You’ve made your presentation, the prospect is interested, and you’re hoping to close the deal quickly and painlessly. But for some reasons, the prospect seems unwilling to commit. Eventually they decide they just need more time to think about it. At some point in almost every transaction your customer will raise objections. There are many ways in which to handle objections. Almost any sales program will spend extensive time telling you how to overcome objections. Doubtless it is one of the more useful skills to have.
The First Objection Is Not Usually the Real Objection
One of the key jobs of a sales person is to uncover the pain of the prospect. What pain can the sales person and their product make go away which will cause a transaction? Although it would make sense for the customer to reveal this pain or need so that it could be addressed, it is contrary to human nature, especially within the business world where power is everything. If a customer reveals they are hurting, it makes them feel vulnerable and easily taken advantage of. For this reason, prospects will hide their true objections behind delay tactics like “I need to talk to my partner before I make this decision.”
Here are some common objections which are really tactics for delaying or saving face.
- I need to think about it
- I’m happy with what I have right now
- I need to ask “so and so” their opinion
- I don’t have time
These may seem like legitimate objections, however, they are usually covering up a deeper issue.
Finding the Real Objection
In order to find the real objection, you must continue to probe. If a prospect says “that sounds nice, but I need to think about it a little more.” Then is a perfect opportunity to ask “what exactly is it you would like to think about more?” Think of yourself as a doctor: they continue to ask questions to find all the information about a patient’s pain, even the information they may not really want to reveal at first.
Overcoming Sales Objections
The key is the find the real objection. Perhaps after a few probing questions, you find they are actually not the true decision maker, the CFO needs to sign off on the transaction. Once you uncover this, you can arm your prospect with the information needed to convince the CFO to approve. It’s impossible to provide a solution to an evasive delay tactic. It’s much easier to provide a solution to a concreate objection or problem. Your product and industry knowledge will serve you well here.
How Not to Handle Objections
There are several things you should not do when your customer raises an objection. Never argue with your client. The old saying “the customer is always right” isn’t true. However, they are right in their own minds. Don’t be defensive. This will cause the client to believe they are justified in their objection.
Overcoming sales objections is one of the challenges of the job. Refuse to be discouraged by the smoke screen objections and keep digging till you find the true issue, and you will be successful. For more information about winning sales techniques, check out our excellent book, The Sandler Rules. Learn more about how to apply these principles from Sandler Training Solutions.