Are you getting objections when you’re trying to close a sale? Closing a prospect can feel especially challenging when the prospect is objecting to every other thing you’re saying. You may feel frustrated, but it’s important to stay patient and consider some methods to overcome objections during the sale close. One method is to handle all the potential objections in the introduction by qualifying yourself and your prospect. Remember that objections aren’t the prospect saying ‘no’, they are concerns that you need to figure out how to address for them via an appropriate response.
Qualifying yourself in the introduction by describing your position and your company will build legitimacy. Make sure your prospect is the decision maker, and then schedule a meeting to discuss the customer’s needs. After you have had a proper introduction meeting, then you will ask the customer all the questions relevant to their needs. What product or service do they use? Is it a competitor product? What’s their company information? Find out everything you can about them and their problems. Then schedule a presentation that’s based on solving those problems and needs for them. After the presentation, you will ask buying questions, which is where objections will start to come in.
In many cases, you can turn your prospect’s sales objections to your advantage; it’s just a matter of knowing how to respond. There will be various sales objections that are specific to your prospect’s business or current situation. Many of the most popular objections are:
- It’s too expensive.
- We don’t have the budget.
- I can get a cheaper version somewhere else.
- We’re being downsized/bought out.
- I don’t like being locked into a contract.
- I’m currently under contract with someone else.
- I’m happy with [competitor].
- We’re doing fine in this area, or I’m okay with the status quo.
- I’ve been burned before or I had a bad experience with a similar products/services.
- You don’t understand my challenges. I need help with Y, not X.
- You don’t understand my business.
- I don’t have the time/resources for this right now.
- We don’t have the capacity to implement the product.
- I’ll have to talk to my team and get back to you.
- I’m not ready for a buying conversation.
- Call me back next quarter.
- Sorry I have to cancel. I’ll get back to you with a better time.
- I don’t understand the value, and I’m too busy to think about it.
Many of these objections could have been handled in the introduction before the presentation. If you went through the customer’s needs and qualified properly, then you should not have these objections. Look through this list and determine how you could avoid these in the close.
For example, if they need to talk to their team, then you should ask in the introduction call if anyone else from the team needs to be in the presentation meeting.
Closing Techniques
Your ability to ask for an order at the end of the sales presentation or at the end of the sales process is essential to your success. Here are some examples of closing techniques that will help you close more business the way top sales people do.
Directive Close
You use the phrase, “Well then, the next step is this”. You then go on to describe the plan of action with a summary of the details, then continue to ask buying questions just as if the person had said, “I’ll take it”. You will also add, “And I’ll take care of all the details”.
Authorization Close
The “Authorization Close.” At the end of the sales conversation, you take your order form, place a check mark by the signature line, push the order form across the desk and say, “Well then, if you’ll just authorize this, we’ll get started right away”.
Often, the customer didn’t know how badly he or she wanted it until you offered to get started “right away”.
Handle the Common Sales Objection “It’s too expensive!”
Price is the most common type of sales objection. Prospects who have every intention of buying will still object to the price and say it’s too expensive, or hint that they’d like it for less. You can’t give the product away for free or give every prospect a significant discount. So what can you do?
Note that this objection is not the same as “We don’t have the budget”.
Don’t defend the price of your offering. If you use your price as a selling point, you reduce your role in the buying process. The price of your product isn’t a feature or a benefit.
Stay away from saying things like:
- We’re cheaper than [competitor].
- [Product price] really isn’t that much when you think about it.
- I don’t think it’s too expensive.
This might create an argumentative tone during the conversation — and you never want to argue or debate with a prospect.
Focus on the value and benefits of your offering. Return to the value, their pain points being solved, and the service of the offering.
Transition away from price with responses like:
- This is going to free up a lot of time for you and your team to focus on more important tasks. That way you can see a better investment return from other work.
- You’ll never have to worry about [pain point] again because this price includes…
- Consider you have to do this [task] now, the price includes that aspect which will allow you to not have to do it anymore.
- If you’re speaking with the boss, then you add, “You pay 5 people to do this job now, but when you implement our solution it’ll just be done, and it will be right every time”. If you aren’t talking to the boss (CEO, CMO, CIO), then say, “You spend this much time doing this task, so you will find that there will be more time for you to focus on other priorities”. Don’t insinuate you’re going to replace their job, or that your product can ever replace their job.
Reducing the price of your offering should be a last resort and preferably avoided altogether. Handling this objection requires the reinforcement of the ways in which your product or service will address the customer’s needs and add value for them. When possible, show time and money-saving examples of how it will benefit the company which will outweigh the asking price. Add value to the offer or flexibility in payment options which can also help to overcome this objection. Be careful not to run on; just give them details regarding the value, and then ask them if there is another concern to gauge their interest level. If they aren’t interested, then find out why. ‘It’s too expensive’ might just be an excuse, and you need to find out the real concern so you can properly address it.
You’ve probably heard the old sales platitude “ABC: Always Be Closing”, and while that’s a catchy phrase, it’s also wishful thinking. The sales process doesn’t always work like that, and sometimes you’ll face a prospect’s sales objection that you’re not sure how to handle.
Rather than “ABC: Always Be Closing”, we are using the “ABC of Authenticity, Benefits and Clarity” to produce sales.
- Authenticity: Be honest, tell the truth, and have an authentic, human interaction with your potential customers.
- Benefits: Focus on the benefits, and use examples of ways your product or service helps solve problems for the customer based on what you learned about him or her in the introduction meeting.
- Clarity: Ask the customer a follow-up question or two to learn what they are really looking for. Ask “Why…”. You need to find out what the objection really is so you can effectively handle their concern.
Practice handling objections with your team, manager, mother, or sister. Find someone who can give you objections so that you can practice overcoming them. It’s important to practice because the more you practice, the easier it is to have a natural reaction. This will also help make you look like a pro. Have some fun practicing, and you’re going to be just fine.
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