Expect Objections

1. Budget– “I don’t have any money this fiscal year.”
2. Time– “we are too busy to take on another project/solution/etc.”
3. Ignorance– “I have everything I need. We are in good shape.”
4. Price– “Your product costs 3 time the other guys.”
5. Personal preference– “We always use xyz and have no desire to change.”
6. Fear of change– Sometime folks are concerned a significant change in technology could make them obsolete or force them to grow when they are complacent.
7. They don’t have interest– the ever popular “Can you send me some information on that?”

So how do we avoid the pitfalls of objections?

Be prepared- I was a Boy Scout as a child and “Be Prepared” was our motto. It’s a good life philosophy to follow wether you are a Boy Scout or not.

1. Take the time to write down the top 10-15 objections you consistently hear.
2. Write out concise, well thought out, honest and valid replies to the objections. These answers need to be realistic in the customer’s eyes or you can make things worse.
3. Ask your peers and managers to review your objections and replies. Get coaching from them and make the needed adjustments.
4. Practice, practice, practice. You need to know these objections and replies by memory. But when stating your answers back to your customer don’t sound rehearsed. Use your own “Voice” when talking to your customer.
5. Role play with your peers or manager. This will build your confidence when you are in the hot seat.

Are there ways to avoid thes objections all together? If you are confident that the objection will come up in a meeting you may be able to disarm it by inserting the objections and replies into your presentation.

It’s important that wet are customer objections seriously. I believe the way you handle your reply can greatly impact your chance of success. You should not come off as defensive or arrogant. You should show empathy as you work to get to the root cause of the objection. As my mother used to tell me “It’s not always what you say but how you say it that matters.”

Here is some phrases that can soften the reply to an objection.

1. That’s one of the things I’m most excited about, we have made changes to xyz…
2. That is a concern that my newest customer had before we walked through….
3. That is an excellent question Mr. Customer let me tell you what we did with customer ABC…
4. Thank you for reminding me to discuss this. We now have completed the…
5. I agree! That can be/seems like an issue but here’s what other customers have done/found/etc…

Are objections ever a good thing? They can be. Some objections show that the customer is engaged in the conversation. Objections can give you an opportunity move the discussion into areas of deep importance for the customer. Don’t feel rushed to put the objection to bed. It may take 4 or more layers of questions and answers to get to the real pain that the customer is experiencing. But once you understand the pain you are in a much better position with your customer than your competition. Only after you get to the real pain can you help prescribe the medicine to make them better.

Please let me know what you think. Do you have prepared answers that have helped you in selling situations? Please comment and share. Thanks!