How to Overcome the #1 Objection in Sales

Alright..it's story time, children! The year was 2013, my business development career was just getting started - and I still had hair. I was doing lead generation at a previous company - a network infrastructure / VoIP manufacturer. I was having some success, but still there was a roadblock - something keeping me from crushing my quota. 

I knew exactly what it was. When on the phone with prospects, I'd run into the same objection time after time, "We're a Cisco shop."

Ahhh yes, Cisco. For any other vendor in this space, they were (and still are) the 800 pound gorilla. On my cold calls, seemingly all of my prospects had Cisco in place - and they didn't want to switch (pun intended) away from them. 

Every industry has a Cisco. A top dog. A Goliath - and your job as David is to take them down. If they don't have Cisco (or whoever the leader is in the space you're selling into), chances are they're using one of your other competitors. Ladies and gentlemen, the #1 most common objection in B2B sales is...

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"We already have a vendor for that." 

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It's either that or some variation, like "We're all set. We use x for that" and x = one of your competitors.

That's it - game over, right? The prospect is using one of your competitors so there's nothing you can do. Just tuck your tail between your legs and move on to the next prospect on your list, right? Wrong! This is what most sales reps do. Heck, even I was guilty of this as well when I first started selling against Cisco - and I struggled to hit my quota as a result. Then I had an epiphany. 

This was the moment when I realized that sales is a lot like dating. Alright, bear with me while I explain. Like I alluded to in my last article, I used to be awkward as hell around women but eventually got really good at picking them up. I got 15 women's phone numbers at the Red Door alone in less than a year - they must have been diggin' my break-dance moves! That summer I got two different women's numbers at Fat Belly's on back-to-back nights - and they were both named Kelsey! 

Did I get lots of women's phone numbers? Yes. But I also had lots of fun and met some amazing women - that's why I did it. Besides, ladies do the same thing when they brag to their friends about all of the fake phone numbers they give to guys!

In my circle of friends I became known as 'The Opener', because of my ability to approach any woman and strike up a conversation out of the blue. When you approach a woman at a bar (or wherever) you have a very short amount of time to get them interested - just like on a sales call. You have to break the ice, build rapport, ask open ended questions, show interest in what they're saying and then close - by getting a dance, a phone number, an after-party invite, etc. 

It's no wonder I'm a Business Development Representative, because we're 'The Openers' of the sales cycle! Even with all of this success as 'The Opener', it's not always like shooting fish in a barrel. Often times I'd face resistance. Just like in sales, there's objections I'd have to overcome with women. And what's the #1 most common objection in dating? Yup, you guessed it - "I'm seeing someone else." Just like how in sales the #1 most common objection is, "I have a vendor in place for that." Isn't it ironic?! 

So how did I do it? How did I overcome that objection in order to get all of those women's numbers? Well, here goes. So the woman would say, "I'm seeing someone else right now" and then without any hesitation and with complete confidence I'd say, "What don't you like about him?" There it is! The next thing I know, the woman is going on and on about what she doesn't like about the guy she's seeing. She's saying how he doesn't appreciate her, he's lazy, etc. Meanwhile I'm showing concern, and occasionally chiming in with a "gee, that sucks" or, "aww, what a mean guy." Then I've got her number.

Although I'm speaking from a guy's point of view, this method also applies for women. You're interested in someone, you're talking to them, but then find out that they're seeing someone else. Regardless of your gender, we've all been there!

As one of my friends always says, "Boyfriends are only obstacles." Well guess what? So are your prospects incumbent vendors! 

You see, sales is a lot like dating. The way I was overcoming the "I'm seeing someone else" objection every weekend at the bars - I realized that I could use that exact same method in order to overcome the "we already have a vendor for that" objection on my sales calls. And guess what? It worked! The most effective rebuttal to the "we already have a vendor for that" objection is...

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"What don't you like about them?" 

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Sometimes (if I wanted it to come off as less of a hard sell) I would instead say, "Oh awesome! I hear great things about Cisco. But let me ask you, what don't you like about them?"

Once I started using this method, I saw immediate results. Instead of marking a prospect as 'not interested' in SalesForce and moving on when they said they were using Cisco, I now had prospects telling me about how much of a headache Cisco SmartNet is, how they have poor service, are too expensive, don't integrate well with other manufacturers, etc.

Then all I had to do was listen to the prospect's frustrations, sympathize, drill down on and reaffirm their pain points and assure them that they would no longer have to worry about these problems if they switched to my company. I'd close by saying something like, "With us, you won't have to worry about those SmartNet headaches. So if we can get you lower pricing and better service, it would make sense to evaluate us, right?" Who would say no to that? Nobody! 

Even if the prospect says, "Nothing" when I'd ask them "What don't you like about them?" I would just give them options. I'd say, "Well, let me ask you this - between support, pricing and performance - which area would you like to see them improve?" They're bound to choose one.

This method works regardless of what you're selling. Just substitute in things that a customer might complain about if they were using one of your competitors. Give them two or three options, let them choose one and assure them that they'll see better results in that area with your company. 

There's bound to be at least something your prospect doesn't like about their current vendor. If they still insist that they're completely happy with them however, then move on. You can't win em' all. But, by using this approach you definitely increase your chances for success. 

From there, I started to book meetings left and right. I hit my quota that month - and the five that followed. One month I booked 32 meetings - my quota was 22. One of those meetings was with Peter Singh, the CTO for the Toronto District School Board - the largest school district in Canada with 600 schools. Yes, they too were a Cisco shop!

Here's 3 reasons why this method is effective:

1) In sales, you never want to bad mouth your competition - but if you can get your prospect to do it - well, that's your best shot at getting them to consider a switch. 

2) Wording is key. Notice I say, "What don't you like about them" as opposed to "Is there anything you don't like about them?" By wording it my way it does two things. First, it's an open ended question, so the prospect will open up and give a longer answer than just one or two words, which keeps the conversation flowing. Secondly, it's assuming that there's pain, and I'm a big advocate of assumptive selling. You see, I don't know that my prospect has any frustrations with his current vendor, but by wording my rebuttal this way, I increase my chances to uncover those frustrations if they do exist. Instead of assuming that the prospect loves your competitor, assume that they hate them (or at least dislike them enough to consider a switch). 

 3) Pulling this off takes some serious confidence and fearlessness - you need both if you're going to succeed at sales. 

Overcoming objections. It's one of the most important skills in sales. And, now you know the most effective way to overcome the #1 most common objection. 

So go ahead, try this out - unless of course you're selling against my new company, NaviSite!

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Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment if you agree, disagree, if you've used a different method to overcome this objection or if there's another objection you run into more frequently. All banter is welcome! 

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Jeremy Leveille is a Channel Sales Manager for NaviSite, a Cloud Managed Services Provider. Jeremy is a Cloud Computing Advocate, CIO's Best Friend and Enabler of Digital Transformation. He can be found on LinkedIn or on Twitter @leveillejeremy. The views expressed in this blog post are Jeremy's and do not reflect those of his employer.