New salespeople and many business owners are terrified of objections. There may be objections they haven’t learned to respond to that become nightmares in their sleep. They’re afraid customers will raise those objections, and their fear might actually trigger the objections.
They don’t understand that an objection doesn’t mean the customer doesn’t want the product or service being offered.
An objection is actually a request for more information.
Objections isolate the customer’s areas of interest. When you look at objections that way, they become the steps to the sale.
Instead of running in terror when a customer raises an objection, treat it as a question. After confirming that you understand the objection, respond, “Here’s the information you’re asking for. Does that satisfy your question?” Then confirm the customer accepts the answer and move to a test close.
List objections that customers raise and write answers to them in advance. Then you’ll be prepared when they arise.
Most products and services have frequently-raised objections or questions. Instead of waiting for the customer to raise them, why not incorporate them into your presentation?
Almost every product and service has a built-in objection. It’s an objection that comes up in almost every discussion. Again, it can be incorporated into your presentation. If there isn’t a satisfactory answer, there may be enough other benefits in your product or service that the customer will accept it anyway. “What will your decision be based on, a built-in fireplace or the warmth of the home, including the gorgeous master bedroom and bathroom, spacious kitchen, breakfast room and dining room?”
It may be an alternative product or service isn’t available that exactly fits the customer’s picture of what it should be, so yours will be the best choice.
There are some situations where a product or service might not be the right one for the customer. For example, if you’re showing a two-bedroom home to a family with six children, it’s probably not going to work. This situation is not an objection, it’s a condition. You shouldn’t have shown that home to them in the first place. You should have asked qualifying questions to determine what their requirements are.
Sometimes conditions will dissolve when treated as objections. For example, the customer might say “I want the home to have a swimming pool.” If you show the customer where a swimming pool can be built, that might satisfy the customer’s condition.
Marketing pieces are “salesmanship multiplied.” They should include a “questions and answers” section answering common (and not so common) objections.
When you listen to customers and prepare for their objections in advance, you can make buying your products and services much more pleasant for your customers and yourself, resulting in more sales.