Even when your prospect answers your call, they can be hesitant or unwilling to take the conversation further.
Quite often, sales reps face such incidents – which are called ‘sales objections ‘– and end up getting anxious while handling them.
These common sales objections can seem like a dead-end and tend to give reps sleepless nights. The reps start speaking faster to counter the prospect, and some even interrupt the customer multiple times, which can hamper closing the deal.
Before we explore how to manage and overcome these objections, let's understand them first.
A sales objection could be a question, action, or a negative statement given in response to your pitch. And when a customer repeatedly oscillates from showing interest to showing none, it can be challenging to navigate to your end goal. It's important to recognize why your lead could be putting forth these objections.
Prospects can be difficult to convince or hesitant to buy your product for a plethora of reasons. Customer objections can be mostly summarized with the acronym 'BANT', which stands for:
We can include many top sales objections here. But before we get into that, let's break down these points first.
Did you know that 35% of sales objections are due to pricing issues? Prospects can hesitate to consider your offering due to the financial risks involved. Here, sales reps need to prove what benefits your product will bring to the prospects so that they can justify the risks with the value of your solution.
If your prospect is not the ultimate decision-maker, it can seem challenging for them to convince their boss or supervisor.
Ask to arrange a call with their boss, and don't skimp on the details when on call. If things go well, the prospect might also be able to put in a good word about you to their boss.
Perceive objection as an opportunity to identify and solve customer problems. Sales objections that revolve around a lack of need are a perfect way to get information from your prospect regarding their current issues and inform them of the value your solution provides. Asking open-ended questions also aids in the process of qualifying your lead.
Asking questions such as, “What are your top business priorities?” can prompt the prospect into the conversation. Also, it will give you the needed information to offer value and address their needs.
Often, the issue isn't exactly timing – it is the lack of urgency. An overwhelming number of sales reps have trouble establishing urgency. There is a need to convince them of the need to solve the problems as soon as possible because they will consider your solutions more seriously.
Sometimes prospects brush off your calls by claiming the issue as ‘timing’. When asked to elaborate, they give random responses or excuses instead of valid reasons. It isn't easy to establish urgency under such circumstances, and it's better to schedule a call for another time.
Before getting into handling the objections, sales reps need to understand how to keep customers engaged and add value to the conversation.
These are some of the top ways to create a positive sales experience, according to buyers:
A sales representative that goes on the defensive by engaging in a monologue will not close a deal any time soon. There are multiple ways of fulfilling the buyer's expectations.
First, ask questions.
Before jumping in with a response to the customer objections, you need to get a few more details from the prospects. By doing this, you can avoid a conversation based on assumptions or misunderstandings.
Questions also give you ready access to critical information the prospect may have left out. Their response would give you a better understanding of the prospect and the current challenges they face, and their specific needs.
Then, act tactfully
61% of buyers feel that pushy sales representative don't offer a good sales experience.
Listening to your prospects needs is essential, so you must show interest and respect. You can encourage them to talk about the issues they are facing without hesitation. You need to be patient and avoid interrupting your prospect, as that can create a wrong impression.
Listening and acknowledging may co-occur. In fact, acknowledging your prospect as they speak can affirm that you are actively listening to them.
While acknowledging what your prospect is saying, you can mirror what they are saying to demonstrate understanding and ask for clarifications. This step is specifically created to confirm what exactly your prospect is talking about and to collect any more information if required.
To respond to what your prospect has told you, you need to have a near-perfect understanding of their concern and circumstances. This step would be where you delve into problem-solving and talk about the next steps.
Here are some examples of the most common objections you might face with a prospect and how to resolve them.
You might have to clarify what issues the customer is currently facing. Then you can make them understand why solving them should be a priority and how your product or service help them.
Example response: “Could you tell me a bit more about your current priorities? What issues are you facing at the moment?”
You don't have to justify your product's price here. Instead, focus more on the value your product brings to your prospect and how it specifically addresses the issues they are facing.
Example response: “I'd love to elaborate on our product's features because I can see that it can resolve the issues you mentioned earlier.”
The first step would be to tell them about your product's USP. If possible, you can refer to any consumer studies your organization has done to use as a response.
Example response: “We have a proven track record. Here's a statistic that shows how many consumers are satisfied with our product compared to our competition. Would you like to discuss the features of our product that could assist you?”
If your customer feels they cannot justify this purchase to their team or supervisor, you can take the reins from there and ask them to connect you with the decision-maker.
Example response: “Could you please get me in touch with the person who is authorized to make these decisions?”
This concern is valid for any team. You can offer demos for the primary users and guide them with features and benefits. You can also let them know that the customer success team is available to assist them.
Example response: “I can see that your concern is regarding your understanding of our product, so I'd like to know which aspects of it are confusing to you. If you'd like, I can put you in touch with a product engineer from our team to assist you with this issue.”
Talk about services that can be supplementary and can aid in adding this feature. For instance, if you are selling software, make sure you inform your prospect about its integrations with other applications.
Example response: “We have an integration with a partner's product that works well with our product and can provide the feature you are looking for.”
You would need to establish value here. You might have to formally pitch to your prospect regarding what they seek from a solution and what benefits your product/service brings to the table.
Example response: “I would love to schedule a call to explain the ROI you could gain with our product/service and the benefits it can bring to your organization.”
Differentiating yourself from the competitor is crucial. In this case, you'll have to dig deeper into what doesn't work for the competitor and explain how you can do it right. Why is the competitor's product "just fine"?
Example response: “We would like to understand what specific features you like about our competitor's product. What issues do you face with it? Here's how our product can do more.”
Offer to call the prospect back later, but remember to verify when they would be free to schedule a call. This would create a sense of responsibility for answering a call at a specific time, and it can make your potential customers feel like they have already invested energy into your product.
Example response: “I understand. Please let me know what time you would be free for a call."
Sometimes prospects can get aggressive, and the key here would be to keep calm and respond humbly. Get directly to the point and convey how you got their information. Also, ensure that you are ethically sourcing information.
Example response: “We got your details from Mr XYZ from ABC company." or “You submitted an online form on our website.”
Sales objections can be an excellent way to identify your prospect's needs, as well as help you in clearing any doubts surrounding your product, service, and organization. Sales reps need to engage meaningfully to overcome these issues confidently.
Conversational Intelligence platforms like Salesken can help sales reps in addressing objections.
The platform provides real-time cues for introduction, asking questions, giving responses, and more during their interactions. It analyzes speech to detect meaning and emotions that can assist your reps in understanding the prospect better.
Sales leaders also get post-call analytics, which can help them get references from successful call instances of the best performers and give suggestions for the overall team improvement. This, in tandem with lead-scoring insights, can ensure a closed deal with the right prospect.
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