New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Question

How does a salesman skillfully respond to objections?

Answer

It is very common to face objections when selling.  Such objections often come in the form of statements such as:

• The price is too high
• I am happy with my current supplier
• I still need to think about it
• I need to research it more
• I need to ask ______ (fill in the blank: wife, partner, boss, etc.)
• I am concerned that you cannot do the job or deliver
• I am concerned about ______

Here are some tips to skillfully respond to objections:

• Be prepared ahead of time.  Anticipate the objections you may get, catalog all the objections you do get and learn from them and thoughtfully prepare good responses to them.  You may blow it in one sale if you've never had the objection before, but you will be better prepared during the next sale.  Bring up the most frequently asked questions or objections during your presentation and rehearse your answers to the difficult questions.
• Listen carefully and check for clarity.  Make sure you understand the question and get to the root cause of the objection.  Restate the objection with a question.  Handling the objection that the price is too high, could be responded with a question such as "I understand that you are concerned with the price.  Is it because you don't perceive the value of the product or is it a budget constraint instead?".
• Respond politely with a benefit or testimonial.  Restate the objection with empathy, such as "I understand that the price seems high, but..." and then state a benefit such as "the return on investment is typically....". One reason for objections is that they do not fully understand the value of your product or service.
• Don't panic or oversell or get anxious.  Remain calm and realize that every sales call is an opportunity to learn and further the relationship and every "no" brings you that much closer to a "yes" based upon the laws of probablility.  Pressure tactics will usually backfire, so once you done your best in answering the objections, politely ask permission to check back.  After the sales call, take a moment to debrief yourself and take notes to improve and prepare for the next sales call.