Close Deals Faster – OBJECTIONS

There used to be a rule of thumb in sales which stating you needed to endure nine “Nos” to get that one “Yes.” While that ratio can vary quite a bit depending on the industry and the salesperson, it’s nonetheless true that every salesperson will face objections and outright rejection.

Many people take this personally and give up, but the professionals do not. In fact, they welcome objections. I explain why in my book, Close Deals Faster: The 15 Shortcuts of the Asher Sales Method, but I will give you a brief overview in this blog post, part 7 of our 10 part series.

Objections are necessary

It is a pipe dream to simply make pitches and have all your buyers hand over the money without presenting any objections. Believe me, if a sale is too easy, you can count on that buyer bringing up their objections later. This might drive you crazy because you thought the buyer was already sold, and here they are with 100 problems all of a sudden!

To close deals faster, get to the objections faster. If the buyer presents zero objections, they are not engaged.

How to handle objections

So, what do you do when you get hit with “It costs too much,” or “We are not ready at this time,” or any other apparent barrier?

First, you need to ascertain whether it is merely an objection or whether it is a valid condition which must be overcome. If there is no money, that’s a condition, which means you must put off the sale until they get the money. If they have the money, but are reluctant to part with it, then that’s a mere objection. See the difference? To close deals faster, you should do your research beforehand to establish the buyer is qualified – and you will be able to filter their objections from valid conditions.

Once you determine it’s just an objection, handle it. One excellent way is the “feel, felt found” technique:

“I understand how you feel. Other people I have presented to felt this way initially. However, once they went ahead, they found that they were able to bring their product to market much quicker and with less headaches.”

You have to tailor the above to your buyer of course, but the gist is to show empathy, validate their concern, and overcome it by showing the positive outcome which other customers have enjoyed.

Preparation and practice

Don’t be caught off-guard by objections. Practice handling them and you will close deals faster. Write down your own objection handlers, and variations on the feel, felt, found technique. There are many books, as well as websites, with objection handling techniques. Study these until you can handle the most common objections smoothly and without going “uh….umm…well…” or otherwise showing nervousness.

Even better, practice with another person. Role playing is an excellent way to work out the kinks and get rid of nervous laughter, awkward pauses, or other mannerisms you might engage when hit with an objection.

Want to learn more? Please order my book Close Deals Faster: The 15 Shortcuts of the Asher Sales Method which is published by IdeaPress and available on Amazon.