How to Overcome Sales Objections

Objections are a natural part of the selling process. They come in many forms: challenges, opportunities, problems, requests for more information, cries for value building, stalling and more. They can also be annoying as heck and make you want to drive your car off a cliff.

Yet mostly, they’re simply the manner in which prospects communicate their status in the buying process. Thus, they’re crucial to understand. Yet, most salespeople struggle to overcome them, leaving the prospect to mumble that they’ll “get back to you, need to think about it, or do some checking around.” None of those are fun to hear and don’t pay very well either.

The high performance salesperson recognizes and appreciates objections. If there are no objections, it could mean that the prospect is apathetic. But when there are objections, the key to overcoming them is to turn a negative into a positive.

This is how the objection sequence works:

1. Listen to the objection. Hear the prospect out completely. Don't anticipate what he is saying and finish the sentence for him/her. Don't interrupt. If appropriate, close your book to take the tension off him/her.
2. Explain the objection as you understand it for clarity – “I can appreciate that, so what you are saying is (objection).” Isolate the objection and lock it down.
3. OR question the objection – “That's very interesting. Just for my own information, why do you feel (objection)?” Again, isolate and lock down the objection.
4. Confirm that you have answered the objection – “I guess we’ve made that clear?” Or, “Does that make sense now?” Or, “I'm glad you brought up that point, because our most informed customers always become our most satisfied customers. Are you comfortable that we have addressed that 100% to your satisfaction?” Get past it before moving on!
5. Go toward the close. This must only be done after answering each objection this prospect raises.

Handling the #1 objection: Price

A prospect can present any number of objections, but the most common is “your price is too high.” Don’t let it end there. For you, the price is always right – because you understand the value. You just have to get your prospect to get to that same understanding. There are several ways you can do that:

Payment versus price. Tell the prospect, “I am glad you mentioned price. That's really the best part about buying from us. We'll put the purchase price into small installment payments, so your actual investment per month will probably be lower than what you spend in energy and repairs!”

Quality versus cheapness. Ask the prospect, “Have you ever figured the price of not having high quality? The price of breakdowns, the cost of wasted time, the phone calls, the headaches, and the repair bills. You see the high quality actually saves you money in the end. When would be the best time to start saving that money?”

Initial Price and Value Elevation. Begin by quoting a price that is very high and then gradually build your value to match or exceed that price. Then your actual price sounds far more reasonable.

For example, you can cay, “Your new system – outfitted the way you want it, will probably run to $6,000 or a little more.” Then as you continue expounding upon each item of value, the customer is beginning to see how it might well go past $6,000.

When you present the proposal, you say, “Well, with everything figured in and the way I saw we could wisely save you some money, your system total is just fifty two eighty.”

Your high initial price will “raise” their thinking about price and will cause them to value the item more highly. When you present it as within their reach, it becomes almost irresistible.

Emphasize benefits. Sales master Charlie Greer says that when customers reject your offer based on price, they’re only taking money into consideration. There’s a lot more to the purchase, and you’ve got to make that clear for the customer. You’ve got to believe in your own mind “For what we do, we’re the cheapest in town.” Be able to spell out the benefits of doing business with your company. By doing so, you’re helping your customer organize his thoughts so he can make the right decision.

Make it look difficult. If customers balk at the high price, explain that this is the price at which you have been selling the item for some time, and anything lower would be the rare exception and very difficult.

You may even quote neighborhood houses that have similarly priced systems! (This may put a little guilt into their “cheapness gene.”) This is for those times when you’re pretty sure that the balk was staged or just a little “smoke” from the customer to see if you’d negotiate. Staying firm is the tactic to use here.

Speak only in terms of “difference.” Do not ever speak of the Full Price of your system versus their own view of the Most They’ll Pay; only refer to the difference. For example, if your system is $6,000 and he only wants to pay $5,200, you never mention “six thousand dollars” again. Instead, you say, “We’re only eight hundred apart.” Then begin to focus on increasing the value by more than the difference, or by taking out things to equal the difference.

Reduce to minimal terms. Using the above example, “Your payment on the eight hundred is less than $17 a month. You’ll save more in energy than that.”

Or, “You’d spend more than that on repairs to your old energy wasting system. But your new system comes with our 5-year parts and labor warranty, so any and all repairs are free.”

Or, “Over the 10-year system life, this eight hundred is just over $6 a month, which is about 21 cents a day. Isn’t it worth getting what you want for 21 cents a day?”

Use visual aids. Place your right hand about a foot in front of you at eye level, palm down. Call that the fair market value of what you're offering. Then place your left hand about six inches below your right. Say, "If you offer me this, and I try to get you up here (move your left hand up so that it is now six inches above your right hand), shame on me.”

Return your left hand to its original position and say, "But if you offer me this and I bring us closer to an even playing field (move your left hand so that it is even with the right), does this sound fair?” 

This builds credibility and moves you ahead dramatically in the negotiation process.

If you can learn to overcome objections, you overcome resistance to the sales process. Follow these tips to close more sales, more often, at higher prices. 

No Waffling Here

A 30-something year old guy, clearly a contractor, knocks at the door of my little car warehouse.

He introduces himself, hands me a card and explains that he is the General Contractor building the Waffle House restaurant across the street, as he does across 3 southern states. He politely asks if his guys could park their trucks in front of my place for the day, as big equipment has squeezed them off-site.

“Long as they don’t block the door, that’s fine,” I replied.

I’m half shocked they’re building at all. The restaurant sector is in steep decline, and staff turn-over is always an issue. In the case of the 24 hour short-order Waffle House, inexpensive greasy fare doesn’t generally attract the highest quality servers. They’ve a long reputation as a hangout for smoker’s swilling endless coffee refills. I figure this guy keeps one eye on Monster.com for anything with more promise – such as cleaning aquarium tanks.

I venture a question about work. “Oh my gosh,” he replied. “Things are the best they’ve ever been, and here’s why.” I am beyond shocked at his answer…

Before he tells me, let’s look at the Waffle House, from the outside in. 

First, know that the restaurant sector and in-home service contractors battle it out for first place in highest business failure rate. (Not coincidentally, “poor marketing” and “lack of leads” is cited in both cases as top reasons for failure.) 

Next, Waffle Houses are “narrow” buildings, crammed onto small lots, so diner quantity is tiny, like 16-20, so management must force “table turns” at a higher rate to be profitable. (Industry jargon for a table’s refilling with customers.) Staying open 24 hours sounds like a great idea, until you consider “who” is coming in with a serious hankering for blueberry waffles at 3am. A staff is still necessary, as is security. 

Plus, the lower end of the economic spectrum is who quit going to restaurants during the recession, whereas more affluent ate out less, and spent less as a whole from 2008-mid 2012, but it’s eking up slowly. Yet, the affluent didn’t hit the Waffle House. The “word” was out about the awful smoke, the unruly patrons, and generally dim service. 

Times were dire. Until 3 things happened that changed the world.

I asked my newest contractor friend, “I bet the no smoking policy killed your business”. He said, “Heck no. Best thing that ever happened.”

Taken aback, I asked, “How? With so many hard core patrons who sought you out?”

“That’s the thing” Jeff said, “At first, business dried up. I mean, half our clientele just quit coming.” He paused. “Then our CEO got the bright idea to reposition Waffle House as a clean, smoke free family environment. He figured if Las Vegas could do it, Waffle House could do it. So our marketing got all cleaned up, mailed out, and new customers started coming in.” 

(AH: Yes, note “mail”, as in paper things with stamps on them for a privately held company with 1,700 locations, second only to Denny’s in category.)

Since I’d done so well with my “no smoking” guess, I asked about the recession’s hit on his business. 

“That actually turned out pretty much to our advantage too,” Jeff said.

Another Turnaround?

With a look of now perpetual stun, I asked him to go on. “Before, we were attracting a nice enough staff, but sometimes toward desperate, and our tippers weren’t the greatest,” he said with some understatement, “but things have changed.”

“With unemployment, we started attracting far higher quality staff, we invested in training, and upselling. We began marketing that we were hiring and growing while everyone else was letting people go. We now have a backlog of great quality people. Plus, our profit sharing went up, which didn’t hurt.” 

From this random knock on the door, I’ve gotten 3 lessons, even though you’ve only just seen two. 

The Missing Ingredient Revealed

The third – and most important – is attitude. We don’t create our circumstances, but we dang sure create our reaction to them. 

A smoker’s paradise suddenly hit with a smoking ban could consider that bad news… or an opportunity to reposition. 

A lower-priced restaurant losing customers amid a recession could consider that bad news… or see an opportunity to hire a higher quality grade of workers, and attract similar patrons. 

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that marketing these messages to the people that patronize and work there cemented the attitude. That, plus the contagious atmosphere that positive people, with positive outlooks, yield positive results.

I invite Jeff in for an impromptu car tour. We talk cars, racing, guy stuff. “One of these days,” he said pointing to a particularly potent street machine, “I want to have one of those.”

“Jeff,” I looked at him keenly, “with your outlook and attitude, you may as well start making space in your garage.”

- Read more here.

What Keeps You From Closing More?

As marketing brings in leads, leads must bring sales – or what’s the point of all this effort?  Indeed, if your leads aren't paying off, there’s trouble afoot. 

There is a huge difference between being “close” in a sale, and getting to “close” on a sale.  One pays, and the other, well, doesn't   If the “no close for you” scenario is happening too often at your company, there could be a reason.  One of, say, seven reasons: 

1. Too much technical input – The former technician who is wowed by technical features, installation procedures and the sheer mechanics of a new system often fails to say how any of this actually benefits the customer.  Forget trying to impress them with your head knowledge.  Impress them instead with their benefits. 

2. Not listening – A customer will give the clues for a sale to the salesperson who is listening.  So watch and listen.  

3. Not communicating clear benefits – You can talk all you want to about systems, efficiency, prices, financing, maintenance and your superiority.  If the customer can’t fit this into his “What’s in it for me?” mentality, you may as well just go home.  Close on benefits and solutions that make sense to the customer.

4. Not asking for the sale – In high school, all us guys learned this painful lesson at the prom:  No matter how neat your hair was, how cool your outfit was, how many times you flossed your teeth, or that you had the exact right amount of Hai Karate cologne on, eventually you’re going to have to ask the girl to dance.  Same goes for salespeople.  There’s a semi-uncomfortable impasse at the end of the presentation where you must get a decision.  These closes can move you past that point toward the real point of your visit, which is to get the sale.

5. Not selling the company – Customers are often convinced of many things in the presentation from you and from all the other companies, but they’re looking for that “difference” which is often the integrity of the company.  Tell it.  Sell it.  Close on it.

6. Not selling your honesty and trustworthiness – Just like the above, too many salespeople get stuck on a great presentation that has no “personal” feel to it, no relationship, no eye-to-eye transfer of trust.  The salesperson that fails to appear honest (even though he or she may be beyond reproach) will not close many sales. 

7. Not presenting the “closing solution” to the customer - This is perhaps the biggest crime of all.  A customer wants his “solution” packaged for him (that’s why you’re there!)  Then, he wants this package presented as a logical, natural progression from his current situation to your solution for him. 

Now that you know what not to do, let me share one very important mindset shift.  A full 80% of all sales are made based upon how well you are liked by the customer.  From your neatness in appearance, timeliness in arrival, respect to customer’s homes, listening skills and more, much of your “sales” are really related to your likeability.

Even your website needs a little personality added to it. Customer’s go to your website way before your technician even steps foot in the driveway. If your site is “ugly” and hasn’t been updated in over a year, you’re most likely pushing customers away.

Try including testimonials, home-care tips, employee profiles and even a website only coupon or discount customers can use. Tie these all together with a nice format and easy-to-read text and your customers will know you’re professional way before your tech rings the bell.  

Also, remember that likeability is more than just smiling, being polite and complimenting the customer’s house as you walk in the door.  It is a method of immediately identifying with the customer and starting a relationship. 

You don’t need to change your personality, just become more “in tune” with your prospects.  See things as they do.  Pay specific attention to all members of the family who are available at the sales presentation.  Laugh with them; acknowledge their fears or concerns; ask permission.

By the time you are halfway through your presentation, you’ll be recognized as “one of the family,” so make yourself at home and identify with every person you meet. 

Being likeable – as simple as it sounds – will be your most powerful closing tool.  As you become more of a genuine, caring friend, you’ll find people accept your suggestions not like a salesperson, but as an adviser. 

Remember, people more likely buy from friends than from strangers. The quicker and more sincerely you become a friend, you’ll raise your closing ratio and your number of friends immediately.  Not a bad outcome!