5 Common Sales Objections and How to Handle Them

Start Overcoming Objections In Sales

Sales objections – we all get them and the majority of us hate them. Here are five of the most common objections, why you hear them, and how to overcome them to meet your sales performance goals.

Objection 1: "We’re Good. We already have someone and they’re doing a good job."

This is probably the most common objection that people in sales receive, no matter what industry they are working in. It’s easy for prospects to throw this out there so they don’t have to deal with you and put time, effort, and energy into changing their provider. But, in the vast majority of cases, it isn’t the reality. Good is a very subjective term. The “good” that your product or service provides may be higher quality and fix problems that occur with other providers. But prospects just don’t know what they don’t know. The prospect could also be objecting because your approach is similar to how your competition sells to them. The prospect does not see anything different about your product or service, so they’re not seeing any “value” in speaking with you further.

There are several ways to overcome this issue. First, do not accept the objection. It’s not real! Your next step is to find out what "good" means to your prospect. Instead of telling them why your product or service is better than the competition’s (this is the same approach that your competition takes), start by asking them questions to find out what challenges they’re having with their current product or service. This will help you discover if those challenges are a big enough problem for them to want to fix. Your last step is to show the prospect the value of your product or service by explaining how you can resolve those problems for them.

OBJECTION 2: "Your price is too high."

Price is never the issue. Let me say that again: Price is never the issue. The issue is either that the prospect does not see the value in paying your price to fix their problems or they cannot find the money to pay for it. If they prospect cannot find the funds, they may not be an ideal prospect.

Your goal in this situation is to find out which scenario you are facing when they tell you "your price is too high." The simplest way to do this is to get clarity from your prospect. Ask them for more information regarding their pricing concerns.

The timing of this objection also comes into play. Are you getting this objection when you present your quote/proposal/RFP to them? If so, that means that you did not review potential pricing and fees with them before you provided an offer. Begin having that conversation earlier in your sales process so you can deal with any price objections up front before you spend time, effort, and money on generating a proposal that will go nowhere.

OBJECTION 3: "You’re all the same. What makes you different?"

This goes back to the first objection. They see you, their incumbent, and all of your competitors as the same in terms of approach, service, and results. The key here is to differentiate your approach and interrupt the prospect’s usual buying patterns and objections as soon as you begin interacting with them.

But let’s say that you didn’t differentiate your approach from the start, and they threw this objection at you. What do you do now?

When they say, "you’re all the same," ask them what they mean by this. The prospect will typically share all of the bad things their current provider and past companies have done when servicing them. Now you can talk about the challenges they’re facing and figure out if you can help them solve those problems.

When they ask, "what makes you different?" don’t defend, justify and show them all of the great things your company can do for them. This is how your competition handles objection and the prospect’s heard the same song and dance a hundred times before. Instead, interrupt their buying pattern by saying, "I’d be happy to discuss this. How about I share some of the challenges that we help companies solve and you tell me if any of those are relevant to your business. Then we can decide if it makes sense to continue this discussion." This allows you to focus on solutions, not benefits.

OBJECTION 4: "Just send me info and I’ll get back to you."

This is another one of the most common objections out there. This is usually the prospect’s nice way of saying, "I have no interest in what you’re selling or desire to talk further, so instead of telling you no, I’ll ask for more information so you get off the phone feeling you accomplished something and I can go about my day." A good prospect is one who agrees to set aside some time to talk further after you send them information. All others are politely telling you "no" and are not ideal prospects for you to pursue.

The way to handle this objection is to first lower resistance by saying, "I’d be happy to send you some info." After this, let them know that you have a lot of information you could share but you don’t want to bore them or send them something that wouldn’t be relevant. Then ask them what they would like you to send and why. This could also uncover potential problems or challenges they’re facing that you may be able to help them solve. Finally, ask them when they would be willing to put time on the calendar to review the information you sent. This will help you to figure out who is really interested and may need your help and who is just being nice.

OBJECTION 5: "This isn’t a priority right now."

You’ve worked hard to get a meeting with the decision makers of your ideal sales prospect. You’ve spent multiple meetings uncovering their problems and challenges, discussing and presenting how you’ll help them resolve those issues, and they even shared that they have the money to pay for your product and services. Everything is looking great and you’re thinking this is a slam dunk. All you need to do is get the final "OK" to get started. And then you get it - those dreaded words that bring fear and panic into so many salespeople’s hearts:

"We really like you and think you can help, but we’re going to wait to do this until later this year. We’ll be in touch and we will definitely use you when the timing is right."

Ugghhh, right? All that hard work, time, effort, and energy down the drain! But why did this happen and what can be done right now?

This happened because you did not create urgency for the prospect to solve their issue and this became a "nice to have or take care of" problem, not a "must have or take care of" problem. Think of this concept in your own life – the stuff that has urgency and must be taken care of or solved are the items that make it to the top of your to do list each day. You allocate time to taking care of those items, no matter what else is happening in your life. This simply isn’t a big enough issue for them to solve now or perhaps ever.

So, what to do now? The way to handle this is as follows: reduce resistance, get clarity on why they don't have urgency, and what they’re going to do while they keep dealing with the problem. It may sound like this: "Thanks for sharing this with me. (reducing resistance) When you say you’re going to wait to take care of this, what do you mean and why have you decided to take this approach? (gaining clarity) What happens if you don’t fix this challenge? Are you ok with this?" (what they’re going to do if the problem persists)

The key to overcoming objections in sales is understanding that the objection the prospect is bringing to you is never the real problem. You must remain calm, reduce resistance, ask questions for clarity, and determine the real problem. Once you do this, you can help the prospect understand why your product or service is the best one to help them.

Want to learn more about training your team to overcome sales objections? Contact Lushin today and see how our sales training, management consulting, and sales infrastructure programs can grow your bottom line.