Sales Rep 101 – Chapter 36

Objections

In sales this is the number one challenge that face sales reps. And that is why the best sales managers focus on what the most common objections are in their industry and continually work with reps on how best to overcome them. If you are new to sales it is important for you to tell the difference between a true objection and what I call just a smoke screen which is just something get to you to go away. We will discuss both of those later on. Customers can have true objections. And let’s face it, not every business or person can use your product or service. As a sales rep you think anyone who doesn’t buy from you is a total idiot. However, I have been a business owner and sometimes there are actually good reasons why they might not buy. It is your job to understand the difference between someone who really could use your product or service from someone who might not.

Let’s start with the smoke screen. Every sales rep absolutely hates the smoke screen. This is simply just an excuse not to talk with you. It maybe that they don’t want to talk with just that day, or maybe they never want to talk with you. Instead of just being upfront and telling that they are not interested they will give you excuse after excuse why they can’t meet with you. They are always too busy or they always have a busy week. I had one prospect tell me that he always had a doctors appointment that day so he couldn’t meet with me. In the end when I finally gave up on trying to meet with him I told him that I hope he starts to feel better. He asked me what I meant and I said that he had been to see his doctor 10 times in the last 6 weeks so something must be wrong. He didn’t think that was funny but I did.

The bottom line is this. Even if it is a big account or a potential big sale eventually you will just have to be up front with them and ask them if they will ever give you time to visit with them. And if they still won’t give you a good reason then they need to go to the bottom of the list. Now let’s talk about actual objections.

Money – Of course money is always one of the top objections people will give you. Maybe they think you are too expensive or maybe they just feel like they don’t have the money to spend right now. This can go either way. Sometimes companies are just struggling to make payroll an really cannot afford what you are selling. Even if it can help them get more sales. But it can also just be an excuse and they may not feel that they will not be a good return on investment. This is where great sales reps can separate themselves from average sales reps. Great sales reps can prove to them how their product or service can help them. They do that with testimonials and examples along with numbers to back them up. Now all sales reps have those tools. But what separates the best is how they present those facts and can persuade someone to buy. Role playing is hands down the best way to get better at this.

Already Working With Someone Else – I always hated this one because you have no idea what the other company said about your company to get the sale. This can be a real objection because they may only have the budget for one company. I remember when I sold YellowPages there were 2 main directories and a few other small ones. Very few companies would spend the same amount in both books so it was very important to get to that business first. On the other hand they be completely lying to you. If someone tells me this the first thing I ask is who they are working with. I can always tell immediately if they are lying to me and if that is the case then I will continue to push to earn their business.

Don’t Like Your Product Or Service – I love this objection. If a business tells me that they don’t like what I am selling so they will not buy I will ask them if that is the only thing stopping them. Most times they will say yes. Then I bring the hammer down. They may not like what you are selling but I will ask them who they are selling to. If businesses only sold things that they like then they would not be in business very long. This is most foolish mistake business owners make. They complete forget who their customers are. I was in advertising sales for years and I sold for a local TV station. Businesses would not advertise on our station because they didn’t watch the news on that station. I would literally tell them that is the dumbest reason I have ever heard of. So basically, you are saying the other half of the city that does watch our news is not good enough for them. If someone tells you that I will always encourage you to be blunt.

Just Don’t Think It Is A Good Fit – You find sometimes that no matter how good of sales pitch you do that some customers are just not a good fit. I know you are in sales and you think everyone should buy from you because that is what good sales reps do. If you have a customer that tells you that then chances are they are being pretty transparent with you and you should take a minute and think it through. Sometimes it is best just to give them your card and let them know that you appreciate them giving you the time and that if they know anybody that might be a good fit to please have them reach out to me. Using that tone with people has gotten me more referrals than any other way. But if you push them to the limit chances are that you will never hear from them again.

Objections are hard to overcome. That is why the sales reps that can handle them the best always make the most money. If you are the type of sales rep that doesn’t build value in what you are selling then it will be hard to overcome objections. Practice…Practice….Practice. Because getting better at handling objections and closing will always help your bank account.