Gary Kurtis -11 Objection Handling Techniques That Will Make You Irresistible

Introduction

A salesperson’s worst nightmare is hearing the word “no.” It can be difficult to get sales when people are constantly saying no, but it doesn’t have to be that way. In this blog post, we will look at 11 objection handling techniques that will make you irresistible and make sales easier. These strategies from Gary Kurtis of Salestips101.com, focus on making sure your prospects don’t feel pressured into any decisions and have a comfort level to move forward.

The Knee Jerk Reaction

Let’s face it as humans our national instinct is to immediately counter every objection thus creating a potentially confrontational situation. When you hear an objection keep asking more questions to be sure you completely understand the objection as many are merely smoke screens. 

Show Empathy with the Feel, Felt, Found formula

Let your prospects know that it is completely normal to have concerns. “I understand how you feel as others in the same situation had similar concerns then they found that it was a great decision.”

“Call Me in Six Months”

LIkely one of the more common objections is easily challenged with the reply of “what would have to change in six months” so you discover that they are either working for a resolution or just a poor prospect.

Ranking the Objections

Often we hear many objections and while some are legitimate some are not as concerning. It is not practical or productive to respond to all the objectives so the best technique is to simply ask your prospect to rank them, “Of all these expressed concerns which one is the most significant?”

A Call for Isolation

Prospects use objections for many reasons. Your challenge as a sales professional is to understand the real reason for not moving forward, so an effective technique is to isolate the objection by asking “If that concern was no longer an issue would you be ready to move forward?” If they hesitate then you know there are other things preventing the sale. 

“Your Price is to High”

Likely the most common objection. My reply works only if you have done your “selling” so the prospect really understands the value you are providing. Pencil sell the difference by breaking it down into small components and getting your prospect to acknowledge the obvious that months and years from now they will have long forgotten the difference but will remember every day the value they are getting with your company. 

Prepare for Objections

A friend of mine was challenged as he regularly got  the same objections and it often immediately put him into a defensive mode. I suggested that he address these common objections up front so his prospects are now relieved, particularly if they are going by rumors. This now allows both parties to just focus on how the solution can potentially help the prospect. 

Their Approval Process

Every prospect you meet  has already acquired numerous products and solutions so why not stick with a winning formula and ask them how these other solutions were approved. It will help you better understand how to overcome potential obstacles that can derail your sales cycle. 

The Negative Sell

OK we’re all humans and like to believe we make great decisions, ,so if I’m not making progress I might reply this way, “Most others we meet with in similar situations really benefited from our solution, however I recognize it may not be for everyone and you may be in that small percentage that have no needs.” It’s always amazed me how many times the prospect will then challenge your statement and reply that they in fact might benefit. 

Impact of Inaction

We all are trained to get the prospect focused on benefits but sometimes an effective strategy is to get them to realize the impact of not moving forward. Examples can include a potential price increase, bad circumstances, lack of availability etc. 

Demanding a Lower Price

Another knee jerk reaction is to automatically drop your price. This lowers your profit while creating credibility issues since the prospect will logically want to know why you didn’t provide this price up front, plus it also communicates to other prospects that your quoted price can be challenged. I have a few options, one is to be sure that if you have to give them a discount you get something in return such as firm commitment to move forward or perhaps agreement to purchase something else. The  most effective reply though is to let them  know that you can  meet their price by changing the configuration. A home builder can easily lower his cost by changing the specs. This shifts the decision to one of value not just on price.

Conclusion

Objections in a sales cycle are all normal responses. There are 11 objection handling techniques that will make it easier for customers to be able to move forward. Try these out and give us your opinion!

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