How to Anticipate & Handle Objections with Confidence

Objections are the hurdles that keep sales people a step away from closing. The swift removal of objections invariably leads to the closing of the sale. Only the well prepared sales person succeeds in removing the objections in a convincing manner.

No prospect is just waiting there with check books in hand and grinning from ear to ear to buy products or services. Prospects enjoy the freedom to choose among products and the power to ask various questions, raise objections, and express doubts about the products they are attempted to be sold to. The lesser the urgency to buy the product more pronounced would be the objections, irrespective of the quality of the product. Even sales people selling the best quality products and services face objections. Prospects want ensure that the products and services they are purchasing are worth it. These are but natural parts of a sales process. A sales person should take these as fixed features of the sales process and be prepared to overcome these convincingly.

Anticipating objections require a good deal of home work. A sales person should list out a possible set of objections. Many companies train their sales staff about possible objections and their convincing answers. However, every sales person should devise additional anticipated objections and prepare their answers. Find out from your colleagues what objections they encounter. Prepare a comprehensive list and their answers. A friend could help in this exercise and ascertain whether the answers are satisfying or not.

The attitude towards objections should be positive. To an optimistic and positive sales person objections are opportunities disguised. When a prospect raises valid objections it means he has paid attention to the briefings or the demonstrations of the sales person. The objections signify that he is interested or may get interested if his objections are removed and doubts are clarified. Viewed from this perspective, objections should enthuse sales persons.

Prior preparation makes the task of handling objections easier. More than the knowledge of the solutions to objections, it’s the attitude in handling objections that matters. Sales professionals should not get agitated while trying to remove objections that could range from the most valid to the most stupid ones. Each of the objections raised by the prospect should be noted down in detail. Starting with the toughest one, all objections must be removed one-by-one in a calm and pleasant manner. Tackling the toughest objection makes the job easier to convince about the smaller ones as the prospect is almost won over.

Show respect and allow the prospect to voice the objections completely. Make sure that you have heard the objections clearly and reflect the objection back to the prospect for clarity. If he/she states “the price is too high”, you can reflect it back to them by saying, ‘the price is too high.” And then set about answering the objections in a convincing and positive manner. Move from one objection to the next one only when you have removed the objection completely. Let your attitude be positive and genuinely pleasant throughout the process as those are the over riding factors to remove objections to close a deal.