respond to your prospect’s price objection. This could be as simple as pointing out the differences between your proposal and your competition’s. You might be able to lower your price by pulling out some features that may not be needed. Your clarifying questions (in step three) allow you to confirm that you haven’t proposed unneeded features that add to the cost of your solution.

When reframing an objection, your goal is to change your prospect’s frame of reference. If your prospect says the price is too high, you want to reframe their thinking from price to value.

You might respond with the following: “I appreciate your desire to get the most value for your dollar. Let me ask you this. Is price always the most important concern? Does the lowest price always equate with value? In automobiles the Yugo was the lowest-priced new car on the market for a while. Or how about a new home? The lowest bidder doesn’t always provide the best value in building a new home. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want to pick a heart surgeon solely based on price.”

Then bring the analogy back to the true value of your product or service.

Now remember, what you are trying to do in overcoming objections is open up the prospect’s mind just enough to allow you to continue the selling process.

Most salespeople will hear an objection and want to jump straight to a response without defusing the objection with a supporting statement and clarifying any unresolved issues. When you get an objection, remember to clarify the issue(s) by gathering any additional information needed.

Practice this approach in dealing with objections you encounter throughout your next few days. Try it with your prospects and customers, your banker, employees, children or spouse.

I think you will find this simple approach to overcoming objections not only effective but also helpful in building rapport and credibility and putting you a “step up” in the process of closing more sales.