Working Through Objections and Stalls - Sales Series Part VIII

By Action Coach Dave Beam

Today I want to address a topic that every salesperson will appreciate – Working Through Objections and Stalls.  How do you respond when you get common stalls and objections like “Well, I really want to think about it” or “I’ll call you back first of the year” or “I really would like to go ahead, but I can’t afford it right now.”

If you sell at all, you are used to the myriad of responses that people give when they are just not quite ready to say yes.  The appropriate and immediate response should always be “I understand”.  This is not the time to argue and pressure sell.  It’s not the time for tricky close techniques or smooth logic to change their mind.  You need to become a great listener at this point, because you missed something along the way.  You have failed to fully understand your prospect.

Once you make it OK for the prospect to stall or object by saying “I understand”, it is time to ask a few more questions.  The nature of those questions is based on the nature of the challenge.  If you are getting a vague, unclear reason about why the prospect does not want to buy, then what they are telling you in a nice way is that they are not convinced.  They have not given you the real reason they are resisting, but trying to find a gracious way to back out.  Without the real reason, you can’t help them make a good decision.  What I usually do when getting a vague reason is summarize the conversation and ask for the sale again.  “I understand George that you really want to give this some further consideration and thought.  May I summarize where we are right now, to be sure that I fully understand your thinking?”  Most of the time folks will let you proceed. “George, based on what you said, you wanted to get your living room painted next week using the washable flat off-white color paint, and you really seemed excited that we could work you into our schedule.  You mentioned that your budget was a bit tight, but that you really did want to get this project knocked out before this summer.  You really liked the idea that we guaranteed our schedule and completion date, and are fully bonded and had worked for several of your neighbors.  I would really appreciate it if you could help me understand your hesitation…”  Over 90% of the time when I take this approach, they tell me the real reason why they are hesitating.

Once you have that tangible reason, you can ask if there are any other reasons why they would not want to proceed.  If they say no, then you can offer to help find a solution to address the reason they have given.  “So when you say you can’t afford this right now, is it a matter of a tight cash flow?”  If he says yes, then you might offer a credit card option or some flexible terms.  If the objection is that they need to check with their spouse or another person, then work with them to get them comfortable presenting your offer to the other person.  You can also offer to set a time to return to speak with the other person with them if they like. 

If you have a trusting and warm relationship, your prospect will appreciate your help to work through objections to make it happen.  An initial stall or objection should never be taken as a definite no.  There are often just some things that need to be worked through to make it happen.  If you can’t work through them, you can always graciously and gladly accept a no, but you will be sure that it was a true no, not just a lack of information or misunderstanding.