Transforming Objections, Utilizing Excuses

6 Tips for Overcoming Obstacles in the Sales Process

Sometimes it is enough to drive you crazy: we have done everything to tailor the offer to the customer’s needs. All discussions went well, and yet an objection arises.

We assume that you have done everything right so far, that your offer is time-limited, and the next step is defined. Otherwise, it could be that the closing is delayed not because of customer objections, but due to your own omissions. You can read about how to avoid this in the last article of this series.

How do you overcome the final hurdles before closing? Do you repeatedly go through all the arguments while watching the potential buyer distance themselves more and more? Do you retreat into passivity and “let the customer come to you”? Do you fear wasting your time, but on the other hand, do not want to give up a sales opportunity too early? What to do, how to decide?

Here are a few tips to shed some light on the matter:

1. Objection ≠ Excuse

First, it is important to distinguish between objections and excuses. An objection is a reason that seems valid enough to the customer not to do something, not to agree, or in our case, not to buy. Whether it is rational or emotional, justified or not, it can be examined from different perspectives, questioned, and invalidated using various techniques. If this succeeds, the barrier to purchase is removed, and the sale usually follows.

An excuse, on the other hand, is just that—a pretext intended to hide the true reason for not buying.

This is a significant difference that must not be neglected. If the customer does not want to reveal the true reason, it does not matter whether this results from uncertainty, exaggerated politeness, or manipulative intentions—if you treat an objection the same as an excuse, the customer easily feels cornered and goes on the defensive, which in no way promotes the closing of the sale.

Practical Tip
How to recognize an objection:

• Your counterpart looks at you directly, perhaps even provocatively.
• The objection sounds inquisitive or is presented in the form of a question and …
• … fits contextually and factually with what was previously discussed.

How to recognize an excuse:

• The conversation partner tends to avoid eye contact or breaks it off quickly.
• The excuse is often presented with justifying or softening introductions and …
• … usually does not link to the discussed content, but a completely new, unexpected argument is pulled out of a hat, so to speak.

2. Objection ≠ Objection

Classifying objections can be a tricky business, as every salesperson knows. For example, if the customer says: “You know, I’m already well-served and contractually bound with my current solution.” This could be many things:

• An information deficit: The customer is not clear about the scope of your solution and sees no higher benefit for themselves.
• A truthful objection: They actually have a solution and a contract.
• A tactical objection: They actually want to buy from you and want to build up a bit of price pressure.
• An excuse: Perhaps they have no time right now, or they don’t want to talk to you because they don’t like your outfit. Possibly they are not competent to make the purchasing decision but do not want to disclose this, have the task of brushing you off, etc., etc.

3. Objection ≠ Barrier to Purchase

No matter what kind of objection you are dealing with: Be happy about it! Because fundamentally, every objection is also a buying signal. The customer is engaging with the purchase, considering your offer, and taking it seriously. Now it depends on how you react.

It is best to first recall a few basic rules of communication:

• Listen – to handle the objection, you must first understand it
• Take it seriously – neither interrupt nor lecture the customer
• Stay objective – under no circumstances take objections personally

Objection handling is not a duel. If the customer is convinced after the conversation that you understand more about the subject matter than they do, that does not mean they will buy from you. If you want to resolve their concerns, you must address them. If you do this skillfully, you can transform the majority of objections into building blocks for your sales success.

Practical Tip
List not only the objections but also always the points where you agree. Present this list of agreements confidently and happily during the next conversation:

“We have already agreed on so many things, such as [your list]. Now it is a matter of clarifying the remaining open points and getting things finalized. Which topics are still important and open for you?”

The latter is also on your list, but if you do not mention the points at first, you have a tactical advantage and gain information: what your customer does not mention again is probably less important to them. Of course, it can happen that the customer forgets something important to them. If you notice this, ask specifically and earn extra points as an expert and attentive listener.

4. Information Deficit => Valuable Feedback

Do you encounter the same objections with great regularity? Then you should work on your presentation. If the “too expensive” objection comes up frequently, it can mean that you are mentioning the price too early, namely before the value is clearly enough presented. (Interestingly, the “too expensive” objection rarely comes from a customer who really cannot afford the solution. They usually look for an excuse instead, but that is another story.)

Recurring objections mostly fall into the information deficit category and mean that we know too little about the customer’s needs or do not address them enough, perhaps have not sufficiently defined our target groups, and treat all customers the same—this happens more often than one might think.

Practical Tip
Systematically note your customers’ objections in order to preemptively clear up recurring ones. Also, specifically address the different needs of your target groups. This will increase the efficiency of your sales conversation many times over and save you a lot of time.

5. Excuse => Qualification Criterion

Anyone who uses an excuse is set on defense. Generally, it is an unsatisfactory situation for the salesperson when the customer does not want to or cannot say what is holding them back. We assume you have already clarified beforehand that they are the right contact person and also have the decision-making authority in this matter; otherwise, the reason for the defense lies buried there.

But should you make the effort? Does such a defensive attitude prevent any chance of a sale, or does the customer just need a little more time? Do you perhaps need to talk to a completely different person? You must now find this out. Generally, the customer’s wish to remain guarded should be respected initially. It achieves nothing, or only more resistance, to expose the excuse as “seen through.” But one should not give up either, because surprisingly often a sale still occurs. So what to do? What is required—as so often in sales—is a bit of intuition.

Practical Tip
Make it easy for your conversation partner. They want to escape the sales conversation situation, so comply with their wish and release them elegantly and politely:

“Perhaps we should leave it at that for now, now that you have become acquainted with the advantages of our product. You can come back to us at any time and arrange a new appointment.”

If he or she now relaxes, you can follow up in the situation that is no longer sales-heavy: “How did you like the presentation in general?” This way you get feedback and, with a bit of luck, the opportunity to demonstrate again after the “official” end of the sales conversation how much better off the customer would be with a purchase:

“You know, XY% of our customers from the [insert your customer’s industry here] sector have been using our solution for XY years and no longer want to do without it.”

If you use the arguments and product features that are most important to this specific customer in the same breath, you have done your best. Either you manage to arrange a follow-up appointment (or even an appointment with someone else who is “more likely the right contact person”), or you have a qualification with low processing priority.

In this case, do not ask again for 8 to 12 months to see if anything has happened in the meantime. In the meantime, you do not need to invest any further time here, unless the customer really approaches you of their own accord. That happens quite often.

6. True & Tactical Objection => Qualified Lead

But what to do with a truthful objection? Let’s stay with our example “supplied and contractually bound”. This by no means means that we simply file the customer under “nothing to be done”. We have at least managed to advance as far as this objection.

It would be an omission not to ask specific questions under these circumstances in order to gain important information.

Practical Tip
Ask specific questions:

• How long does the contract run?
• Are you sure that you will renew it?
• Are you completely satisfied? If life were a wish list, what else would you want from your solution?

Anyone who has thoroughly researched the competition can perhaps even specifically present one or two features that they know the competitor’s product does not offer. With this strategy, we qualify our lead (here, by the way, is a blog article on the subject for further reading). Furthermore, we have already narrowed down the date when it will be worthwhile to contact them again.

In general, you kill two birds with one stone this way, because if it is a tactical objection with which the customer only wanted to strengthen their negotiating position, we have received important arguments for our side and also stand strengthened.