Are most objections buying signs?

Thomas

Would you say that most objections that come up during your presentation are buying signs that basically mean, "I'm interested but not sold on it yet"?

MrCharisma

I would say objections are something that indicate that they are possibly in a buying state. From there you clarify the objection, pace through mutual agreement, appraise the objection then answer it.

Never answer an objection until you truly understand the objection. Find out the question behind the question!

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Gilbert

That's probably true in most cases.

For handling objections I like this four step sequence: 1.) Acknowledge 2.) Clarify 3.) Answer 4.) Confirm

Skip Anderson

I agree with both MrCharisma and Gilbert.

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Frankie

Yes and when that is the case you'll want to uncover where buy in is missing. Is it; provider, product, priority, price, peers or what?

Joeylean

I agree with what has been said here, but I would also like to comment on the other side of objections. It should be said that though objections are a necessary part of the sale, it is also objections that keep the sales person from making the sale. It has been my experience that many underperforming sales people get far more objections than do their top performing counterparts. If alot of strong objections come out of the sale on the back end then many times it is an indicator that the sales person is not doing a good Discovery or is incomplete in their sales presenation. As top sales people finds potential objections in the Discovery and then neutralize them during the presenation.

I agree with all that was said in the previous posts, but I would caution us from viewing objections as only a benfit to the sale as though that can be true it is an incomplete view and could potentially be misleading to those with less experience.

SpeedRacer

IMO, real objections are a problem but half-baked objections or common questions and concerns are not.

Joeylean

SpeedRacer brings up a common misconception regarding objections, which is that many things that are labeled as "objections" are really not, but rather are merely excuses. Yet, I would say that it is the excuses rather than the objections that are far more dangerous to the sale. Excuses take you off track and result in the sales person seeking to answer something that it not really a hinderance to the sale.


The difference between an objection and an excuse is that an objection is a legitimate reason that if overcome will result in a sale. An excuse is a reason that has no bearing on the completion of the sale, it is simply a way for the prospect to say "no." There are some strageties that the successful sales person must use to distinguish between the two, but that is another posting...

Thomas

What do you mean real or half-baked?

Skip Anderson

Objections can be a buying signal, or they can be a signal the prospect isn't buying. You have to ask more questions to find out which it is.

- Some prospect objections are based upon false information or an incorrect understanding of your product or service. Solution? Educate them.

- Some objections are indications the prospect is not going to buy unless you change something about your product, service, or offer. You may have to change one of those factors to earn the business.

- Some objections are automatic. Customers have learned to state an objection even if they don't really have that objection. Example: "I need to think about it." Solution: Talk it through.

- Some objections are what I call "false objections." These are objections which are not really the issue, but are used to cover up the real issue. For instance, a wife says, "I've got to talk to my husband." I train salespeople to then ask, "Aside from your husband, what do you think about this proposal?" If your prospect then says, "Oh, I think the price is way too high", you know the real objection is price, not the stated objection of needing to talk to the husband.