- Published: Sep 9, 2023
- 6 min. read
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Matthew GibbonsSenior Data & Tech Writer
- Matthew is a marketing expert focusing on the SEO & martech spaces. He has written over 500 marketing guides and video scripts for the WebFX YouTube channel. When he’s not striving to put out some fresh blog posts and articles, he’s usually fueling his Tolkien obsession or working on miscellaneous creative projects.
It’s never fun. You’re on the brink of selling to a new client, and then it comes: The objection.
“I just think this is too expensive for me.”
“I don’t know enough about your company to trust your services.”
“I don’t see how this will benefit me.”
Whatever it is, an objection is never pleasant to encounter. It can feel like a stumbling block that keeps the sale from going through.
Thankfully, though, it doesn’t have to be that way. If you know how to handle common sales objections, you’ll be able to navigate anything that comes your way. On this page, we’ll walk through seven tips for overcoming sales objections, including:
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1. Ask clarifying questions
When you receive an objection, the first thing you should do is ask some questions to get a better feel for what the objection is and what prompted it.
Expert insights from
“Before offering any explanation, we need to ask questions to further understand where the objection is coming from. Is it from a previous experience? Is it based on a review they saw? Is it coming from someone in their organization?”
For example, if the prospect says they have concerns about the quality of your services, it could be from something more than their own perception. Maybe they saw a poor review that criticized your services. Or maybe the objection doesn’t come from them, but from someone else at their company.
By asking some clarifying questions about what prompted the objection, you can understand which points you need to address in your response.
2. Understand the potential impact
Often, when a prospect has an objection, they’re worried about a particular negative outcome of buying from you. That outcome could be anything from overspending to getting scammed. Whatever it is they’re worried about, you want to make sure you understand it so you can address it.
Expert insights from
“This is so we can understand the fear that might be driving this objection/concern. To do this, you can ask something like, ‘How do you foresee this objection can impact the outcome of moving forward with the product/service?’”
Basically, if you understand what your prospect is afraid of, you can address their concern head-on and reassure them that that negative outcome is not something they need to be worried about.
3. Ask what might alleviate the objection
Once you’ve established the source of a prospect’s concern, you can start to move toward a solution. The first step toward doing that is to simply ask them what might alleviate their fear.
Expert insights from
“Give them the ability to help alleviate this concern/objection by asking them directly, ‘In your mind, what can one do or provide to help clear up this concern/objection that you have?’”
For example, if they’re worried about the quality of your product, you could offer them a free trial. Or if they saw a bad review, you could balance that out by providing them with some positive case studies or testimonials. Whatever it is, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
4. Shift the conversation to the positive
Once you’ve helped to alleviate the prospect’s concerns, you can help get them back on the path to conversion by asking them what they think they’ll gain from your company. Essentially, get them off the train of negative thinking and back to thinking positively about your partnership.
Expert insights from
“[After] laying out the next steps or confidently clearing up the objection/concern, ask a follow-up question to figure out what they perceive as the benefits they will receive from the product/service. For example: ‘In your mind, what have you heard or seen thus far that is a big value addition from our product or service?’ This helps shift the conversation to a more positive area, plus you can then hone in on what they value in the product/service.”
Important: Don’t try to use this to distract the prospect from their objection. Hastily changing the subject won’t work and will only make you look shady. You should only do this after you’ve directly addressed the objection and helped to alleviate it.
5. Repeat back and validate any concerns
Throughout the process of overcoming sales objections, it’s important to make sure that your prospects feel heard. To do that, you should make a point of repeating their concerns back to them. That is, once they express their objection, you can say, “Okay, so just to make sure I’ve understood you, you’re saying…”
Repeating a prospect’s objection back to them correctly shows them that you’re listening to what they’re saying, which helps them to feel heard. You can then take the additional step of validating their feelings. That doesn’t mean affirming the objection itself, but just making them feel validated as an individual.
So, if a prospect expresses a concern about the quality of your services, you wouldn’t say, “Oh, yeah, you’re right, our services are bad.” Of course not! But you would say something like, “Yeah, I can see how you would be hesitant if you’re worried about that. Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about it — here’s why.”
6. Prepare for common objections
If you want to know how to handle common sales objections, it helps to have some idea of what those objections might be. Over time, you’ll probably encounter some of the same objections from prospects. As you notice patterns in the type of objections you get, you can start preparing responses for some of the most common ones.
For many businesses, some common objections are things like:
- “Your products/services are too expensive.”
- “I don’t think I really need this right now.”
- “I don’t feel like I can trust your company to deliver the results I want.”
By preparing in advance for these objections, you’ll be more effective at addressing them when they come along. For example, a great response to “I don’t feel like I can trust your company to deliver results” would be to provide reviews, testimonials, and case studies proving what you’ve done for past clients.
7. Learn when to take “no” for an answer
They say, “never take ‘no’ for an answer,” but that advice is only true up to a point. It’s okay to try overcoming sales objections when they come up, but if you follow all the above steps and a prospect still stands firmly by their objection, that means it’s probably time to cut them loose. You can’t pester them into buying from you.
Thankfully, knowing how to handle common sales objections will often help you alleviate prospects’ concerns and drive more sales. But in the rare event that it doesn’t work out that way, you need to be prepared to accept a “no” from a prospect.
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Matthew is a marketing expert focusing on the SEO & martech spaces. He has written over 500 marketing guides and video scripts for the WebFX YouTube channel. When he’s not striving to put out some fresh blog posts and articles, he’s usually fueling his Tolkien obsession or working on miscellaneous creative projects.
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Plan Your Marketing BudgetTable of Contents
- 1. Ask Clarifying Questions
- 2. Understand the Potential Impact
- 3. Ask What Might Alleviate the Objection
- 4. Shift the Conversation to the Positive
- 5. Repeat Back and Validate Any Concerns
- 6. Prepare for Common Objections
- 7. Learn when to Take “no” for an Answer
- Learn More About Digital Marketing and Sales from WebFX
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