How To Be Great At Handling Objections
Are you getting defensive when handling objections? You’re losing them. Try empathy, confidence, & care. If you care more about their success than your competitors you will win.
Your first instinct should be empathy.
It’s easy to have a knee jerk reaction when someone offers an objection. Especially if you’ve heard it a million times. “We think you’re too expensive” triggers these feelings that the person on the other side doesn’t know your worth and they are wrong. They don’t know you. They don’t know what value you bring. But it isn’t about you.
That type of response is usually one of two things. Either they don’t have the budget and they have no reason to be vulnerable enough to admit that. Or, they don’t understand the value differentiator between you and a cheaper competitor.
Empathy, unlocks the door to keep talking. Turn toward them, look directly at them, and dig deeper.
You can trigger your own empathy with trigger words at the start of your response. Get comfortable with saying, “I see…”, “I understand…”, “I get that…”.
When you say those words know that it is time to listen a little more. From there you can wait silently for them to open up a little more. You can mirror the last thing they said. Or you can make an inference.
Mirroring would be as simple as “I see…we’re too expensive…” and then you let them elaborate and they always will.
An inference would be “I understand…it sounds like you are the type of business person that wants to make sure you’re getting the best value…”
And then you just keep going with the mirroring and inferencing because the more they feel emotionally safe and connected with you, the more they will start to justify the price by their own logic.
Remain confident
When people are objecting it’s because they are afraid that you’re trying to rip them off. Purchase decision making is all about resource guarding.
“If I buy this thing will it provide a return on my resources or will it just deplete my resources?”
On a primal level, we are trying to guard or expand our resources. If they are objecting it’s because they subconsciously feel like you are trying to deplete their resources. In other words, they think you’re a rip off. Even a Mercedes is a rip off to a person who can’t afford one. After all, they just need to get from point A to point B.
If you are not confident in handling objections you will confirm their suspicions that you are a rip off. If you back down on price, if you get insecure, if you concede in anyway, you will show that you are not confident in your offer and if you’re not confident, then it will be impossible for them to be.
The way you remain confident is by laying claim to your authority and expertise. Remember, the only reason you are having this conversation is because they cannot solve their own problem and you have solved this problem before. You also know how much it takes for you to actually deliver on the value and you know how much they stand to win if they use you. That gives you authority and makes you the guide. I’d never go white water rafting with a guide who wasn’t sure if we were going to make it. Never in a million years.
So if you don’t keep your confidence when handling objections there is no way anyone will take one step forward.
Don’t confuse confidence with arrogance though. Nobody likes arrogance. Don’t be stuck up. Just be optimistic. Know that the value is there. Be a believer.
Show that you care
When I was in contracting I keyed in on something very powerful. People care about their homes a lot. They work their butts off all day long just so they can come home to a house that allows them to enjoy their lives. If I was going to stand apart I had to care about them being able to enjoy their lives. Caring became a habit that I’ve carried into B2B mid-market deals.
One of my favorite closing statements is to cast vision for them. I’ll say, “Here’s what I want for you…” Then I’ll paint a picture of what their life will look like when they have solved their problem and I will affirm that I want to help them get there.
Torlando Hakes, is the author of the book Sprint and host of such podcasts as The CTA Podcast, The PaintED Show, and No Trade Secrets. Torlando is open to meeting new friends and building a community of like-minded peers. You can jump on his calendar for a 1–1 anytime for advice, to share networks, for podcast interviews, and for help getting more bookings.
This article is syndicated from the Periodic Knowledge Base, which is a repository of articles and videos created for Marketing Agencies who are certified Periodic Agency Partners. As Agency Partners, they have a license to sell the Periodic white label booking platform to their clients helping them increase conversions through their website. Advanced features such as complex booking, dynamic forms, and automated email/text messages add to their agency tech stack and help them set themselves apart from other agencies and get better results for their clients.
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