How Objections Are Good For You

In last week’s post we established that objections – far from being conversation-killers – are opportunities to further conversations and relationships.

When a prospect raises a particular objection to doing business with you, it is an invitation to further discussion.

The Sales Benefit

The principle thing an objection does is allow you to continue the sales conversation, understanding the nature of the objection, the background and need, and to discuss ways to solve the issue for your client (quick tip: the solution is not a discount).

As mentioned in the previous post, an objection is not a “no”, but rather a question “how”.

At this point in the conversation you do not say thank you, shake hands and walk out of the room. Rather you lean forward, say “tell me more” and shift into solution-crafting-mode. In fact, rename the whole section of your sales training from “objection handling” to “solution crafting”.

The Account Management Benefit

There are some truths that are universal to all of your clients, and some that are particular to each client. In other words: no matter how much you prepare, any sales conversation can still present you with new information.

Use this information to improve your account management internally, and customer experience externally.

You are learning about your client. This new information, combined with what you already know, will continue to inform best practices and preferences for providing a high level of service. The information gathered in an objection conversation today, will allow you to anticipate a new objection tomorrow.

The Product Benefit

Everything you learn on the front lines must inform what happens before and after.

This is valuable information to improve your product or service. Each customer context conversation is an opportunity to further refine your product.

Remember that your product only matters in as much as it solves problems for your market. Your prospects’ difficulties in buying or committing tell you more about the problems you are solving. Continue to improve the solution to keep a competitive advantage.

Do you struggle to manage objections? If you answered no, I have a surprise for you: you are ignoring an available portion of business. More to come in the next blog post.