What about objections?

The truth is that most salespeople create 90% of their own objections because of the way they handle themselves and because of what comes out of their mouths. What I mean here is that they are causing the buyer to defend themselves because the buyer doesn’t feel aligned with the seller.

Aligning yourself psychologically with the buyer and seeing the world through their eyes will solve most of this problem. This is a problem caused very simply when salespeople make presentations. Their companies teach them how to “pitch” the product, but not how to align themselves with the buyer. This is a training which sadly has salespeople merely “telling”…not selling.

True selling is having a conversation, not “making a presentation”. Conversations invite participation and facilitate the alignment concept I introduced above. Conversations also require good listening skills.

Presentations are one-sided. They are designed to “tell”. Hence this is the reason why presentations invite objections. Because very few buyers will just sit there and listen. Instead they “object” to parts of what is being said to defend their ego while being “talked to”. Until salespeople stop making presentations…and get out of “telling” mode all the time, they are going to be facing a never ending barrage of objections in their careers.

So if you must learn how to handle objections, you can use this framework I call the FOUR P’S.

1. Pause

Take some time for the buyer’s objection to sink in. Let them get it out. They might say something else that adds context to their position. This also shows that you are a good listener and not thinking about the next point you want to “tell” them.

2. Paraphrase

Re-state in your words that you think is the buyers issue. This furthers the concept of being a good listener in addition to beginning the very important process of alignment between you and the buyer. Here you are also moving out of presentation mode into conversation mode.

3. Probe

Here again, you are moving further down the path of having a conversation. Ask the buyer for clarification with questions like, “What exactly do you mean by that?” or, “What is causing you to think this?”. This probing concept also helps you to understand if this is a real objection, or just the buyer’s ego defending itself.

4. Provide a response

Now is the time to reply, but do it this way: I strongly suggest that you respond to most objections in for the form of an answer to a question. Do this even if the buyer didn’t ask you one. The reason for this is that it shows you are thinking like a buyer. It also gives you a way to handle the objection in a manner where you can provide a credible response and avoid being on the defensive.

For example, if the buyer says to you, “I heard that your product doesn’t scale”. First, go through the three points above. Then, rephrase that sentence in your mind to sound like this: “How does your product scale?”. Last, provide a meaningful response such as, “Our product scales based upon the following requirements…”

In conclusion - stop telling, start having conversations and you’ll experience far fewer objections. When you do get them, use the framework above to handle them and move on.