How to Handle Objections as Opportunities, not Roadblocks
Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a post fromTiffany Fenore, a Business Development Representative at AG Salesworks.
Something that everyone in the sales profession can relate to is rejection! Most of us in business development roles experience rejection early, on a day-to-day basis, and it often starts as an objection. Objections can be viewed as a roadblock to the untrained rep and even some seasoned prospectors forget to view the response as a gateway to further the conversation. Objections are the perfect “in” to engage and challenge prospects. They have opened up the discussion and have unknowingly allowed you to cater your message to their pains and needs to see if they are a fit for your product and/or service.
There are 4 common objections we typically see:
- They are using a competitor.
- They have a homegrown solution.
- They don't have the budget.
- It's bad timing. Send more information.
Using a Competitor: This is a perfect opportunity to find out what prospects like and dislike about your competition. Not only do these conversations equip you with valuable market intelligence that you can leverage in similar future conversations, but it also gives you an opportunity to present your product's advantages and benefits.
Homegrown Solution: When a prospect has a homegrown system that somewhat fits the profile of your solution, it usually means they’re investing a lot of internal information technology upkeep and maintenance! For the most part, this is usually more expensive and less effective because it’s not the company’s core competency. Finding the areas that may be lacking or not running smoothly can provide you with an “in” to show them that you may have a better solution that could be more cost-effective.
No Budget: The majority of our prospects do not have budget line items for the solutions we are selling, so it’s up to you to convince them their need is great enough to consider allocating it from somewhere else. Of course, there will be situations where this is not possible, but these situations can be turned into opportunities to find out when they plan their budget, when their fiscal year starts, and when they will be evaluating their current plan. After gathering all necessary information, you will be able to keep in touch and nurture this prospect so that when budget planning comes around, there will be a spot for you.
Bad Timing, Send Information: The most common objection and attempt at pushing someone off is to request that the rep send more information. It is likely that they have no intention of reviewing the materials you send across, but this is actually a perfect invitation for you to get more information from them:
- You should always ask what kind of information the prospects are looking for. This will allow you to see what they are really interested in and/or what their current pains and needs are.
- Use that first question as a transition to gather more qualification information and uncover additional pain points.
- At this point, you can propose that a product specialist follow up so that they can answer specific questions about the information you shared.
- There are always those who say, “They’ll call you if they are interested,” but don’t let them fool you. Always be proactive and follow up!
Viewing objections in a positive way will help get the conversation flowing and give you an opportunity to get your prospect to open up. Even if the end result does not lead to a passed opportunity, you should still be able to gather valuable information that can help you with future opportunities and conversations.
* Picture via Acting for Sales.