Smart Words: “Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust”. – Zig Ziglar

Smart Tactics:

“Salespeople create the objection!”

“Objections are a request for more info!”

Those outdated views of prospects’ objections are probably hurting your sales results right now. Some of the most common issues I hear in sales conversations are agents attempting to either suppress a prospect’s objection by trying to prevent the prospect from objecting, immediately disputing it, or trying to educate the prospect on why their objection is wrong.

These strategies just reinforce the “cat and mouse” nature of sales conversations. The prospect pushes back on the salesperson, the salesperson mistakenly thinks they could have prevented the objection or that the prospect is inviting them to try and change their mind… neither of those is true.

Salespeople don’t create objections… they are already there in the prospect’s mind. Or they are created in real time when the prospect takes what they think they are hearing from the salesperson, and adds their own assumptions and estimations.

Objections are almost never a request for more information. In fact, they are usually the complete opposite of that. When a prospect objects to a salesperson, that prospect has weighed their options, considered factors and elements, and come up with a decision. That decision is the “objection” we salespeople hear. But the prospect is not asking for more information most of the time… they don’t think they need or want it—they’ve made their decision.

Here’s what really happens:

Objections are already present… let them out. Don’t avoid them—get them out into the light of day, so they can either shrink, be reduced, or be eliminated.

When a prospect objects… do not flood them with additional information. Instead, know less as a salesperson and learn more.

-Dale