Most sales professionals fear getting client objections. They react as if the brain senses danger – fight, flight or freeze.

Why?

When we have an opportunity to make a sale and an objection arises, we view it as a stumbling block to reaching our goal. But what if we look at the objection from the client’s perspective.

Think about an objection you’ve had when buying a product or a service. What is it you’re trying to figure out? I believe an objection can be better considered as “an unanswered question.”

Let’s use a real experience from a few years ago. I bought QuickBooks to manage my business finances. After using it for a while, they notified me that I either had to upgrade the software or I would lose the ability to email invoices. I felt quite upset, even stuck as it seemed I was at their mercy. But being an orange personality who can sometimes be stubborn, I decided to beat them at their own game.

Instead of the upgrade, I made a PDF of the invoice, then printed, scanned and emailed it to my client. While it did take longer, I beat them by not having to pay the upgrade fee. But over time, more and more updates came, and I knew it was time to do something.

As I looked for options, I considered QuickBooks online, thinking it might be the best solution with the most flexibility and at a nominal monthly rate.

But when thinking of objections as opportunities, what were my three objections – my unanswered questions – as I determined whether to invest in this new option.

1. The first question I asked was, “Would the ease of use surpass the more robust functionality of the earlier version?” I think everyone is interested in the practicality of a solution and how easy it is to use. We buy tools for their efficiency and effectiveness, so it’s a natural concern to question what a product or service will do for us. This concern is usually alleviated with a simple demonstration. Then you can compare what your existing system does and what the new solution will do.
2. The second question is, “Will this solution do what I need it to do?” In considering QuickBooks online, I wondered, “Can I do my monthly finances with less error?” And more importantly would it help me with my monthly reconciliations? I had never figured it out in the old version because I just wasn’t willing to invest the time. Thankfully, the online version is incredibly easy to reconcile.
3. The third question I asked, “Will it save me time or money or both?” I no longer wanted to spend an hour every month updating my financials. I needed to know what benefit I’d see if I decided to invest in their online version. Since I believe time is money, less time updating my monthly finances would give me more time to do more selling.

Now I spend only ten minutes a month to update my books because of the ease and flexibility of the online version. And I can reconcile without spending the time to learn their system or spending the $300 my CPA charged to reconcile it for me. It saves me time and I pay less.

Objections are the same as doubts or unanswered questions, but ultimately, they are opportunities.

Just be prepared to answer these three questions:

• Is it easy?
• Will it do what I need?
• Will it save me time or money?

These are the questions your prospects and clients are asking. How you answer them will determine the outcome of your selling efforts.

Good selling!
Stu

©Stu Schlackman