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.