Handling rejection and helping prospects overcome their objections and reservations are crucial skills in sales.
There are probably some objections you encounter time and time again, so how do you manage them?
Having a tried and tested approach to handling objections is crucial, so here’s our suggested approach.
- Acknowledge
First and foremost, don’t argue. You may think that what your prospect has just said makes no sense at all, or you may think that they’ve completely misunderstood everything you’ve told them.
To them, however, their objection is real, so the first thing to do is show them that you acknowledge that they have a concern.
- Question What They Mean
Price is by far the most common objection, but what does that mean? Do they think your price is too high compared to your competition? Do they think your price doesn’t represent value for money? Are they interested but don’t have the cash right now?
If you don’t get to the root cause of the objection, your response may be irrelevant and ineffective.
So take time to clarify what they mean before you even think about responding.
- Demonstrate That You understand
Once you’ve understood the root cause of the objection, demonstrate that you understand it, typically by paraphrasing what they’ve just told you.
This shows that you’re genuinely interested in helping them and demonstrate true empathy.
- Give Your Answer
Now you can respond.
With a price objection, maybe you’ll need to restate your value and demonstrate the potential return. Perhaps you’ll need to explain why your product or service is superior to the competition. Maybe you can provide some form of payment plan to spread the cost.
Once you’ve provided your answer you need to check that they understand and, hopefully, accept your response and are ready to proceed.
Don’t worry if they raise another objection, just repeat the steps until you’ve answered every objection.
It’s always worth listing out the four or five most common objections you encounter and then developing the questions you could ask to get to the root cause. The use these to practice with a colleague or friend so that your response become second nature.
If you’re struggling with objection handling or any other element in selling, then check out our sales training and coaching packages.
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