Overcoming Common Sales Objections

Entrepreneurs know: The sales cycle never stops. And, so it makes sense that entrepreneurs always have to be prepared to face sales objections. Many BusinessCast loyal listeners have asked Robert and me to offer more advice/content on overcoming common sales objections. So that’s exactly what we’ve done.

In BusinessCast podcast episode #113, Robert and I sit down with award-winning sales guru Warren Coughlin. Together, we run through the most common sales scenarios and how you can address them.

So that you can comfortably address sales objections, we’ve also developed some additional guidelines and point to resources that will help you successfully overcome objections prior to, during and after any sales conversation.

Guidelines

1) Keep in-mind there is no “silver bullet” response to any real customer/prospect objection. Addressing real customer objections takes time, patience and commitment to understanding their priorities.

2) Anticipate objections. That means, prepare for ALL of the major objections and the subtle nuances that come with them. Role play with colleagues, friends and relatives. Don’t try to develop an ‘out of the box’ script. Rather, rehearse tackling each objection from several different angles.

3) The more you learn about the prospect/customer before your sales discussion, the more success you are likely to have dealing with objections. This also shows respect for your customer/prospect and helps to demonstrate that you care about helping them succeed.

4) Recognize that regardless of how well you probe, there are simply some objections that you cannot overcome during a particular conversation. That’s okay. Not everyone is going to be a customer in the short-term.

5) How you deal with sales objections sends a very strong message to your customer/prospect. As a result, always be respectful, enthusiastic, courteous, professional and honest.

6) Don’t take any sales objection personally. Objections are not a reflection of you or your product/service.

7) Apply what you learn through the discussion about the objections in subsequent discussions. So, make sure that you always leave the door open to carry on the discussion at an other time. That means promise some kind of follow-up deliverable and meet that deadline.

Resources

Turning Sales Objections Into Opportunities — some good tips and depth of understanding.

Top 10 Lies Customers Tell Sales Reps and Top 5 Dirty Tricks Customers Play on Sales Reps. There are some good tips here. But don’t let the article titles cause you to think of a would-be client as a liar or adversary. If you do, your relationship will be built on mistrust. As soon as that happens, you’ll hate working with them and they’ll feel the same about you.

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