Three Ways To Overcome The Status Quo Objection In Sales

Status quo is one of the more challenging objections in sales. It’s super frustrating when you know you can help a prospect, but your prospect is fine with the way things are. Ugh!

Don’t lose hope! There are a few things you can do…

Three ways to overcome status quo:

ONE: Agitate?– Getting under the surface and exploring business impact from multiple angles helps your prospect quantify their situation in such a way as to recognize they need to change something. When this isn’t done well, prospects will not see enough reason to change.

Getting under the surface agitates status quo. In other words, sometimes in order to help someone make a positive change, you need to make their situation uncomfortable. Importantly, this requires a?safe environment.

In sales there is a tendency to talk about the positive features and benefits of a product or service; however, agitating your prospect’s pain is more effective. People are more likely to avoid pain than they are to move toward something better. In psychology this is called?loss aversion. In sales, it’s the reality of human nature. Pain is a stronger motivator. Because of this, agitating pain can help your prospect get unstuck.

For example, when a prospect states that they are losing good employees, asking how that is impacting morale, current managers, social reputation, and the bottom line can help them understand more fully what’s at stake and why status quo is dangerous.

TWO: Tell a story?– We’re wired for stories, so use them in your sales conversations. Storyteller Jyoti Guptara notes that a “good story beats great information.” Story guru Kindra Hall suggests a three-part framework that can be quite powerful in helping people break status quo.

It goes like this: Normal > Explosion > New Normal

Essentially, your prospect is living in what they perceive to be the norm. If you can tell a story of how things have changed (explosion) and that a new normal is required for their context and their success, your prospect will be much more likely to hear you and change.

By way of example, think of how retail sales had to change to a new normal in light of the explosion of the Internet. Or how many of us had to change in light of the pandemic.

THREE: Reframe?– Helping prospects reframe the situation can be effective in breaking the status quo. I once had a prospect who dug their heels in, saying, “We never sign agreements without an ‘out clause’.” That was their status quo. It was how they did business. Their request was perfectly fine if they were buying a washing machine – that’s why there are warranties. I wasn’t selling an appliance, though. My response was, “I appreciate that, but your request puts me in the position of an unequal partner in your success. This wouldn’t be good for either of us. Should we just part ways now?”

In other words, instead of arguing over legalese, I reframed the situation in the light of our mutually beneficial relationship. This broke through their status quo and the deal closed. Status quo can show up in any number of ways. The reframe helps your prospect see things in a new light. While you should never be smug, doing things the same way got them to where they are. Helping them see things in a new light is a good thing.

I hope this helps!

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