Overcoming Sales Objections the Easy Way

Overcoming sales objections is an essential part of the sales process, but it seems a topic that people I speak to either neglect or are fearful of.

It can be straightforward to counter customer objections, but before we get into that, I should describe what I mean by objections and what I mean by overcoming them.

Sales Objections are anything that stops a customer from buying from you.

Note I said, “From you“. Although we are interested in what stops a customer from buying at all, we are mainly interested in why someone doesn’t buy from you.

When I say to “overcome” the objections, I am not describing a process where you battle, cajole, or manipulate the customer into buying. Nobody appreciates that. I would say once you are in a position where you have to go into an argument and counter-argument situation, you have already pretty much lost the sale.

So how do you overcome objections? When publishing content we have a brilliant solution built right into our practices; we inform the customer.

Overcome Sales Objections Before They Are Raised

Seems simple, doesn’t it? Common sense?

Well, it is simple and common sense, but as I say over and over, common sense is seldom common practice, and the tricky part is knowing what the objections will be.

Common Sales Objections

The obvious starting point is to think through what the objections will be by brainstorming.

Common objections to any sale would be:

• Price/Value/Cost – The price is too high against the perceived value.
• Risk – What happens if I spend all this money and don’t get value?
• Comparison – I can buy something else with this, why spend it on your solution?
• Time/Logistics – How is it delivered? Does it fit around our planning? I need it sooner or it will take too long.
• Lack of Urgency – Not ready yet. I have other more pressing matters to deal with.
• Credibility/Trust – The solution seems right, just don’t trust you to deliver, or the solution is unproven.
• Perception or Politics – What will my boss or partner think if I buy this? Is this something I can approve? What happens if it goes wrong? Is it uncool or shameful?
• Knowledge – Confusion! I don’t know enough about this stuff! Is this true or are you BS’ing me?

Price is the famous one, but is surprisingly one of the easiest to overcome.

What Are Objections Really?

Many objections are really about fear. Fear in sales objections is a cry for reassurance.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking your customers are cheap. They might prize their time above the money, and your process including sales and delivery might be perceived as a huge time waster.

Do not underestimate the fear of looking foolish, either, that is a huge risk also for the decision-maker.

Sales Objections Discovery

The next step is to ask. Ask past customers, current customers, and potential customers.

• “What concerns did you have?”
• “Is there anything that troubled you that might have stopped you from buying?”
• “Was there anything we said that convinced you to go ahead?”
• “Do you have any questions or issues that concern you?”
• “Sorry to hear you are not going with us this time, was there anything in particular that prevented you from taking up our offer right now?”

The “right now” can give you a LOT of insight, by the way.

Overcome the Objections

The whole point of this exercise is to get to the point where there are no objections because the customer is happy and secure in their decision to buy from you.

That’s the dream scenario, but we can get closer by incrementally improving our approach.

Take a look over those example objections (or risks) and you will see each has a way to overcome them built right in. Sometimes it takes some creativity and flexibility in your offer, sometimes just some more explanation, most of the time it is all about proof and credibility.

Back when I was marketing my Authority Blogger course I had testimonials that made huge claims. True claims but I discovered they implied results that potential customers didn’t believe were possible for them. Toning down the testimonials increased conversions!

With price, the best solution is to increase the perceived value rather than to drop prices. This is where “bonuses” and “bundling” comes in.

Price is also closely related to trust. Build your credibility to match your price. Also, keep in mind a low price can raise red flags (“Why is this so cheap?).

A Word on Discounting

Discounting is a risky game.

Once you get into discounting and competing on price you are pretty well doomed.

Don’t get me wrong, prices should be movable and something you control rather than fixed in stone, but not your main point of differentiation, and never go down the road of communicating “cheaper” as your brand.

I do discount, but based on my business principles, not to make a sale.

For example, customers who work with me on long-term commitments pay a lower rate than one-off, but they have to make the commitment (ie. not just a verbal promise) before they get the rate.

Remove Risk in Sales Copy

As risk is a huge issue in objections, it is good to have “introductory” or “sample” products where you can demonstrate your value and reliability. Gain trust through the experience of delivery.

That is why most of my services are short-term packages that are easy to agree to. My customers take me for a test drive on, say, an hour call, then that leads to longer-term projects when they get more value from my advice.

Remove financial risk with a guarantee. Guarantees can also remove some of the internal reputation risks for the customer. However, again credibility has a big part to play here, eg. “No one ever got fired for choosing IBM”.

The sneaky way to create a solution to overcome an objection is to talk through with customers what might make them happier in their decision (other than dropping the price). You won’t implement all their suggestions but it might give you some unique ideas.

Finally, put a contact form right where the customer can find it so they can ask questions, and keep a log of the most common questions and objections so that you can go back and answer them in your content.

Sales Objections Summary

Overcoming objections means making a case where you answer customer questions before they are raised or even thought of.

While many people do not like long sales pages, if you artificially cut down the information just to keep it short you are going to find you have more objections dangling than you or your prospect would like. You might even get more refunds through people misunderstanding exactly what you are offering.

Provide all the information the customer needs so they can make an informed purchase.

Next time you are considering a purchase, list all the things you are thinking about and any concerns you have, some of them might well be applicable to your own product or service. Also, next time you are “just looking”, think about why you are not in the market right now and what would put you from looking into buying mode.

Sales copywriting is all about psychology, and your existing customers or even yourself can often be your best test subjects.