Anyone who has worked in B2B sales has faced objections at one stage or another. As frustrating as it can be, it should actually be welcomed because it can give you a helpful insight on how to close the sale. The ability to handle and overcome sales objections is what makes a truly great salesman. Understanding the most common sales objections and learning the greatest sales objection handling techniques there are is the best way to prepare yourself in the tough world of sales.
Sales Objection: Definition
A sales objection is a reason or argument given by the prospect for why they are not ready to buy the product or service you are trying to sell them. Usually this will revolve around the common sales objections list of
budget, authority and timing.
In order to succeed as a salesperson, you will need to prepare yourself for the potential objections raised by your prospect and understand
how to handle them. Just remember, an objection is not the same thing as a rejection, so cover their concerns until your prospect is satisfied and ready to buy.
Top 3 Common Sales Objections
Working in B2B sales will see you face all sorts of objections, and some of the most familiar sales objection examples will revolve around these three main areas:
- Budget: "You've got a great product here, but it's more than we're willing to spend."
- Authority: "We could really use this service, but my boss would not agree to it."
- Timing: "This is great, but it's just not the right time for us to invest in this."
The above sales objection examples are pretty typical and that's a good thing because it makes it much easier to prepare a sales objection handling system. So, let's take a look at each of these key objections and find out how we can handle them.
Budget: This tends to be one of the most common objections salespeople face in the B2B world. Oftentimes prospects will tell you that they like your product or service, but simply cannot afford it. They may even ask you for a discount. When it comes down to money, how do you handle this objection?
This may seem like a dead end, but what you need to do is get down to the root of the problem. It could just come down to the fact that they don't place the same value on the product as the price they are expected to pay. By demonstrating the value of your product or service, and even how much money it could save them, you can address the
issue of money in a positive way.
Authority: It's not uncommon to come across this type of objection in B2B sales, as the buying process tends to involve more than one decision maker. Just because you can't close the sale straight away does not mean that you have been defeated.
One way to respond to this is to have material prepared that can be handed over to the rest of the decision makers or the one in charge. Convince your prospect that your product or service will be a great asset to the company and they can relay this information onto others.
By preparing easy to read material that essentially sums up the sales pitch you can make the process a whole lot easier and increase your chances of your product being passed onto
the head honcho.
Timing: If a prospect talks to you about timing, then you need to figure out if they really mean timing or if they are just finding a way to stall. It could be that they genuinely don't have the budget for it right now, but they have funding coming up, in which case it would be better to wait and then follow up.
However, you can overcome this objection by convincing them that they shouldn't wait as they will be losing out by not investing in your solution straight away. Do your research so you can back this up with numbers and a timeline for their ROI.
4 Sales Objection Handling Tips
Quite often salespeople will fall at the first hurdle. They will hear these objections and decide that their prospect is not interested, or there is just no way to make this sale happen. However, there are ways to overcome these sales objections and it comes down to preparation. By coming up with a list of common sales objections and answers you can improve your sales techniques and see a significant increase in sales.
1. Preparation: The best way to handle an objection is to be ready for it so you don't lose your cool when the issue comes up. Prepare some answers that can be used in a variety of situations, such as those relating to the value of your product or service, identifying the company's need for it and preparing some numbers and figures.
2. Finding out the real problem: As the above examples demonstrate, the initial objection doesn't always reveal the true problem. By digging for information you can help to address the real problem at hand and offer a suitable solution.
3. Quantify the benefits: It's important to stick to the facts and sell your product or service using quantifiable benefits, rather than depending on intuitions. It is much easier to sell when you have the hard facts to back you up. Again, in this case you will find that preparation is the key.
Identifying possible sales objections is the first step to understanding the best way to tackle them. The most important thing is to make sure you are well prepared before going in and doing your sales pitch. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you lose out on a sale simply because you didn't come prepared. You should be able to offer a solution to almost any objection, whether it is related to price, time or authority. Having answers prepared will give you the confidence to make the sale happen.
