Sometimes, you handle the objection.

Sometimes, the objection handles you.

In this week’s edition, we look to understand how to handle the most common objections.

To be clear, objections are when buyers push back on what you are offering at that moment.

Any time your prospect raises a concern is a chance for you to establish and cement credibility with them.

In this edition we’ll cover:

1. How to Handle Objections

2. Objections Hidden in Plain Sight

3. Top 5 Objections

I’ve talked about prospecting in a past newsletter so I will consider here that a meeting has been secured and you’re talking with your prospect.

Let’s get cracking as there’s a lot to cover.

(Summary at the bottom if you don’t need the details)

How to Handle Objections

The following tips are based on data collected from over 67k sales meetings (thank you Gong.io).

Slow it Down

Some will pounce on objections.

But you pause 5x longer than your counterparts and remain calm in the face of adversity. You’re slick.

When a prospect introduces a concern, take a breath to consider exactly what you want to say.

Not only do you pause, but you also slow down your delivery. Slowing down helps to project authority when addressing concerns.

Clarify

Objection scenarios are rife with potential misunderstandings.

When a prospect voices a concern, it can be tempting to rattle off multiple reasons to reassure them.

Don’t.

It creates friction.

And it reeks of insecurity.

A strong answer to the wrong objection makes the objection worse.

So, what question should you ask to clarify objections?

The first technique is what Never Split the Difference author Chris Voss, calls “mirroring.”

This theory argues that by repeating the last few (1-3) words that your prospect uses, Mirror your buyer’s final few words with an upward tone:

“The price is too high?”

“Your boss said no?”

“Timing is not right?”

It triggers your buyer to elaborate, which helps you to understand what’s really causing the objection.

The second type of question you can use to clarify objections:

“Can you help me understand what’s causing that concern?”

Notice this question asks “why” without ever saying the word “why” (Something I cover in my last article on Discovery calls).

That’s because “why” doesn’t clarify.

It’s a threatening question that undermines the validity of the buyer’s objection.

It puts them on the defensive.

And it brings your answer further out of reach.

Validate

I read somewhere that humans go through 95% of their lives feeling misunderstood.

Give your buyer the gift of feeling understood and you’ll carry powerful influence.

Empathy is so important that the Solution Selling method dedicates three out of its nine types of questions to “summarising confirmation questions”.

Help your buyer feel understood by clarifying their concerns with questions.

Use something like:

“That’s a valid concern, Kate. It seems like you’re pretty torn on what to do here.” 

You’ll have them feeling like you are an ally that can truly help because you get it.

Isolate

What your buyer tells you versus what’s actually stopping them from moving forward is sometimes different.

Use something like this to get your buyer to voice their real objection:

“If we somehow figured out how to solve that completely... what other obstacles would we have to overcome before moving forward?”

IF the answer is something else than the original objection, chances are that’s the REAL thing you need to overcome.

IF their answer is the same, then the first objection they voiced is the right one.

You’ve isolated the objection!

Now you can make a real determination about whether it can be overcome or not.

Bringing Down The Barriers

But first, your goal is to change their mindset a bit.

❌ “Can I make a suggestion?”

This question puts them on the defensive (same as “why” we mentioned above).

You’ll come across as patronising.

At best, the buyer will smile, nod, and proceed to ignore everything you say.

✅ “Can I bounce a few thoughts off of you?”

This question works better as it implies that YOU are the vulnerable one, not them.

And it sets a space where you can exchange ideas freely, outside of their current frame of thinking.

Reframe

Simply put, a reframe is an insight that gets buyers to change how they think about a problem or opportunity.

Used well, a reframe gets buyers to see things through a new “lens” (ideally yours).

Take this example from a sales team in tech.

“I don’t want to start a pilot until after next month. We’re too busy closing out the quarter. Right now is the worst time for us to do this.”

So the sales reps use the reframe to turn that objection from “bad timing” to “perfect timing.” And it looks like this:

“The conversations your team will be having before the end of the quarter will be higher stakes, and more important to capture. Right now is the best time.”

Notice how the end turns the objection (timing) into an opportunity (for them).

Think of a common objection you’re currently struggling with.

Now try to picture a scenario in which that weakness is a strength. That’s how you reframe.

Closure

Leading your buyer to say what you want to hear doesn’t work.

It leaves the objection unresolved.

And it’ll put your deal at risk later on.

To truly put an objection to rest, your buyer needs to feel like you have left no stone unturned.

Instead of using a question that leads the buyer to give you a false “yes” like:

❌ “Does that resolve your concern?”

Turn it into an open-ended question like:

✅ “What part of your concern do you feel is still left unaddressed?”

This shows empathy (✔️) AND brings closure to the objection (✔️✔️).

Anything Else?

You need to get your buyer to ask more questions.

More questions are a good thing.

Why?

Getting prospects to ask questions allows you to dive deeper into the topics they care about.

When you’ve finished putting an objection to rest, ask for more:

“What other reservations do you have?”

This gets you to focus the rest of the conversation where it matters for them.

=💰💰💰

Objections Hidden in Plain Sight

They’re silent objections, waiting to steal your deal without you ever noticing.

Protect your pipeline:

The False Positive

When something sounds “too good to be true”, it often is.

Ever had that creeping suspicion that your prospect might not be as excited as they’re letting on? (usually, once you’ve hung up, of course)

It’s all “greats, awesomes, and amazings” during the call. But then they ghost you.

What gives?

Data says that high sentiment scores (with few objections raised) don’t correlate with higher win rates.

Lost deals have a 12.8% higher sentiment score than closed-won deals.

That’s right. They were just being polite.

And all the while you had them pinned as a sure thing...

Instead, get your prospects to open up.

Allow them to voice those concerns upfront.

And DO NOT take positive language at face value.

The Silent Killer

What’s worse than too many questions on a call?

No questions.

Sometimes getting a prospect to open up is like pulling teeth.

So, just because they aren’t saying much doesn’t mean they don’t have much to say.

The no-question call is the biggest red flag 🚩 you can get.

The Window Shopper

Your buyer bringing up “someone else” isn’t always bad news.

Competitors can come up in your discussions in one of two ways: early or late stage.

And that changes everything.

Data indicates that discussing competitors at the beginning of the sales cycle correlates with higher win rates... by 24% Why?

It shows your buyers are pain-aware and solution-aware.

And that means INTENT.

However, competitor mentions in late-stage deals are a no-no. They result in a 20% drop in win rates.

Why?

Because that means they aren’t getting everything they need from you... And they’re looking to get it elsewhere.

Shut. that. down.

The Technologist

This person LOVES talking about features.

They want you to pop the hood and show them everything (wires and all).

This is textbook kicking-the-can-down-the-road behaviour.

Between you and me, buyers don’t want to see features.

Because features don't demonstrate value to buyers.

The data is clear: those that beat their quota discuss features 40% less than those that miss.

Ouch.

It’s your job to steer the conversation to where you’re going to be able to demonstrate value like:

• ROI

• Business challenges

• Business environment

• Decision-making ecosystem

• Ongoing support and project implementation

• Value-related topics

Top closers bring these topics up a whopping +50% more often.

It weeds out tire-kickers and helps progress deals that stand a chance of closing.

In other words, if you can prove value prospects are more likely to pay.

Sounds fair, right?

Top 5 Objections

No matter what you’re selling, you’re likely to run into one of these five common objections from your prospects:

Lack of interest

“I’m not interested” or “Send me information to review.”

❌ Say “ok” and send generic information.

✅ Ask further questions to uncover topics of interest or pain points that you can tailor to the prospect’s needs.

The most common and usually the first one you’ll receive.

This is where you should ask deeper questions that help you determine what type of information would be useful to them and why. This enables you to qualify the prospect so nobody wastes their time.

Something like:

“Absolutely! May I ask a few questions about your business/your role to ensure I’m sending the most relevant information to you?” (follow with key qualifications questions).

Price

“I can’t afford this” or “It’s too expensive” or “We don’t have the budget.”

❌ Give in on your price being too high without establishing the value that your product/service delivers.

✅ Focus on the value you have delivered for clients just like them. Challenge them to focus on the benefit over the cost.

I could write a whole other article on budget negotiations alone (and maybe I will, what do you think?).

According to HubSpot, over 35% of today’s sellers say their biggest challenge is overcoming price objections.

For prospects to consider moving from the status quo:

Here’s a potential script for those who tell you that your product costs too much:

“I understand the price might have been more than your team initially budgeted for, but I’ve got many examples of us establishing a lot more value than you had initially expected. If we can show you clearly throughout this process that our value far outweighs the cost, would you be open to continue working with us towards a solution?”

Lack of Agency

“I’m not the decision maker” or “I don’t have approval.”

❌ Immediately move away from this person to engage someone else higher.

✅ Empower someone of lower influence to be your champion.

Most B2B transactions, even in small startups, involve multiple stakeholders.

Some members have full decision-making authority while others are influencers behind the scenes.

Be prepared to align the value of your product/service to potential influencers. This positioning can help you establish a champion within your deal.

Here’s a script for reaching out to a potential influencer:

“I understand that you might not be the final decision maker here, but our product/service impacts your role significantly. I’d appreciate the opportunity to learn a bit more about your needs so that when I engage with the decision-maker, I’ll have the right information to share with them. (Follow with key qualifications questions along with an ask for a direct introduction to one of the decision-makers).”

Competitor or Status quo

“We use a competitor” or “we already do this” or “we built a solution ourselves”.

❌ Get defensive and/or bad-mouth the competition.

✅ Be prepared and knowledgeable about the competitor they are using or evaluating. Ask questions that address areas that competitors/their current system may lack and where you are in a position of strength.

You should be able to make a strong case against your competitors. If you don’t, create a SWOT analysis of your top competitors to truly understand where you are stronger/weaker.

Here’s a script for when your prospect mentions a competitor.

“It’s great that you are looking at all of your options. My goal is to help you make the best decision for your company. While I can’t speak for the competition, we’ve built our product/service with the specific needs of someone like you in mind. Here’s how we handle solving this challenge...”

Timing

“This isn’t the right time” or “That timeline doesn’t work for us.”

❌ Plan to follow up months later without actionable next steps.

✅ Dig deeper to find the real reason that your prospect is missing the value. Or, if the timing is genuinely off, make sure to get a commitment from the prospect that you can hold them accountable to in the future.

As the adage goes, “timing is everything.”

Well in sales, it might not be everything, but timing is a key factor in every deal.

The reality is, it’s nearly impossible to get the timing exactly right naturally.

Instead, salespeople have to create urgency and shorten the timeline. It’s not easy. A HubSpot survey found that 42% of salespeople struggle to create urgency.

One of the most effective strategies we’ve found to push timelines up is by establishing value.

Ask questions that uncover any compelling events or reasons to move from the status quo sooner.

Finally, if the timing really isn’t ideal, be sure to get a clear commitment on a future timeline.

Here’s a script on what to say when buyers report that timing is an issue:

“I understand the timing might not be perfect right now. Most of our customers took several months to consider this type of product/solution before ultimately making a choice. I’d just like to ask a few questions to help me diagnose an appropriate time to reconnect with your team in the future (followed by key qualifications questions). If I can show you how we can deliver value X, would you be open to connecting with me in Y time frame?”

Summary

• Handle objections by pausing, taking a breath and validating that you’ve heard the objection(s)

• Clarify with further questions to not only get a deeper understanding but also look to isolate to make sure the issue is “real”.

• You should look to change the buyer’s mindset to bring down their barrier to enable you to reframe the objection which will help during closure.

• Some objections could be hiding in plain sight. They don’t seem like objections but further questioning will help determine that.

• Some of the top objections are:

  • Lack of interest;

  • Price;

  • Lack of agency;

  • Competitor/Status Quo; and

  • Timing

Hope you enjoy this edition of Conquer Sales. Please let me know in the comments.

(Data taken from Gong.io, check them out for some interesting stats.)