How to Master Customer Objections

Customer objections are part of sales. Unfortunately, most salespeople are coming up with answers to objections in “real time.” Let’s first have a clear understanding of why responding on the fly is such a bad idea:

You are most likely in your operating reality, not the customer’s operating reality. Customers can sense your lack of empathy right away.
You will most likely not come across as confident in your response.
Your response will most likely be longer than it has to be because you are formulating it on the fly.
The quality of your response will vary depending on your mental state (mood, preparation, confidence level and existing relationship with the customer)

It doesn’t have to be this way. Minimize variation in any process and quality inherently increases. Objection handling is no different. Here is where some simple best practices and knowledge sharing can dramatically improve the results of any sales organization.

Build an Objection Repository.

This can be created in SharePoint, Spark, Learning Management Systems or even a paper-based document. Pull together your top sales people and whiteboard the top 20 most often experienced objections. Do not stop until you get to twenty objections. These objections should cover everything your sales team is facing day-to-day from “I don’t have time” to “Your price is too high” and everything in between. Once you have scripted the top 20 objections then do the following:

Prepare the best response to each objection using a structured objection handling process (e.g. LAER—listen, acknowledge, explore, then respond)
Have members of the knowledge team enthusiastically debate the best responses
Script the best LAER responses to each objection
Limit the respond portion to a maximum of 3 sentences
Train your team to respond to these answers according to the script

Once completed and vetted, make objection handling an integral part of your onboarding and on-going training process. Make the objection handling repository a dynamic one, meaning that at least quarterly, you encourage people to challenge both the top objections and the top responses to those objections with better responses. We call this “reserving the right to get smarter.” It is part of our Butler Street Continuous Improvement Series. If executed properly, it will provide your sales team with the confidence they need when responding to customer objections.

In case you are struggling with coming up with objections, here are a few to get you started:

Not interested at this time
We are satisfied with our current supplier
I don’t have time
Just send me your literature
We have no budget for it
All the companies in your space are the same
Your price is too high

How would your sales team answer the above questions? Consistently, from person to person?

At Butler Street, we help companies and their people grow through minimizing variation in client development. Consistent ability to handle the most frequently used objections is key to a competent sales force. We tie professional objection handling into a system of reinforcing activities to advance customer relationships and grow your business. Click on CONTACT and let’s talk about areas of opportunity to work together.