Objections Are Opportunities—Part 1



By Kathy Sisk

An objection is not a rejection. In most cases an objection means, “I need more information.” Assume that objections will surface during your presentation. Therefore, be prepared to handle them.

Objections give you an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your prospect and allow you to sell your products, services, company, and ideas. It is a time to listen, probe, and understand your prospect’s needs.

There should not be any feelings of personal rejection. Your prospect’s objections are not directed at you personally. Do not be defensive or react negatively. More importantly, do not attack the objection with more selling. Instead, remain in control and impress your prospects with your persistence and professionalism. This is a time to discover their real issues so you can overcome them.

For the next few columns we will focus on common objections and how to best counter them. Let’s begin with some basics.

If early in your presentation, prior to asking questions to qualify and establish your prospect’s wants and needs, your prospect sounds or behaves in a negative manner, it usually results from a concern they had prior to your contact with them. If your prospect seems rude during your presentation, try to release the barriers.

Defuse the prospect’s resistance by saying: “I appreciate you letting me know this. Please share with me some of your concerns.”

This serves to clear the air, and your prospect is more likely to open up and tell you the real issue. When you find out what bothers them, it’s easier to overcome and outweigh your prospect’s concerns. After you defuse their fears, the following is an example of how to overcome the objection of “It’s too expensive.”

“I understand price is a concern and you want the best price possible. To determine how we can better meet your needs, I just need to ask a couple of quick questions if you don’t mind.” Now you can begin to probe in order to gain more insight so you can overcome the price concern by justifying it with your features and benefits.

Next time we will look at interpreting objections and the best techniques to overcome them.

Kathy Sisk Enterprises Inc. has forty years of experience providing call center set up, reengineering, assessments, training, script development, and project management services to centers globally.

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