Closing the Sale: 9 Common Objections

In selling, the major obstacle is often the objections that customers give you, which stop them from buying and stop you from selling. So, let me show you nine different objections that you will get on a regular basis, and you must learn how to recognize these objections and deal with them effectively. The first type of objection you will get is an unspoken objection.

The customer has concerns with your offering but doesn't tell you anything. The solution to unspoken objections is to let the prospect talk more. Ask open-ended questions like what, where, when, why, and how.

Lean forward, listen intently to the answers, and nod. The more a prospect has an opportunity to answer your questions, the more likely it is that he or she will tell you exactly what might be holding them back from buying. Ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers.

The second form of objection you will get is excuses. These are usually instinctive reactions to any sales approach; they're not personal. Excuses are not really serious either.

The best salespeople, when they get an excuse, just nod, smile, and agree. Then, they ask a question to take control of the conversation. The very best way to handle any initial sales resistance, including excuses and impulse responses, is with these wonderful words: if a person says, "I can't afford it," "I'm not in the market," "We don't need it right now," or "We don't want it," you say, "That's all right; most people in your situation felt the same way when I first called on them, but now they have become our best customers, and they recommend us to their friends and family.

" This immediately stops people and causes them to say, "Oh really? Well, what is it that you have then? " and their objections just fall away, like scaffolding falling down outside a building.

The next type of objections is called malicious objections. Because you call on many different people, you'll occasionally call on individuals who are unhappy or angry about their current situations. Since they cannot shout at their bosses or their spouses, they take it out on the friendly salesperson; they take it out on you.

Now, these people tend to be negative in their demeanor and behavior. The way to deal with malicious objections is to realize that you are not the target. Your job as a professional is to remain calm, confident, positive, and polite throughout, and then just ask more questions about what the customer is doing and what their plans are for the future.

You take control by asking questions. The fourth most common type of objection is a request for information. This is the best type of objection for you to hear because you know how to answer this as well or better than any other part of your presentation.

Whenever a prospect asks for information about the results or benefits of your product or service, you're moving into an excellent field position to make a sale. Another type of objection is the show-off objection. Sometimes prospects try to show you how much they already know about your products and services.

They make sophisticated observations or ask you complex questions about your product, service, or industry. When this happens, respond by taking the low road; show how impressed you are by how much the prospect already knows. "Boy, you know a lot about this!

I didn't realize that! Wow! " In other words, flattery is a wonderful way to build a good-quality relationship.

Remember, when you make a prospect feel important by listening to him or her with rapt attention, the prospect is much more likely to warm up and buy from you. In the end, the sixth most common type of objection is subjective or personal objections. Now, these objections are aimed at you as a person.

Whenever a prospect becomes critical of you, it could be a sign that you are talking too much about yourself. If this happens, it's important to make the customer the center of attention, and the subjective objections will stop. How do you do that?

You start asking questions about the customer and listening closely to the answers. You may also hear the objective or factual objection. These are directed at your product or service offering and the claims that you make in terms of what it will do for the customer.

If you can answer an objective question like "How does this work? " and "How can I be sure it will do this? " and "What kind of proof do you have?

" if you can answer this type of objection, you can often close the sale. People often ask objective or factual objections when they're just about ready to buy, and they just need a little more reassurance. The eighth most common form of objection is what we have called general sales resistance.

This always occurs at the beginning of a presentation. Until you neutralize this general sales resistance, the customer will be listening to you with a closed mind. When the customer relaxes and gives you permission to ask him questions, you immediately begin your pre-selected open-ended questions to qualify the prospect and find out what he really needs that you can provide for him.

For example, I have found that if you just say, "May I ask you a question? " if the prospect says yes, or "May I ask you a couple of questions? " when the prospect says yes, the prospect has also said, "I will answer the questions if you ask them.

" This is a wonderful way to break the ice and lower resistance. The final, the ninth most common objection is called the last-ditch objection. Now, after your major presentation, the prospect clearly sees how she would be better off with your product or service; she knows.

. . And understands what you're selling and how much you're asking.

She's on the verge of making a buying decision, but she still hesitates. In this case, you listen with respect to their final objections and then assure the prospect that yours is an excellent product or service at a good price and that everyone who is using it today is very happy with their decision. You have then overcome the last stitch objection, and you can go on to close the sale.