Rejection vs. Objection vs. Deflection

Rooted in our primal fears, humans hate rejection. 

As a result, in the beginning every salesperson takes a while to figure the difference between rejection, objection and deflection in the sales process. So without any fluff, let's dive right in on understanding and decoding these.

I. Rejection - It’s when you are given a hard NO e.g. “Stop bothering me”, “Do not call/ email me ever again” - You get the drift. You’re being shut out and you must respectfully bow out at that point. 

Though I've seen one great solution here that worked really well for me ( I heard of this from the brilliant Dan Smith ) - So if someone says “Never email/call me again” reply with something like “ I’m terribly sorry my outreach felt unwelcome. I will personally ensure your name is removed from our system to help avoid any colleague reaching out. I’ll also drop you my personal email ID/number just in case you see an outreach from us in a rare occurrence. I will take care of things internally” - The conversations turn soft immediately because the prospect feels less hostile towards a person who is humble and helpful. 

II. Objection - These are points of hesitation in the prospect’s mind. They’re beginning to see your point but are not convinced of the value and hence aren't able to imagine a mutually beneficial space.

“I am not having budget”, “I’m happy with my current partner” , “We prefer things in house” 

They are “time relevant” and can be overcome through careful handling WITHIN time.

It’s best to have a running list maintained of all the objections you hear during sales and have 2-3 potential answers. Mock drills and practice with sales reps and AEs is key here.

Now there are different frameworks to handle objections:

a) LAER framework- Listen, Acknowledge, Explore, and Respond.

b) 3F framework - Feel, Felt and Found.

E.g.. If someone says price is an issue, You can reply saying “ I hear you Jane and totally understand price can definitely be a concern. However, there may be a win-win here that you must know. The Average ROI of our solution is x% and the price becomes inconsequential as you break even on gains within 11 months.” 

III. Deflection: This is when your prospect says “ this isn't a good time” , “send me more information” or “ call me in six months when we’re doing xyz planning” etc. 

They are basically buying time or choosing to not make an instant decision. 

You need to question and buy in the next time e.g., “ Can I circle back to you in 2 months?” or “I’d love to send you some relevant information I can tailor it with the right case studies if you can tell me your biggest pain areas that you’d like to get resolved at work” “ I’d love to call in six months, meanwhile lets keep in touch around our conversation and I’d be happy to send you some relevant information on <industry> that you can use to your advantage internally!”