In the world of sales, there’s nothing more terrifying than imagining all the different ways your sales pitch will go wrong. You can spend countless hours thinking of how your prospect will give you different objections and rejections.
Here’s some food for thought – “An objection is the strongest indicator that a lead has just become a prospect”.
What do we mean by this? In a much more demanding world of sales, we’ve seen how serious buyers pay more attention. Whenever you’re faced with tough counter questions, it should serve as a proof point of interest. Meaning that this is a good sign, but more importantly, it’s time to properly address your prospect’s concerns and direct the conversation towards a sale.
Let us share our strategies around objections and closing deals.
What do we mean by an objection?
Unless you’re in the league of the David Ogilvy and Jordan Belforts, you’ve most likely met with objections in your sales meetings. It’s when you’re challenged on whether or not your product or service actually works – when your prospect expresses doubts and concerns.
This is a clear signal that you need to step it up and perhaps change your strategy. However, what’s important to remember, it is not a “not interested”.
This is where empathy becomes important. You must be able to relate and create a signal of confidence. A strong sales person has a solid toolbox of interpersonal skills – this will help you create long lasting and profitable relationships.
The Zaplify Framework in Overcoming Objections
1. Pay attention
This is the most crucial part. Try to thoroughly understand what the objections are actually about. Don’t jump to conclusions, this will only push your prospect away.
As with anything in life, people want to be heard and understood. Put your Dr Phil game on and listen to not only what is being said, but how it is being said. This will give you a deeper understanding of what concerns are more pressing than others.
And obviously, don’t get offended. It’s business.
2. Recognize the problem
Once you’ve listened and understood what the problem is, level the playing field with your buyer. Make him or her understand that they aren’t unique in sharing this concern, it’s a common worry that many of your successful clients today have once felt.
If the buyer’s concern is different than what you’ve experienced before, ask questions to dig deeper into the problem. There’s most likely a common denominator to be found. Make sure you’re thoughtful in your approach, this will further help you build credibility and push the sale forward.
3. Structure your response
This is the Grand Slam. Your time to shine.
Make sure you address what the main concern derives from. Once this issue has been resolved, the rest will follow suit. The more you practice, the better you get.
We’ve listed a couple of common objections below, we hope this helps.
4. Agree on next steps
This is where it gets tricky. It’s time for your egoism to kick in. Don’t be shy to push forward.
There’s a high-risk that a buyer’s concerns resurface once the meeting is concluded. Therefore, it’s super important to always agree on next steps. Always strive to either close the deal, or book a follow up session in the calendar. Send an email with a summary of your conversation, attached material (if applicable) and continue to build excitement on your future partnership.
Good service always wins.
How to address the most common objections
“Sorry, we’re working with your direct competitors”
- “Brilliant, that means you understand the value of our product. Let me ask, there must be something you don’t like about the current service?”
“Can you please email me in 2 weeks and share this presentation?”
- “Definitely, let me send you a summary of what we’ve discussed and I’ll put 30 minutes in for us to speak in 2 weeks!”
“Your product is too expensive”
- “I appreciate it sounds expensive at first. What I tell our clients who share the same concern – the price savings of using our product and direct ROI is quickly achieved by just 1 x converted deal”.
We hope this gives some insight into how you can turn a bad sales meeting into a new deal!
Stay Zappy,
