It’s natural for any prospect you connect with to have doubts or reservations regarding your offer. It’s what selling is all about, offering value and resolving any concerns and objections that crop up along the way.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- Simple non-aggressive sales tactics that will help you overcome resistance
- The 4 main types of objections
- Plus 10 examples of common sales objections and how to approach them
Let’s bring it on!
Simple Sales Strategies for Overcoming Objections
Not every no means you should abort and move on nor does it have to be a source of frustration for you or your potential customer. You’re solving a puzzle with your prospect and if a piece doesn’t fit, it’s just a matter of finding the one that does (within reason).
The following sales tactics will help you solve that puzzle, hone your objection-handling skills, and instantly boost your chances of success.
Empathy is Key
It’s easy to lose sight of what really matters when handling prospect objections. The sales quota you have to hit may be weighing on your mind or you’re getting increasingly frustrated after so many interactions.
Whatever it may be, leading with empathy is a powerful way to free your mind of any distracting thoughts and truly listen to your prospect’s concerns.
Here, you’re not selling purely for the sake of hitting quotas and a hefty commission. Instead, you’re going into the arena with your prospect’s best interests in mind and an offer that truly solves their pain point.
Approaching from that angle will change how you interact with customers and the way you present your offer.
Be an Active Listener
Building upon the previous point, being empathetic to your prospect’s concerns includes being an excellent active listener.
Active listening means responding in a way that demonstrates you’ve understood what was said, such as:
- Reiterating or paraphrasing a sentence.
- Remembering a certain point later in the conversation.
- Using positive reinforcement phrases or words (in moderation) like: indeed, for sure, right, I understand, etc.
Even if you can anticipate potential objections before they’re voiced by your prospect, it’s a good idea to give them a chance to speak and take things step-by-step.
Gather the Right Intel
Being an authority in your field is unfortunately not enough in this day and age. Researching company backgrounds, history, and even individual prospects is crucial to a successful sales process.
Consider questions like:
- What is the prospect’s role and decision-making authority?
- What are their primary pain points?
- Where do they stem from?
- What measures did they take to solve the problem?
- Are there relevant industry developments on the topic that you should know about?
These are just a handful of questions that should be a part of your research process before entering a sales conversation.
Going in with a solid foundation of knowledge will allow you to handle objections far more tactfully and reassure your prospect there’s expertise behind your offer.
Ask the Right Questions
Being an active listener, a great researcher, and leading with empathy are all key skills to have as a sales rep. But being able to ask thoughtful open-ended questions is perhaps the primary skill of them all to closing a sale.
By asking the right questions, you can guide your prospect to see things from a different angle, reconsider preconceived notions, and ultimately remove any doubt they have in their mind.
You want to let your prospect let their thoughts out with a mix of open-ended questions (that result in an explanation) and closed ones (that result in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’).
Examples of open-ended sales questions are:
- “What would you like to see improved?”
- “What measures are you taking to address these challenges?” (Instead of “Are you taking measures to address these challenges?”)
- “What questions do you have that I haven’t answered yet?” (Instead of “Do you have any questions?”)
The 4 Main Types of Objections
A successful sale is the culmination of many factors such as:
- Budget: the product is within the prospect’s budget.
- Authority: you have the expertise and industry authority to convince prospects to trust you.
- Need: there is a need for the product or service.
- Timing: the timing is right i.e. there is a level of urgency for the offer.
The above is commonly abbreviated as BANT and is an important part of a sales qualification process.
Likewise, the most common types of objections will stem from the lack of BANT.
Budget-Related Objections
A lack of budget is one of the most common types of objections you'll come across, even from prospects fully invested in buying.
Your prospect is taking a financial risk in buying your product, which is why the angle you’ll want to take is one that convinces them of your offer’s value and its high reward vs. risk.
Trust-Related Objections
In the case of cold outreach, your leads have likely never heard of your company before. Through your research, your company’s authority in its space, social proof, and even your likeability, you can convince prospects to trust you to make a worthwhile deal.
Here is where an elevator pitch will come in handy and ideally backed by social proof that will prove your authority in the market.
Need-Related Objections
More often than not, your lead may not recognize there’s a need for your offer. By using open-ended questions to evaluate their needs you may find a fit and be able to demonstrate value.
Timing-Related Objections
Timing is another common objection sales reps face. Objections like “Now is not a good time,” can be used to brush you off or be a genuine scheduling issue.
Try to identify their priority level in solving their pain point and schedule another call at a later date for an in-depth discussion.
10 Common Sales Objections and How to Overcome Them
We’ve covered essential objection-handling skills and the four main types of objections.
Now let’s take a look at the most common ones you’ll likely face while selling plus how you can overcome them.
Objection #1: “It’s too expensive for me.”
This is one of the most common objections that prospects use to try and lower the price, even if they have every intention of taking up your offer.
The key here is to avoid revolving the discussion around price because doing so will move you away from selling value to simply bargaining a lower-end deal. Focus on your unique selling proposition (USP) and how it solves their problem.
Just in case, have discounted options ready for the right situations.
Example response:
“I’d be glad to go over {{offer’s}} features and how it can help you {{solve pain point}} that you mentioned.”
Objection #2: “It’s not within my budget.”
Another variation of an “it’s too expensive” objection, this one shows that your prospect’s business or budget simply isn’t big enough at the moment to afford your product.
Look for common ground where your offer would fit into your prospect’s business or perhaps downsell a more suitable alternative.
Example response:
"I totally understand. I’d be happy to share our range of offers that would be a much better fit for your business to help you {{solve pain point}} and be within your budget.”
Objection #3: “We’re already working with Competitor B.”
If you’ve learned your prospect is working with a competitor, it shows they’ve already recognized a need and found a solution, but simply not with you (yet).
In this case, you don’t have to go over much of the education and validation phases of selling. Try to find out how satisfied the prospect is with the competitor and if your product fills any gaps or holes in the relationship.
Example response:
“That’s awesome! How is that working out for you? Are there any features you would like to see added or feel are missing? Our {{product}} includes…”
Objection #4: "I'm happy with Competitor B."
There’s nothing wrong with finding a happy prospect working with a competitor. Like the previous example, find out if there are any weak points in the relationship, service, or product where you can provide a better solution.
Example response:
“That’s great to hear. What aspects of the product do you like the most? I’d love to hear your thoughts and see how we compare.”
Objection #5: "I can find a cheaper deal somewhere else."
Now is a great opportunity to show your level of preparation and industry knowledge. However, some sales reps make the mistake of coming off as condescending by laughing at the idea or challenging the prospect to reveal where they can find a better deal.
Find out if the prospect is genuinely comparing you with a competitor or is simply looking to lower the price. Based on their response, consider if you can offer a discount or focus on the differences between you and a competitor.
Example responses:
“What aspects of the deal do you think should be cheaper?”
“Which of your options gives you the most value and support?”
“In addition to {{Competitor B}}, we also offer {{product features}} that help {{solve specific industry pain point}}.
Objection #6: "I’m not authorized to make this decision."
Getting to the decision-maker is your top priority as a sales representative. Pitching to anyone before that will waste your valuable time and result in more obstacles in your path.
If you happen to have landed with the wrong person or have not reached the decision-maker yet, simply ask to be directed to the right person.
Example response:
“Could you please direct me to the right person regarding this topic? I’ll hold the line, thanks.”
Objection #7: "I've never heard of [your company] before."
This is a natural authority-related objection. Take this as an opportunity to introduce your company and present the value you can offer. Concluding with social proof or the results your prospect can expect is a powerful way to win over prospects.
Example response:
“We're a media marketing company that specializes in Facebook ads for eCommerce businesses like yours. We’ve helped brands like XYZ increase their revenue by 120% last year through optimized ad campaigns, and I would love to discuss how we can get even better results for your business.”
Objection #8: "I don't see how your product could help us right now."
This is another objection disguised as a request for more information and validation. Go over the challenges or goals you discussed and how your offer can solve their problem.
Focus on the benefits and outcomes of your offer rather than its many features.
Example response:
“I understand what you mean. Regarding [prospect pain point] our product will help you {{achieve a set of desired results}}.”
Objection #9: "We're happy the way things are."
Your prospect may truly be content with how things are running. Still, it’s likely there’s some kind of challenge or frustration that they haven’t given much thought to or don’t recognize as an issue.
From your industry expertise, you can do some light qualification to see if they are facing any problems you can solve and based on their answers decide on how to move forward.
Example response:
“I’m glad to hear that! If I may ask, do you face X or Y issues?”
Objection #10: "I’m busy right now."
Whether your prospect is a company executive or an average consumer, most likely they’re going to be busy when you get in touch with them. And even if they aren’t, it’s not uncommon for them to say they are anyway.
Explain how you’d like to have a quick chat on whether your product would be a good fit in solving their problem and shoot for a better time to chat.
Example response:
“I know how busy you are and won’t take up too much of your time. I understand {{ problem}} is a challenge and would love to have a chat on how we can help you overcome that. Would {{a near date}} be a good time for a 15-minute call?”
Key Takeaways
There are many reasons prospects will use objections when interacting with you, but rather than see them as obstacles, think of them as opportunities to approach things from a different angle.
When handling objections, keep in mind to:
- Be empathetic to your prospect’s needs
- Be an active listener
- Go in prepared and backed by research
- Have open and closed-ended questions ready
- Identify objections stemming from BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing)