One of the greatest skills a salesperson can have is to handle objections well.  In fact, the no. 1 reason people fail in their careers as salespeople is simply that they do not know how to effectively handle objections from prospective buyers. In this article, we are going to cover 12 strategies you can use right away to better manage and respond to your customer objections.

STEP ONE: Pause, Speak with Calm Authority!‍

When your prospect says something negative about your product or service offering, don't panic!  Take a deep breath and pause for a second before you reply. This will give you time to formulate a response. Speak in a calm, confident voice and remain in control of the conversation. You don't want to come across as overly defensive or too eager to please - this will only cause your prospect to lose trust in you.
Remain professional and poised throughout the entire process, even when you are challenged by a potential buyer. It's acceptable for prospects to disagree with you or have concerns about your product or service offering, but it's never okay for them to attack your character or personal integrity.

STEP TWO: Start Objection Handling with a Question

Once you have paused after hearing an objection from your prospect, ask an open-ended question to get them talking. The more your prospect divulges about their objection, the easier it will be to respond to whatever they are concerned about. Most importantly, this will also help you determine whether or not there is a genuine issue with your offering that needs to be resolved.

STEP THREE: Validate Before Objection Handling

Before you attempt to directly address your prospect's concern with an answer or solution of your own, first acknowledge what they are saying. Then let them know that you understand their hesitation.  Be empathetic and show that you care by paraphrasing what they have just shared with you before attempting to handle the sales objection. Say to them - "I hear what you are saying and I can completely understand why you would feel that way." This small act of validation will go a long way in building trust between you and your prospect, so take the time to do it.

STEP FOUR: Isolate the Sales Objection

Once you have gotten your prospect talking about their hesitation with buying from you, ask them if they would be willing to share their concern with you in greater detail.  If they are not open to sharing what is holding them back, don't push - simply thank them for listening. After that, suggest to them how it might be best to revisit this conversation at another time when they are ready.  But if they are open to delving further into their concerns, move on to question step five.

STEP FIVE: Get Permission to Address the Objection

Before you try and handle a sales objection, get your prospect's permission first.  This helps to ensure that they are open to hearing what you have to say about why they should buy from you instead of going with a competitor. They might also consider taking their business elsewhere if you cannot address their concerns adequately enough. So, be careful with what they say & how you respond & handle them. Offer them some sort of incentive for continuing this conversation, such as a discount on their purchase or two-for-one pricing - whatever works best in your particular situation!

STEP SIX: Handle the Sales Objection With a “Reframe”

Once you have gotten your prospect's permission to continue discussing their concern, it's time to take a different approach and reframe the way you think about solving this particular problem.  When your prospect presents you with an objection, they don't really care about the solution. They just want to feel heard and acknowledged in the moment. Solving for their issue or explaining why there is no real issue will do nothing to convince them otherwise because it doesn't address their emotional needs in that particular moment.

STEP SEVEN: Finish Handling an Objection With an Unbiased Resolution

Once you have successfully resolved whatever sales obstacle is standing between you and your potential buyer, close out of that conversation by affirming everything that was just discussed.  Thank them for being so open with you and suggest that you will follow up with them in a few days or so to check in and see how their new purchase is working for them.  Thank them again for allowing you the opportunity to earn their business and let them know what to expect from this point forward as far as contact information goes.

Bonus Objection Handling Techniques

#1: Keep Switching Speakers

This is one of my personal favorite techniques when it comes to handling objections because almost nobody does it!  The only way you can truly ensure that your prospect is getting a fair shot at sharing their concerns without feeling rushed or pressured by you is to take turns.  You start off by expressing what you are hearing from them, and then let them have the floor to share whatever js on their mind.  Then it's your turn again - express what you have heard from them and allow them to add anything else that they would like before moving on to step four of this strategy.

#2: Use Your Team

When all else fails, call in reinforcements!  If it seems like everything that you do when it comes to handling objections with your prospect doesn't seem to be working, consider taking advantage of the talented team members that work for you.  Your sales manager might be able to provide you with some additional insight into why that particular objection is being raised at this time, or your customer service rep might have the answer that you're looking for.  When it comes to handling objections in a professional manner, there are plenty of resources right within your company - use them!

#3 Save Price for Last

This is another one of my favorite objection handling techniques because it works like a charm for me when I'm presenting or pitching to clients.  You don't want your prospect's primary concern to be the price - this could lead them to walk away from a sale that they otherwise would have been thrilled with had you not focused on the cost of what you're offering. Instead, prioritize resolving any and all sales objections in this order:

Service/Experience Related Objection or Product/Technical Related Objection or Price Related Objection!

By saving price until last, you give yourself more time to make your case before needing to address something that you are inevitably going to have trouble getting around anyway.  If you can get everything else about your product or service squared away first, then your prospect is more likely to feel that they're ready to hear the price - and they're also more likely to accept it favorably.

#4: Empathize With Your Prospect

This one requires some genuine empathy on your part - are you willing to go the extra mile for your client?  When someone shares with you a valid concern about making a purchase from you, it's important not only to acknowledge why they feel the way they do but also take steps towards understanding exactly how and why their opposition has come about.  Think about what life events might have led them up to this point in time and determine whether or not there is anything that makes sense as a root cause for their sales objection.

#5: Offer a Guarantee

This one is pretty straightforward - you are offering some kind of guarantee with your product or service, aren't you?  If not, it's time to offer some reassurances that your prospect will be more than happy with their decision to do business with you.  Offering guarantees in the form of money back periods, warranties that cover parts and labor for at least 3 months (6 months is even better!), or even customer satisfaction surveys which allow them to voice their grievances are all great ways to get around sales objections before they turn into full-blown problems for your company down the road.

Conclusion
Learning how to effectively handle sales objections is important for any entrepreneur or business owner.

As the old saying goes, "A sale made is a commission earned!".

The better you get at avoiding and overcoming sales objections will mean more money in your pocket and less stress on both your part and that of your prospect.