3/28/2024-Objection Handling

Anything short of asking a direct question and forcing them to tell you their objections is beating around the bush.

You can be a great listener, have strong probing skills, and be a competent negotiator….but you’ll go far in sales only if you excel in handling objections.

The key is to develop the courage and skill to go get them.

Proactively and directly asking customers to share their objections (or "issues") force a direct and honest conversation about reality.

Sticking your head in the sand and assuming your prospect loves everything about your offering is naive.

Refresh your active brain on the three bonafide truths of objection handling:

1. Surface objections on every customer interaction. (Yes, even on your first pitch meetings…perceptions form early, dontcha know!)

2. Seed objections to purposely get them in the open. You know the common objections to your product; bring ’em up!

3. DO NOT try to solve the problem in that meeting. Listen and get your customers talking. If you build trust, there will be time down the line for the solving.

Those sales trainers who promote their act on YouTube will tell you there are 11…or 14…or even more essential steps and skills needed to master objection handling.

Don’t let them mislead you.

Objection handling is about having gobs of courage to address issues proactively, and you’ll get that courage by doing. The more frequently you ask your prospects about their thoughts on why you may not do a deal, the bigger your courage grows.

Prepare for your hard question by crafting language you are comfortable with.

Here’s a good one: "So, you’ve seen enough about our offering to have formed many impressions…let’s talk about the issues you have about our offering that may derail our chance of doing business."

But that question may not be specific enough for some prospects – they may hide behind a generic answer that doesn’t help you move the needed on their perceptions. You might need to follow up with, "So… what specifically are your objections about our fit?"

Further, don’t think you’re being courageous or direct when asking this question, "…so, what questions do you have about our product?"

That’s not a question directly referring to objections and you won’t learn anything to help you solve the issue.

Start with the premise that buyers won’t automatically or freely tell you about the issues that may be defined as objections or obstacles. And you certainly can’t solve any objections until you know the truth.

In this worth-watching 5-minute MadMen clip, Don Draper doesn’t have the luxury of knowing the truth about the client’s intentions to move their business to another agency.

BUT…he’s DD, so of course, he saves the business.

Think how close he was to losing the account had he not gotten lucky.

Don’t depend on luck; proactively surface objections and obstacles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYvuuyhH-Gk