Slow Down for Objections

I live in Boston where a yellow light is as good as green. Most drivers speed up when they should slow down.

In Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play, Mahan Khalsa says that sales objections are like yellow lights. Many salespeople blow right past and hurt their chances of making the sale. Instead, they should slow down.

What Is An Objection Really?

An objection is simply a valid reason for not buying right now.

Many objections fit into the following types:

• “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
• “I don’t see the value.”
• “I’m stressed and busy right now.”
• “I’m skeptical that this will work.”
• “I see the value, but I have a concern or question.”
• “I don’t trust you.”
• “I see the value, but I’m scared of making a decision.”

Our job is to figure out what the objection is, what it means, and how to address it.

Why Do Salespeople Speed Past Objections?

Often, fear and poor habits drive behavior.

• Fear of Rejection: we don’t have a good answer and fear we’ll lose the sale
• Fear of Confrontation: we hope the problem will go away if we ignore it
• Poor Listening: we plan what we’re going to say instead of hearing what the buyer has to say
• Lack of Empathy: we focus on our own perspectives and ignore the buyers’
• Lack of Humility: we dismiss the buyer’s perspective because we are so confident in our own

These fears and behaviors will block success if we don’t overcome and change them. Worse, we won’t be able to help a customer who needs it.

Go Slow to Go Fast

To overcome these blockers, salespeople could adopt the motto Festina Lente. It means “make haste slowly.”

Speeding past objections is a bad idea because they exist in the buyer’s mind. And if they exist in the buyer’s mind, they are real to her. Ignoring reality won’t make objections go away, so you might as well slow down and address them.

Some of you might say, “I don’t have time to slow down.”

To that I say, “Do you have the time to waste on meeting after meeting that gets you no closer to the sale? Do you have the time to surprise your company with a mis-forecasted deal? Do you have time to lose to a competitor because you were unhelpful?”

When you slow down, one of two things will happen:

1. You’ll address the objection and move the sale forward
2. You won’t address it, thereby giving you the chance to move on and find another opportunity to help someone

Either way, you’ll save time and go faster.

How to Get Better

Listen First

As Steven Covey said, “Seek first to understand then to be understood.”

When buyers raise objections, listen actively before you speak.

• Make and maintain eye contact. Don’t look at your computer, your phone, or other people. If you’re talking to the buyer via phone, close your eyes and listen.
• Concentrate. Keep asking yourself, “what is he really saying?”
• Stay still. Don’t interrupt or finish the other person’s sentences.
• Keep an open mind. Don’t judge or plan an answer yet. Focus on understanding what she is saying with her words and nonverbal cues.
• Show you’re listening with simple actions. Nod. Say, “I understand.” Use empathetic phrases like, “That must be challenging for you.”
• Recap or paraphrase to confirm understanding.

Clarify then Respond

Many salespeople act like eager students. Like they seek the teacher’s approval for rattling off “the right answer.” This is one of the biggest mistakes I see salespeople make.

Sometimes simple questions do call for simple answers. But often, it makes more sense to identify the buyer’s “why” first. That way you can address the underlying question, not only the surface one.

Let’s say the buyer asks, “how much does it cost?”

You could say, “our pricing starts at $10,000 per month.”

While true, your answer doesn’t help you learn anything about the buyer’s why. Worse, you may miss the mark completely.

Instead, you could clarify first then respond.

“That depends. People ask about cost for different reasons…”

• “Why are you asking?”
• “Are you asking because you want rough budgetary numbers or because you’re ready to decide on a solution and make an investment?”
• “Are you looking for specific numbers, or are you looking to understand our pricing model?”
• “We have a lot of pricing options. What result are you looking to get?”

When you clarify, you understand. When you understand, you can help give the buyer what she really needs.

Seek Out Objections

Salespeople should do more than respond. They should raise objections proactively. For example,

• “Many of our customers worried about integrating our solution with their financial systems. Is that something you’re concerned about?”
• “Most of our customers need to justify the ROI to management. Is that something you need to do? How are you going to do that?”
• “If you called me next week and told me we couldn’t do business together, why would that be?”

Questions like these build trust. They show concern for the buyer’s success. They show confidence not fear.

In Conclusion

Addressing objections is the essence of sales. When do it well, you earn the buyer’s trust and move closer to the sale. When you don’t, you don’t.

Slow down for these gifts. Learn to love yellow lights.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your ideas…and your objections to my ideas ??