Any successful sales rep will tell you, the key to overcoming objections is to be prepared.
Knowing the most common objections to your product offering, along with your prepared responses, is vital to winning new and recurring product sales.
What is a sales objection?
Simply put, a sales objection is when a customer isn’t completely sold on the product or offering and indicates that there is a barrier preventing them from buying from you.
Objections are a very common part of the sales process and are often communicated as ‘it’s too expensive, or ‘I don’t have the time to do this now. But there most likely will be specific objections to your product that you keep coming up against.
What are the common sales objections?
In this post, we cover 5 of the most common sales objections and offer up a few tips on how to overcome these objections.
There could be more specific objections you might come up against based on the products and industry you work in, but there are 5 common sales objections that come up time and time again. The key is to be prepared.
The 5 common objections we see are:
- Pricing
- Trust
- Need
- Timing
- Competition
How to handle customer objections
Handling customer objections can be a tricky thing to navigate, but it all comes down to preparation.
No salesperson likes to go into a conversation with a prospect blind and knowing what objections they might come up with in advance and how you can answer them puts you in a great position.
Hearing objections aren’t always a bad thing either; the best salespeople will know that an objection is just an opportunity to get to know your prospect better and opens up more doors to have a conversation.
There are almost always ways to overcome any objection you hear, just so long as you approach the objection in the right way.
How to overcome common objections in sales
From issues over budget to the prospect saying they don’t have enough time, let's get into some of the common sales objections and responses.
1. It’s too expensive
Possibly the most common sales objection comes down to cost. With a new purchase of software or product comes some financial risk for your prospects, and often this can bring about a concern, especially If they’re not convinced of the value or the need for this.
This is where you come in. Rather than listing the features of your product, instead, you need to shift your focus to the value that your product can bring.
- What are the pain points it can solve?
- What can it do to make your prospects' lives easier?
- What can they achieve by using this product?
By taking a value-based selling approach, your prospects will be able to understand the real value of your product and start to visualize how much better it would be with your product.
2. I don’t trust you
One of the joys of inbound leads is that your prospect will likely already have some interactions with you and your content and will come with some knowledge of your company too.
However, not all your leads will be inbound, and that means that some people may not have ever heard of you, and it’s going to take some work to build up a level of trust.
But how do you convince someone who’s never heard of you that you’re trustworthy enough for them to part with their cash?
A good way to show that you have authority in the market is to point out some of your existing customers from either the same industry or of a similar background can help, and again, point out the value that those customers have experienced with your product.
This can be especially effective if you’re able to show a case study of a customer that was in a similar position as your prospect, and then show how your product offered a solution to that issue.
3. I don’t need this
If you’ve efficiently qualified all your leads, then this objection means one of two things. If you’ve done your research but the prospect still says they don’t need your product, then you’re not selling it in the right way.
By tapping into the value of your product and highlighting how your product can help resolve their pain points, you start to shift their viewpoint.
If you can prove to your customer that they really need your product by directly showing how it can resolve their biggest pain points, you’ll take it from a want to a need.
The other reason you might be hearing this is that there’s something else going on underneath. By actively listening to what your prospects saying and by asking the right questions, you might get to what the real objection is.
4. I don’t have the time
Time is precious, and this is true for your prospects, and it’s important that you listen to them when they tell you they don’t have the time to talk.
When you pick up the phone to call a prospect and they tell you they don’t have the time to talk, the best thing to do is acknowledge this.
It can be useful to find out when they do and arrange a new time to have a conversation, but if they sound particularly irritated or eager to put the phone down, it can work better for you to make a note to call them back.
By listening to them and acknowledging this, they’ll be left with a good impression of you, and you’ve already started the work to build up that relationship.
5. I already have this from someone else
While it might sound like an objection, this is actually a great thing to hear because it shows two things.
Number one is that they already know they need this.
Number two is that they’re already willing to invest in something similar to your product, so you’ve already cleared two major objections.
You’ll have to prove that it’s worth their time and energy to switch to your product, or in other words, show that yours is better.
Pinpoint the areas that your competitor's product is perhaps weaker or identify your product's USP (unique selling point) and focus on how you can fill the gap that their current product has left.
