Overcoming the Fear of Objections: Why Objections are Actually Your Best Friend

Imagine you meet with a new prospect and chat with them about your product or service, you give them a demonstration and you feel like things are going really well, and then... the objections begin.

The potential customer starts asking lots of detailed questions and running through all the reasons why they aren’t sure if your product or service is the right fit for them. If you’re like most people in sales, this is the moment when your heart drops. You thought you had the sale in the bag, and now you’re starting to have doubts.

It might feel like your worst sales nightmare to deal with a list of difficult objections from someone who seems like a great prospect. People often make the mistake of thinking that objections mean someone isn’t going to buy, so when the objections start, they feel anxious and nervous. But I’m here to tell you the opposite is true – objections are actually a GOOD thing.

If someone never objects, they probably aren’t really interested. Here’s why:

When someone is considering a purchase (whether it's a new home, a new refrigerator, or a paint color for their walls), they have to go through the mental process of figuring out how this product or service will work in their life. An objection is simply them working through these thoughts out loud.

That’s why the moment a prospect begins raising objections, it is important for you, the sales professional, to stay grounded and present, so you can help guide them through this process. If you get caught up in anxiety and worry that you’ve lost the sale, you’ll begin rushing this essential step and won’t be there to guide them to the best solution.

My advice to every sales professional out there, no matter what you’re selling, is to embrace the objection. Because it truly means your prospect is interested!

Most people will teach you that when a prospect begins objecting, the best thing you can do is solve their objection, but this is an outdated approach that rarely works with today’s buyer.

When you jump to a solution, you skip the opportunity to really get to the bottom of your potential customer’s problem and help them solve it.

Here’s an example of this old style:

Imagine a sales professional or realtor is showing a home and the prospect expresses that they don’t like a specific room because they feel like their furniture won’t fit in it. The jump-to response might be something like, “Lots of other people have felt like they don’t like this room too, but they ended up liking it because when they thought about putting the bed over on this wall, it really works.”

With this approach, you end the conversation before it even really begins. Essentially, you’re giving them another sales pitch.

Instead, I like to use curiosity and good questions to work together with the prospect to find a solution. This could sound like: “Describe some of the solutions we could use to furnish this room.... Let's work together to find some ways it would work.” or “Tell me about the furniture you have. Where could you see it going in here?”

By getting curious in the moment when their objections come up, you open up an opportunity to collaborate with them. Now you’re able to work together and be on their team to figure out how your product or service can work for them.

The same approach can work whether you’re selling new homes, countertops, appliances, or anything else! The objection might be that they think the trends are moving away from the particular style of product you’re selling, it could be that your service feels too expensive for them, or it could be that they feel they need a larger space.

When an objection arises, no matter what it is, keep calm and avoid getting anxious about the sale. Instead, get curious and ask questions about the objection. Your job is to work together with your prospective client to help them find a solution.

If you TELL them a solution, it's a sales pitch. If you give them the opportunity to dig deeper into their objection and collaborate to help them find their own solution, it becomes their truth. When they come up with it, they believe in it, and therefore they will buy it.

Once you’ve moved through their objections using this method, rather than trying to close the sale and move on before they change their mind, slow down and ask them, “Is there anything else you’re concerned about?” This shows the prospect that you’re not afraid of their objections and you genuinely want to help them find the best solution to meet their needs.

Don’t move away from this process until you’ve delved into every concern and objection they have. When you guide this process with confidence, you’ll hardly ever have to worry about closing a sale.

Sound too good to be true? If you have an objection you believe can’t be resolved through this methodology, send me an email at debora@primeperformancestrategies.com and we’ll hop on a quick call to see if we can find a solution.