Resistance isn’t rejection. In a selling situation, it’s often a sign of engagement and potential interest.
If a buyer has taken the time to challenge you, that is a favorable sign in the decision cycle. This is simply a test of seller certainty and conviction in our solution, service or offer.
On the cusp of making a change that’s uncomfortable, where the future feels uncertain, the customer is likely to pause. So it’s my responsibility to anticipate that resistance and transfer my belief, so the customer shares my confidence about the future outcome.
That shapes how I handle objections in sales. At the end of an expertly managed process, I give the buyer permission to say yes or no.
What Is a Sales Objection?
A sales objection is the pushback a buyer raises between interest and a decision, usually about price, timing, authority or the status quo.
Objections are completely rational. Prospective buyers should be hesitant and reluctant. Just because you believe in what you’re selling doesn’t mean that your prospective buyer does. You have to transfer that belief.
How to Handle Objections in Sales
Change is hard. However confident a buyer looks across the table, they’re carrying fear and doubt about the decision. The ability to remove perceived risk plays a key role in determining who wins the sale. That work starts long before the objection shows up.
These are the five steps I use to get ready for resistance and to move through it with the buyer.
Rehearse for Resistance
Top sellers prepare for objections. Every customer has different needs, but there are typically common threads in their objections, and I want to anticipate them and know my strongest position before I walk in.
So I identify my five most common objections and script my answers. I write each one down before I’m in the room, then practice moving through those moments of hesitation. Drill them enough and you move past memorization, so you’re at your best when the moment of truth arrives.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking: “A script?” Scripts give you the opportunity to be at your best when your best is required.
Scripts cover what I’ll say. My pre-call planning starts with my objectives and three questions:
- Why is the customer here?
- What do they really need and want?
- How can we insert a very clear point of view in solving it?
Seek to Understand
Every one of your major deals will have nuance to it. There’s uncertainty, and there are decision teams with internal agendas. This requires situational awareness. I’m trying to understand the experience the buyer is navigating, and being curious about that is a better way to co-create a path forward.
Don’t meet resistance with resistance. Often, resistance requires another effective open-ended question to get to the truth.
Show Your Conviction
If there is a little buyer anxiety, that’s another opportunity to demonstrate my absolute certainty that we are not going to let them down. I’m going to be personally invested to ensure we get to a great outcome.
A big part of selling is earning the next commitment to get to the next sequence in the sales cycle. A commitment isn’t always a signed contract. You agree to go do something, I agree to do something, and we come back together and evaluate.
Persistence matters here too. Don’t give up after the first signs of resistance, or the third, fourth or fifth. Hang in there. Pushing past no shouldn’t be adversarial.
Ask the Timeline Question
When a deal goes quiet, I don’t “bump” the proposal to the top of someone’s inbox. I respectfully ask a simple question:
“Where are you in terms of your timeline for this decision? Is what we talked about 60 days ago still true today, or have things changed?”
I’m not rude, but I’m not afraid to ask the question. The objective is to understand where we are in the process, to have clarity. If I can get that clarity, then it’s all good.
I don’t default to checking in, circling back, following up or the dreaded bump. I challenge myself to do better. Asked the right way, with respect, nobody’s offended by a direct question. It’s just business.
Give Buyers Permission to Say Yes or No
Closing the sale should be the natural and logical conclusion of an expertly managed process. And you do arrive at a time where you have to give people permission to say yes or no, and not resist that. The customer owns the decision, and I respect that.
This is the step many sellers skip. A lot of talented salespeople spend too much time spinning their wheels on low-yield opportunities, when they could be getting to the no and having the freedom to move on and pursue something more viable. I think it’s one of the biggest reasons talented people miss their performance targets. Time is a very scarce resource for sellers today, and I’d rather get to the no than spend more time on something that’s in the dead zone.
Clarity breeds confidence, and ambiguity is the kiss of death.
If the answer is no, it’s not a rejection of me personally. I want to understand the detail around the no, so I ask the buyer why. Most people, knowing I put time and energy into responding to their request, will respect that and tell me.
Then I accept the no, ask if we can keep in touch and never take a neutral relationship and turn it into a negative one. There’s no shortage of qualified opportunities in the world.
Common Sales Objections and How I Respond
In sales, four objections will show up again and again. This is how I respond to each.
“It’s Too Expensive”
“This is the max budget. Can we make this work?” My team once heard that question twice in 24 hours. We know it’s coming, so we’re prepared to respond.
Customers default to price in the absence of value and a quality experience. That’s on us. Overcoming sales objections about price starts long before the price conversation, with how much value we’ve built into the relationship. Sometimes it also means knowing when to walk away. I’d rather prepare to win than prepare to discount.
“Let Me Think About It”
Prospects who are going to think about it usually don’t. Warm is safe, and our brains are wired for safety and comfort. This is why so many deals go to die in the land of indecision.
So I ask the timeline question and give the buyer room to tell me where things stand. If “maybe later” usually means no, I’d rather know now.
“I Need to Run It by My Team”
Take this one at face value. Gartner found that 74% of B2B buyer teams demonstrate unhealthy conflict during the decision process, and that buying groups that reach consensus are 2.5 times more likely to report a high-quality deal. The customer decision making process happens on the buyer’s side, with pressures we’re not privy to.
We don’t all have line of sight. So I ask who else is involved and what each of them needs to see before they can say yes.
“We’re Happy With What We Have”
Many buyers stay stuck in the status quo, because staying put feels safe. My job is to show them what’s possible when they choose to move, and what they risk by staying put.
How Prepared Are You for the Resistance You’ll Hear on Your Next Call?
Knowing how to handle objections in sales starts before the call. My Sales Call Planning Checklist asks a question that goes straight to this: Are you prepared to handle resistance and reinforce your position of value? Make sure you walk in with a stated outcome objective, questions prepared in advance and a plan to earn a commitment.
