When should a professional salesperson be prepared to deal with a prospects objection(s)
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Objections are the hurdles that keep salespeople a step away from closing. The swift removal of objections invariably leads to the closing of the sale. Only the well-prepared salesperson succeeds in removing the objections in a convincing manner. Anticipating ObjectionsNo prospect is just waiting there with check-books in hand and grinning from ear to ear to buy products or services. Prospects enjoy the freedom to choose among products and the power to ask various questions, raise objections, and express doubts about the products they are trying to be sold to. The lesser the urgency to buy the product more pronounced would be the objections, irrespective of the quality of the product. Even salespeople selling the best quality products and services face objections. Prospects want to ensure that the products and services they are purchasing are worth it. These are but natural parts of a sales process. A salesperson should take these as fixed features of the sales process and be prepared to overcome these convincingly. Anticipating objections require a good deal of home workA sales person should list out a possible set of objections. Many companies train their sales staff about possible objections and their convincing answers. However, every sales person should devise additional anticipated objections and prepare their answers. Find out from your colleagues what objections they encounter. Prepare a comprehensive list and their answers. A friend could help in this exercise and ascertain whether the answers are satisfying or not. How to Handle ObjectionsThe attitude towards objections should be positiveTo an optimistic and positive sales person objections are opportunities disguised. When a prospect raises valid objections it means he has paid attention to the briefings or the demonstrations of the sales person. The objections signify that he is interested or may get interested if his objections are removed and doubts are clarified. Viewed from this perspective, objections should enthuse sales persons. Prior preparation makes the task of handling objections easierMore than the knowledge of the solutions to objections, it’s the attitude in handling objections that matters. Sales professionals should not get agitated while trying to remove objections that could range from the most valid to the most stupid ones. Each of the objections raised by the prospect should be noted down in detail. Starting with the toughest one, all objections must be removed one-by-one in a calm and pleasant manner. Tackling the toughest objection makes the job easier to convince about the smaller ones as the prospect is almost won over. Show respect and allow the prospect to voice the objections completelyMake sure that you have heard the objections clearly and reflect the objection back to the prospect for clarity. If he/she states “the price is too high”, you can reflect it back to them by saying, ‘the price is too high.” And then set about answering the objections in a convincing and positive manner. Move from one objection to the next one only when you have removed the objection completely. Let your attitude be positive and genuinely pleasant throughout the process as those are the over riding factors to remove objections to close a deal. Skip to content
Prepare to handle objections well before prospects raise themWhen I ask people how might overcome a price objection (e.g. “It’s too expensive”), they will usually tell me they use a mixture of unique value points, competitive advantages, features and benefits of the product, and so on. When someone objects to price, they draw on financing. When someone objects to quality, they draw on how good the service is. These approaches are examples of doing things right, but not doing the right things. Arguments that target our wants and desires have a considerably better chance of being listened to and agreed with than arguments that based on what a salesperson thinks is important. How can a salesperson possibly know what is really important to me, when I raise an objection to price? “It’s too expensive”, could mean any of the following:
Until the salesperson clarifies what I mean by “It’s too expensive”, they’ll have a 1/7 chance of answering the correct objection with whatever they say. Instead of gambling with communication or shotgunning a multitude of catch-all arguments against me, ask me what’s concerning me. What is it about the price that bothers me? Is it the size of the investment? Being able to afford the payments? An issue of timing? Value? Trust? Fear? What’s really going on? With this information in hand, the salesperson is then able to decide whether my objection is emotional or rational. When they know that, they need to handle my emotional objections by balancing my obstacle with my desires. They need to handle my rational objections by balancing my obstacle with my priorities and criteria for choice. Understanding a prospect’s wants and needs must happen well before the prospect raises objections. If you haven’t sought information about my wants and needs from me before I raise an objection, it is much less likely I’m going to give you that information after I’ve raised an objection. After I’ve raised an objection, I’m on the defensive. I have a position (“It’s too expensive”) and I need to defend this position against your arguments about why my position in invalid. This creates an adversarial dynamic that does nothing to help us meet our mutual interests: I want the product and you want the sale – we want the same thing. So what do you do? Plan for objections in advance by asking questions that show my wants and needs. In our recent experience, only 30% of customers raised an objection to a free appointment to discuss the product further. You might think that planning for objections in 30% of the cases is unnecessary. You’d be wrong, for several reasons:
In my next post, I’ll reveal the 5 concepts that are vital in preparing yourself to handle objections from your prospects, well before they arise to unravel your sales efforts, create acrimony between you and your customer, and crumble your confidence in sales situations. NOTE: The best way to answer that nagging question about practice growth or marketing or patient volume in the back of your mind is to book a free 15-minute compatibility call. Get some options and go away with a clear idea of what’s possible. About the authorRod Solar Rod co-founded LiveseySolar and acts as a Fractional CMO for our customers. He’s on a mission to help transform the lives of 10,000 people through vision correction surgery by 2024. To achieve that, he inspires his customers to make confident decisions that will help 50,000 people take the first step towards vision correction. Get your Practice Marketing Score Take our FREE “Practice Marketing” quiz. Get your score and benchmark yourself to practices around the world.
Get your Practice Marketing ScoreTake our FREE “Practice Marketing” quiz. Get your score and benchmark yourself to practices around the world.
Related PostsMeet our FoundersWe’re passionate about helping leaders of high-quality, growth-minded practice owners double their practice revenue Rod SolarFounder & Fractional CMO Rod co-founded LiveseySolar and acts as a Fractional CMO for our customers. He’s on a mission to help transform the lives of 10,000 people with vision correction surgery by 2024. To achieve that, he inspires his customers to make confident decisions that will help 50,000 people take the first step towards vision correction. Read more LiveseySolar completely transformed the way we were approaching this… We’ve gone from having just the dream of having a practice to having a practice up and running with people making inquiries and booking for procedures… It’s extremely pleasing. We feel lucky we connected with LiveseySolar. — Dr Matthew Russell, MBChB,
FRANZCO, specialist ophthalmic surgeon and founder of VSON and OKKO
Laura LiveseyFounder & CEO Laura Livesey is the co-founder & CEO of LiveseySolar. She has developed powerful refractive surgery marketing systems that increase patient volumes and profits for doctors, clinics, and hospitals, since 1997. Read more Rod and Laura know as much about marketing surgery to patients as I know about performing it. They are an expert in the field of laser eye surgery marketing. They know this industry inside out. I believe that they could help many companies in a variety of areas including marketing materials, sales training and marketing support for doctors. — Prof. Dan Reinstein, MD MA FRSC DABO, founder of the London Vision Clinic, UK
Take your practice to the next level without losing sleep, money or both! Contact usServicesAdditional ResourcesGet your Practice Marketing ScoreTake our FREE “Practice Marketing” quiz. Get your score and benchmark yourself to practices around the world. Page load linkWhen should a salesperson handle objections?Objection handling is when a prospect presents a concern about the product/service a salesperson is selling, and the salesperson responds in a way that alleviates those concerns and allows the deal to move forward. Objections are generally around price, product fit, or competitors.
How would you handle an objection from a prospect customer?How to Overcome an Objection. Listen. Don't just let your prospect spell out their objections – actually listen. ... . Understand. People are complex. ... . Respond. Whether or not they seem like a serious issue to you, acknowledge that your prospect's concerns are valid. ... . Confirm.. What is the best way to respond to an objection by a prospect?Prove that they are by demonstrating your understanding of their objection. Acknowledge their objection and show that you believe in the validity of their concern. Avoid interrupting them or attempting to convince them that the issue is no big deal in order to move forward with the sales process.
When planning for objections a salesperson should most likely?When planning for objections, a salesperson should most likely: Plan for objections that your presentation might arise. Consider not only the reasons that prospects should buy but why they should not buy. The objection has the salesperson discussing an objection before the prospect raises it.
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