After more than 35 years in sales, and 25 years training sales people from more than 300 different industries, I’ve reached the conclusion that most sales people lack the vital skills necessary to handle objections.
The “kiss of death”
Most sales people fear objections, because for them objections are the “kiss of death”. Objections stop them dead in their tracks and the sale is lost. Indeed, objections de-rail 90% or more of sales people when they come up.
So why do prospects bring up objections?
There are many reasons but here are some of the major ones:
- What the sales person has proposed for them is not right for them
This shows up a basic flaw in the sales process used by many sales people who fail to ask enough questions early in the process, to clarify their prospect’s needs. A sales person who makes this mistake deserves to lose the sale.
- It’s a negotiating tactic
Some prospects do play “reluctant buyer” and do use objections to slow down the sales process and get a better deal. It is absolutely vital that you know how to handle these types of objections and negotiate with these types of prospects.
- It’s a condition and not an objection
A condition is different to an objection. It’s an unalterable set of circumstances, which prevents the sale from proceeding. For example the company announces it is about to go into bankruptcy. Or your contact leaves the company. These things happen and are not your fault. There is no point in getting ‘bent out of shape’ over them.
- It’s an excuse
I believe that more sales are lost by sales people who get stopped by an excuse, than for any other reason. That is, they fail to get to the real objection. “I’d like to think it over” is rarely the truth. It’s a polite put-off. They have already thought it over and the answer is no! It’s probably NO for the next reason–
- It’s because they don’t understand the benefits well enough
Most genuine objections occur because the prospect does not clearly see that the benefits of going ahead outweigh the reasons for not going ahead. For example, when a prospect says, “It costs too much”, they are rarely saying this because they don’t have the cash. It’s because in their mind, the cost outweighs the benefits.
This is where the average sales person is tempted to drop their price. Often this is not even enough to swing the deal and if it does then the deal may be unprofitable anyway. What they should be doing is selling the benefits, which will TILT the “value for money” EQUATION in favour of going ahead. It’s easy to do too, when you know how!
Objections need not be the “kiss of death”
They need not de-rail the sale for you, if you have the right strategies for:
- Preventing objections in the first place
- Handling objections before they come up
- Getting past excuses to the real objection and then handling the question professionally
- TILTING the VALUE FOR MONEY EQUATION in favour of a decision to go ahead with you
These are all vital skills that you must have well developed if you are a serious sales professional. Your response must be an automatic strategy to turn the objection into a reason to buy now.
The good thing about these skills is, that they are like all skills, they can be learned. Amateur sales people will continue to get the same objections every time and won’t ever bother to develop the skills to handle them. That surely is insanity!
Author Credits
Wayne Berry, CEO, TOP GUN® Business Academy; Sandringham, Victoria; Ph: (03) 9521 0500; Email: wayneberry@topgunba.com.au. Wayne Berry is Australia's own TOP GUN Sales Coach. He is a professional speaker and trainer and in constant demand for sales conferences. He has authored three best selling books and more than 40 audio and video programmes on selling, negotiating, sales management and motivation, now sold in 13 countries.