The Top 10 Sales Objections

If you work in sales objections are a given! Just like an athlete has hurdles to overcome, objections if successfully dealt with get you closer to the finish like and closer to the sale.

The problem is a lot of salespeople fall down at objections and miss so many opportunities to win the sale. I saw an amazing example of this just last month. One of my top sales professionals took a sales call on the last day of the month. It was one of his pipeline opportunities who was due to close that day calling him to tell him they had found the exact same product online for nearly £3,000 less.

I know from experience that a lot of sales people would struggle to overcome this, either from lack of confidence or lack of knowledge and so would have lost that opportunity. The fear of disappointing your customer or being caught out for making a profit can make you panic and struggle to deal with them confidently.

I'll tell you exactly how this situation went and how they dealt with this objection, but first here are the top 10 sales objections and how to over come them:

1 - It's too expensive

Quite possibly the single biggest objection out there for sales people. The reality is if price is the blocker then you haven't created sufficient value. If they think it's expensive then it's because you've made it seem expensive. This is where you should explain how the cost is actually low compared to the VALUE that they get. You need to make them see that the value they get far exceeds the price they'll pay. Once they feel that they're getting more for their money the price shouldn't be a problem.

Remember what may seem cheap to you may be expensive to someone else, understand what their views are on money/value and make sure you mirror them. It isn't about how you value the product, it's about how THEY value the product.

2 - I'm not ready to buy

Another common objection although this is easily dealt with by better qualifying the opportunity at the start. This wouldn't be a problem if you had identified at the start when they were looking at actually buy and their target timescale. However if you are facing this now then this can be overcome by just simply asking more questions. Just ask them "Why are you not ready to buy now", "When do you feel you would be ready to buy" or "What is stopping you from buying now". Dig into understand what it is that is stopping them and then see how you can overcome that. It might be that they're busy at work, in which case look at how buying now could actually help that. It might be that they don't feel they know enough, so you can find out what they don't know and tell them.

3 - I can get it cheaper elsewhere

We unfortunately now live in the online era where within a mere few minutes I can probably find cheaper alternatives to most products. As I mentioned at the start of this blog this objection was actually given to my top seller just last month. Their customer had found the same product for £3000 less. Here is how they overcame it:

The first thing they did was acknowledge it and accepted it as understandable. They then went on to ask more about this cheaper option. They soon identified that it wasn't a comparable product and went on to re explain the benefits of their product. They made it very clear that they didn't mind what they bought, but they genuinely didn't want them to waste money on something that wouldn't get them the outcome they wanted.

It was all about the customer. They stopped, acknowledge the objection, accepted it, asked questions and then made it all about their genuine interest in doing what was best for the customer.

4 - I need to think about it

This is another common one, it doesn't necessarily mean they're not ready to buy but clearly they have questions that need answering. Don't be intimidated by this and certainly don't slip into auto pilot and just say "Of course, why don't I send you some information and you can call me back when you're ready"! Just ask them what it is they need to think about, what is it that is stopping them from buying right now? Often you'll find it's one or 2 little things that are just sitting on their mind that once you clear up they feel a lot more comfortable buying.

5 - I don't have time to do it now

If closing only takes up to 15 minutes then I would suggest making sure the customer knows it won't take long and just feel confident to encourage them to get it all done now. If it will take longer and there is quite a process to go through then it's important to either get them to free time up now or confirm a time that day or as soon as possible to get it done.

6 - I'm locked into a contract

Again this should be something that is covered at the qualifying stage. If you get to closing the sale and this come up you've not done a thorough job qualifying let's be fair! However if this is a blocker then you need to know how long they're locked in the contract for and what opportunities there may be to exit that contract. It's worth looking at how they would benefit or what they would save is they were to end it early and come to you.

7 - We don't have the budget now

I don't want to bang the "qualifying"drum too much but this doesn't have to be an objection as you should cover this at the start. However if you are facing it then you need to either push value to get them to create budget now, or find when their budget resets and update your pipeline. You will often find that if you probe a little more that they do have some budget spare, or they can create budget for the right reasons. You can then work to make them see this as the right reason.

8 - I need to get approval

An important part of the sales process should include identifying the right decision maker. If you've missed this or they told you they were the decision maker when they weren't then you have to focus on finding out who the decision maker is and getting them on board. This may include contacting them directly or arranging a meeting through your contact. You also need to make sure that your contact is a real evangelist for your product so that when they do speak to the decision maker they are selling it as well as you would be.

9 - I've found bad reviews

The joy of the internet now is that the good and the bad about your company is just a simple Google search away. Your prospects and customers will be looking your company up and even 1 bad review will unsettle them. The reality is that even the most popular or the biggest brands get bad reviews. Highlight that any bad reviews you have represent a tiny minority of your total customer base. For example 1 bad review out of 1000 customers isn't bad at all. This is also a great opportunity to showcase your good customer case studies, testimonials and recommendations. This objection just highlighting a need for reassurance.

10 - We're going to get quotes from other companies

It's not hard to understand that some buyers will want to get another 2 or 3 quotes to ensure they get the best price and solution for their business. In a similar way to them needing to get approval it's important to make sure you have your contact fully behind your product and you. When those internal discussion happen you need as many people on your side as possible so regardless of whether cheaper options are found, they still see your offer as the best. This is where selling YOU plays a really big part. Invest time in building a strong relationship with your contact(s) and get as many people on side as you can.

Those are what I believe are 10 of the most common objections facing sales people today but I'd love to know what objections are blocking your sales right now. Write them in the comments box below and between myself and everyone else reading this let's see if we can help you overcome them!

I'd also highly recommend watching this amazing video from the sales master himself, Brian Tracy:

Objections are often just questions. The key is to not take them personally, don't let them intimidate you and feel excited that if you can overcome it you could get the sale!

What is the most common objection you get? As mentioned above I'd love to see what objections are blocking sales right now, write them in the comments box below! Is there an objection you just can't get past? Let's see if as a network we can help overcome as many of them as possible.

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About the author: Daniel Disney is the Founder and Owner of The Daily Sales. With 15+ years successful sales and sales management experience, Daniel is the author of one of the most popular sales blogs in the world (178 sales blogs written). With an overall social audience of over 150,000 followers and content reaching 7,000,000+ every month Daniel is one of the top influencers in the sales industry. Daniel is available for Keynote Speaking, Sales Training, Blog + Book Writing, Sales Coaching, Mentoring, Marketing Consulting and Influencer Advertising. Check out his profile for more information.

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