Blog

Handling objections is a critical skill for any sales leader. An objection is simply a voiced concern, waiting to be addressed with information, compassion, and patience. The key to overcoming objections effectively is to respond succinctly and then stop talking.

Here’s how to master this approach:

Understand the Concern

When a customer voices an objection, your first step should be to understand the real concern. Ask clarifying questions to get to the heart of the issue. For example, if a cu…

As a sales leader, your primary goal is to help customers find solutions that meet their needs. However, one common mistake is providing too much information when presenting a solution. This can overwhelm the customer and hinder their decision-making process.

When a customer comes to you, they are looking to solve a specific problem or achieve certain priorities. It's crucial to focus on these aspects and align your solution accordingly. Here’s how to effectively present a solution without over…

As sales leaders, it's natural to want to build connections with customers by sharing personal anecdotes. However, there are times when talking about yourself can hinder rather than help the conversation. This might sound harsh, but when a customer starts talking about their German Shepherd, it’s not an invitation to talk about your French Bulldog.

Even if you have a good connection with the customer and you are intentionally looking to create a deeper bond by increasing similarity, resist the …

Welcome to our July series, "Stop Talking." This month, we’re focusing on the power of silence and strategic communication. Each week, we’ll dive deeper into how less talk and more listening can significantly impact your sales success. From answering customer questions to presenting solutions and handling objections, we’ll explore practical techniques to enhance your effectiveness as a sales leader.

Stop Talking… When You Finish Answering Their Question

Imagine a customer asks why the sofa you…

Salespeople can respond to objections for what they are – objections. Objections indicate that there is some concern about the product, service or process that has not previously been discussed and settled.

The most successful salespeople have a strategy for handling objections, along with an understanding of the most common objections.

Having a strategy prevents responding in a knee jerk way, under pressure from the objection and the reaction to that pressure. There is confidence in being pre…

Salespeople can avoid objections a couple of ways:

1. Knowing the most common objections that buyers typically have about the product, service, process, or experience that they sell.
2. Bringing those areas of possible concern up earlier in the process by asking about them as questions and part of the Discovery process.
   

There are salespeople who believe that if they don’t bring an issue up, then it won’t come up by the customer. Not so.

Or they keep their fingers crossed that there won’t be is…

Buyers object and raise concerns because they have them.

Buyers tend to object because they are uncertain…of what the salesperson is saying, of what the product or service promises, of how to judge either of those to get to the other side of their uncertainty, of conflicting information (what they read online is different from what the salesperson is saying).

Buyers tend to object because they are fearful…of making a mistake that can’t be easily rectified, of spending more money to solve their…

Sometimes luck brings the right person into the showroom at the right time and the process moves quickly and a sale is effortlessly achieved. Sometimes that happens.

It’s more likely that attention and intention are engaged to produce a sale rather than luck from the front door.

It’s more likely that attention and intention are engaged to produce a sale rather than luck from the front door. To stay present and focused, and to be patient and sensitive to the decision-making process of the custo…

Selling is frustrating when all signs point to the sale happening, only to have life throw a curve (spouse got relocated and they are moving, found mold in the basement that will cost $25,000 to fix) and a sale that was expected this month evaporates. Or a great sale gets cancelled because the delivery staff made some errors that couldn’t be rectified quickly. Or a customer thinks that they color they saw on the sample in the showroom was different from the color of the sofa that was delivered, …