As an experienced salesman, if someone asks me exactly when I will know that my prospect is a definite buyer, it’s the time he or she raises the first objection.
Customers will raise questions in a sales-related dialogue only if they hope to proceed further. If the customer does not have questions at the end of a sales presentation, regardless of the quality of the sales pitch, it means that he or she is simply not interested in your product or service.
Sales objection is a precise expression by a prospect that a barrier exists between the product or the service presented and the actual need to be satisfied. It also is an unmistakable signal to the salesman whether he will buy your product or go elsewhere.
Simply, a sales objection is a rebuttal from the prospect where he or she explicitly explains why they will not buy from you. Therefore, any skilled salesperson treats customer objections as an explicit challenge and manages them in a positive mind.
Intelligent objection handling is one of the most vital traits of effective salesmanship. A sale can be done only if the salesperson manages to be on top when handling questions, clarifications, and misconceptions. If not it is a cinch that the prospect will move to a competitor who will do a better job in responding to objections.
As a salesman, if you get annoyed when customers make comments (they always will) like “your price is too high” or “your company has a horrible reputation” or “I will buy if you add more value” or ‘your competitor’s products are better”, selling is not your profession.
Challenges
Because such phrases will be day-to-day occurrences in a salesperson’s life. Therefore, instead, the salesman must treat the objections as challenges and respond with extreme enthusiasm and confidence.
Every customer (including you when you become a customer) habitually wants to buy the best product at the lowest price with excellent after-sales service and any other possible benefits. Hence, in reality, most often, all salesmen come across the same objections, perhaps, anywhere in the world. Apart from the objections related to technical aspects, the type of questions and clarifications are of the same nature for almost any selling situation.
The most common objection salesmen invariably face throughout history is the “price objection”. This objection ranges anywhere from simply stating that the product concerned is too expensive to forcing a discount by initially rejecting the offer.
Professional salesmen know that when a prospect says that the product is too expensive, they do not exactly mean only the price. It may even be a defence mechanism to hide the real reason or even simply a way of subtly asking for a discount or additional benefits. Hence, the salesman must first get to the root of the reason for the price objection.
There are many ways to successfully counter the price objections. In my experience, the best form is to illustrate the value of your product compared to the competition. With the correct knowledge of the product, company, competition, and the industry, the salesperson can anticipate the actual sense of the objection and handle it effectively. Explanation of the price-value ratio will convince your customer to make a buying decision.
Common objection
“We have a cheaper option” is another common objection raised frequently by the customers. This claim can be true or fabricated. The customer may say this to unsettle the salesman.
Nevertheless, the statement is logical, and as such cannot be countered by arguments. Like the price objection, you need to convince the prospect that cheaper is not always better.
Influencing the customer to view the product you offer is valuable in the long run with the possible benefits is the best way to handle this objection. Manipulate your customer to believe that he gets what he pays for, and the sale is yours.
Customers, when they want to politely get rid of you will say “I will think about it”. This means you have not yet done your job well enough to convince him. Either you have erred your sales presentation or not managed the objections to the satisfaction of the prospect. If you presume that the prospect has dismissed you and walked out of the place, you may never get another chance with the customer.
Hence, never presume. The best way to overcome this situation is to ask him to allow you to re-present the details or directly ask him for further clarifications to offer more details.
Salesmen often come across prospects who stick to a single supplier merely because they provide satisfactory service. They say “We are happy with the way things are” and brush off even before the sales presentation. Inexperienced salesmen might drop this prospect and move on to the next.
However, in my experience, this behaviour offers an opportunity for the salesman to break in. Professional salesmen take this situation as a challenge and devise ways to continue the conversation.
The technique is to use the “disequilibrium theory” in selling and unbalancing the trust the prospect possesses in the existing supplier. Most often, with good selling skills, a salesman can successfully turn the prospect around.
As a field sales representative, many years back, the most disturbing objection to me was to hear negative comments about the company I have represented. Customers sometimes say “We have bad feedback about your company”.
When this happens a salesman can naturally get agitated and either over-manage the objection or complicate the situation by trying to over-explain. Inexperienced salesmen may even get hostile towards the prospect.
The best way to handle this objection is to listen to the comments in a friendly manner and make amendments to the allegations genuinely. If the customer’s comments are factual, without arbitrarily opposing them, you can tell him that you will take corrective measures.
Prospects sometimes say that they are too busy to deal with the salesman. This means that they are not basically interested in your products even if they have a need.
Forcing your way in most often does not work as it can create an unpleasant ambience. Even if you manage to secure an appointment with the prospect in such a situation, your sales discussion will start at a negative point.
Hence, the best way to handle the situation is to send a personalised letter, e-mail, or short message to the prospect, giving specific reasons why he should discuss his needs with you.
Gatekeepers are not only living and breathing objections but also the most annoying creatures for salespeople. They are the most difficult roadblocks the salespeople confront, particularly in B2B selling situations. Customarily, the gatekeepers are close advisors to business decision-makers. Most frequently, the direction of the entire transaction depends on the interaction the salesman retains with gatekeepers.
Good rapport
Therefore, although they are irritating, the salesman must treat them with respect to build a good rapport. The salesman’s goal is to develop a trusting relationship with them and the rest is assured. If managed skillfully, gatekeepers will help you to counter the objections of others in the organisation as well.
Finally, the salesman must know how to accept a “hard no” from a prospect. You must know when to stop and proceed to the next prospect without wasting valuable time. Although salesmen are taught to persevere, they must understand when to draw the line as well. However, rejections are hard for any salesman but it does not mean that you let yourself be discouraged. It is part and parcel of the selling profession. Instead, salesmen must develop ego-drive where they move to the next lead regardless of any number of rejections.