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Spoiler Alert: You don’t need to say a thing!
Everyone experiences objections when selling. It’s a natural step of the selling process. You need to hear the questions your prospect wants answered, and you need to answer those questions without talking too much when doing so.
When objections are stated, our minds move pretty fast, and unfortunately, often towards a response. Rather than responding, the best move you can make is to ask for clarification of the objection stated. Clarification can be a challenge because it requires you to think quickly on your feet. I would not mention this step if it was not so crucial. How crucial you may ask? I am going to offer you not one, but six, good reasons why you need to clarify those objections!
Reason #1: Get the Real Objection
When working with objections, there is something you have to understand: Rarely will a customer offer his or her realobjection up front. People are funny about their objections and how much they will tell you… if you do not ask. You need to hear more, because once you do, answering the objection will be a whole lot easier. Sometimes, just through a series of clarification questions, the objection will go away without you even having to answer it.
Reason #2: Avoid Answering the Wrong Objection
When a salesperson begins hearing the same objection on a regular basis, they become sensitized to that particular issue. As a customer begins to ask a question in this sensitive area, the salesperson’s mind begins to race ahead. They begin to think, “Oh, no, not this objection again.”
Without listening carefully and without fully understanding the objection, the salesperson begins to trudge mechanically through his or her favorite response. There is only one problem. There are a significant number of times your customer is not objecting to this “sensitive area.” These objections are often the last thing you want to have come up during a sales call. Ironically, it’s you who most often ends up bringing these particular objections up!
Reason #3: Avoid Sounding Confrontational
Another reason to clarify a customer’s objection involves the perception of you, the salesperson. Once an objection has been given, snapping back with an immediate response can be perceived as confrontational. You can create an air of stubbornness and insensitivity when a response to an objection is too fast. Most people don’t like to feel that they are wrong. The quicker the response, the more certain they are that you have not been listening to them. If for no other reason than to avoid the perception of confrontation, clarify the objections you hear.
Reason #4: Buy Yourself Time to Think
I can’t tell you the number of times I observe salespeople not taking advantage of this benefit. Although you can certainly prepare and anticipate objections, they can come up at any time and at inopportune times. Why rush your response? By clarifying the objection, you build time to compose yourself to respond to the objection at hand. A few extra moments to prepare your response can go a long way in finding the correct words to use with your customers.
Reason #5: Shorten your Talking Time
Picture yourself in the customer’s shoes for just a moment. You’re looking at a rather difficult decision and trying to analyze that decision as carefully as possible, and so you ask a question, and out comes a response that just won’t end. You, the customer, start to think something like this to yourself: “This really was not a big deal to me a minute ago, but judging by this response, I must have hit on a key issue.” Please note: The longer it takes a salesperson to answer an objection verbally, the more credibility the objection is given.
For the record, the reason objections are often so difficult to answer is because the salesperson does not know exactly what the objection is! Without clarification, you must verbally address everything about the objection and hope that one part of the response will touch on the customer’s real reason for bringing it up.
Reason #6: Applying the 10% Rule
When a customer wants to stall, they can come up with some very creative objections. There is little backing up these objections. Often times, the customer is just making up excuses, and I would guess this happens about 10% of the time. Coincidently, I would also venture to guess that at least 10% of the time your customer will respond with something like, “Uh, well, you see, I think you actually answered that question earlier.” That’s because when there is no real objection, it’s kind of hard to “tell you more” about an objection that never really existed in the first place.
Contrary to popular belief, objections are a welcome part of any conversation, and an important part of the selling process. In a survey conducted by Xerox some years ago, it was determined that sales calls without at least one objection reduced the chances of making a sale by 24%. I sure hope the reasons I have given you for clarifying objections have convinced you how critical this first step really is. Objections are a prospect’s way of saying, “I don’t fully understand,” and the act of clarifying objections not only gets to the real issue, it gets to the truth.
Related: Good Fear, Bad Fear, No Fear