There’s nothing more frustrating than being far along into a sales process, thinking that it’s going well, and then suddenly the prospect rejects you. You’ve just run into a sales objection that you don’t know how to recover from.  There are many things you can do both at the beginning and at the end to avoid these situations. This guide will help you in objection handling.

What is a Sales Objection?

Sales objection is the reason why your prospects can’t or won’t purchase your product or service.  

The most common sales objections are:

“I need some time to think about it…”

“It’s too expensive…”

“I’ve never heard of your company…”

“This isn’t the right time…”

But you can’t give up on a potential sale so easily. It’s your job to reframe the perspective of your potential customer.

Objection handling is crucial for your success in sales. You should know that “no” doesn’t always mean the prospects won’t buy from you.

Objections can give you a critical insight into the pain point you need to overcome. Successful salespeople see an objection as an opportunity rather than a roadblock.

Objections give salespeople an opportunity to understand the prospects’ struggles and tailor solutions for their specific needs. There is always a way to address the prospect’s concern if you approach the objection in the right way. 

What are the most common types of objections?

1) Price: It’s too expensive

When a prospect says your product or service is too expensive, you need to remember that price is all about the perceived value. Price as an objection can mean your prospect has the budget, but they aren’t convinced your product will bring them enough value to purchase.

The best way to overcome this objection is to focus on the real value your service provides instead of how much it costs. If you do this in the right way, price becomes an insignificant obstacle on the way to solve the prospect’s problems. 

How to overcome the objection:

What if you focus on the value of your service and you still hear the prospect say it is too expensive for them? Instead of trying to justify your price, you need to simply listen to them, acknowledge their concerns, and ask questions. You can say, “Can you tell me why you think the price is too high?”. When they start talking about their challenges in return, you can dig deeper to learn what they care about most.

Remember, price is a deal-breaker only if you can’t communicate that the value of your offering exceeds the price.

If you want to avoid price-related objections in the future, make sure you are qualifying your leads accurately. If you believe the prospect’s budget is really tight and they won’t be able to afford the product, their objection may be genuine. It’s best to flag the prospect as a cold lead in this case and not spend much time trying to find a way for them to afford a purchase.

2) Lack of Trust: I need to think about it

Trust is critical in sales. If a prospect needs to think about buying from you, it often means they aren’t certain about the value your solution can deliver. You need to find out where the uncertainty lies and demonstrate to the prospect that you can be trusted.

Here are the most common trust objections:

“I don’t know if I’m ready for an investment…”

“Your company is much smaller than X…”

“I’ve never heard of your company…”

“I need to think about it…”

When a prospect is having a trust issue, what they really want is to get more information and reassurance about your product and how it’ll work for them. 

How to overcome the objection:

Show the prospect that your product can get them real results. You can provide case studies and success stories from your current customers as proof. For example, if you show them a projected increase in revenue, they will start listening to what you have to say.

If they really never heard of you, you may need to double down on the value you provide with your elevator pitch.

3) Lack of Authority: I need to consult with X

You spend a lot of time trying to win a prospect over and then find out that he actually doesn’t have the authority to make the purchasing decision. 

To avoid the authority objection, you need to make sure from the start that you’re dealing with a decision-maker. 

How to overcome the objection:

You can overcome this objection by asking to be put in touch with a key stakeholder. You can ask, “Can I get the name of the right person to talk to? Can you kindly connect me with him/her?” or “I’d love to meet with both of you and get a chance to answer any questions and concerns you might have.” 

When you say you’d like to get to know the key stakeholder and the prospect you’ve been talking to, you show that you genuinely care about how you can help them, not just sell to them.

Sometimes overcoming authority objection isn’t about getting in touch with the key stakeholder but talking to the right stakeholder instead. To avoid authority objections, you should contact the highest level of decision-maker in the company that’s relevant to your product.

4) Lack of need: We’re happy with what we have

Sometimes prospects say, “You have a useful product but we’re happy with what we’re using today.”

Remember that complacency can result from being unaware of a problem or an opportunity. So if a potential customer seems content with what they have, you need extra time to describe the overarching problem or dig into the opportunity in depth. 

Your prospect might also be afraid of change, objecting to your product out of fear.

How to overcome the objection:

What matters most is showing your product as a priority in the prospect’s eyes. If you understand your prospect’s situation and how your product can solve their problems, you can push their need for your product into a priority. 

Create a sense of urgency that their problem really needs to be solved and your product is the best way to help them. That’s when they will start to consider buying. 

Reinforce the competitive advantage with case studies or competitor insights. Show how similar customers have benefited from a solution like yours. You need to highlight how using your product has helped other customers reach their business goals.

If your prospect is afraid of change, you can assure them that your customer support and onboarding will be with them for anything they need. Fear of change is natural, you will need to address their concerns and calm them. Show them you will support them not only at the beginning but right up until the end of it.

Customer testimonials about your customer support will also help at this point.

5) Timing: We’re too busy right now

You’ve likely heard this one before, “I’m too busy right now. Contact me later.” 

Timing can make or break a deal, and sometimes your timing doesn’t align with your prospect’s timing. You need to demonstrate what they’ll lose by putting off the sale.

How to overcome the objection:

In this scenario, you should make it so compelling for them to buy right at that moment that they feel as if they’ll regret missing the opportunity. Make clear that the opportunity is only available in a specific window of time.

Remember it’s important to respect your prospect’s time. As a salesperson, a lack of empathy can damage any rapport you’ve established. If it’s truly a tough time, you need to find out a better time to call.

As a salesperson, it’s critical to learn the most common sales objections and how to overcome them. Having full knowledge of every detail and feature of your product is essential but digging into the core of customer’s objection is equally important.

Once you truly understand your customer’s needs and your product’s offerings, you can work on overcoming sales objections based on price, trust, authority, need and time.

Objection handling is hard. But you can overcome the objections by building trust and reframing the way your prospect sees what you’re selling.

At Response DGA, we create a digital growth marketing strategy that is not only innovative and market-leading but, most importantly, delivers commercial success. Would you like to discuss a full-funnel digital growth campaign?