Objection Handling - Expect the NO

There are numerous training solutions, methods and approaches to handling objections…so many 4 and 5 letter acronyms that the challenge can become remembering what the acronym stands for rather than how to use it!! So, we won’t be offering any LARQ, LARCR type comments. Instead, we are simply going to say that you must be ready for any objection because they are out there waiting for you!

It should not come as a surprise to anyone who works in sales or business development that your client will say ‘no’ to you at some stage in your relationship with them. And usually when decisions need to be made about new/additional solutions, investment, or improvements to current solutions...exactly the moments where you would love a simple YES!

If we know it will happen then it presents a proactive opportunity to expect that NO, to prepare for it, practice our response and accept it is very likely caused by something we have not done well or not done at all. 

“If you expect your customer to say yes to everything you are NOT selling or being a truly effective development manager…you are more likely simply order taking”

Why will the customer object?

The challenge to this question is that to be a success you should always be setting your mind to ‘what does success look like’ – visualising a brilliant presentation and the customer saying ‘yes’. That by thinking about or concerning yourself with ‘what objections will I encounter’ that you may perhaps be subconsciously setting yourself to fail. This is not the case, to be in a position to visualise that success you must work through every possible hurdle and take positive action to avoid it or prepare for it.

The reason why you must always expect a ‘NO’ is because of the superb job you will do with the solution you are going to offer your customer; put simply you have to always challenge yourself to present solutions that will ‘stretch your customers thinking’ – challenge them to consider options that will improve their business or situation.

Only 5 Boxes

Every possible challenge or objection you could face can be put into 1 of 5 boxes and each box presents you with an opportunity to consider ‘why’ the objection was raised.

The 5 boxes are:

•      We are not clear about their interests 

•      A lack of knowledge

•      A specific, warranted concern

•      A hidden agenda

•      A perception issue

What lands in each box…

• We are not clear about their interests: objections that land in this box are as a result of something we have not done during discussions about the solution i.e. ‘this is not a priority for us this year’, ‘that is not a direction I want to take the company in’, ‘we would have no use for that’ – easily avoided by investing time and great questioning in getting to understand things that are priorities, that fit the company agenda and would be of value to the company. In short this should never be a box that is used if the fact finding has been comprehensive.

• A lack of knowledge: In this box you are dropping things as a result of something we have not explained clearly or explained fully i.e. ‘Not sure what that will do for us?’, ‘how does this fit into our current portfolio?’, ‘how does that work?’ – these are generally expressions of interest rather than objections, and simply require us to invest more time, effort and detail in finding an answer that the customer can understand. As previously, this box should be rarely used as your sales presentation should be geared to proactively address this type of question.

• A specific, warranted concern: Here you have what I consider to be the ‘genuine’ objections, things that need addressed and should not be avoided if the solution is to be taken up by the customer and kept by the customer i.e. ‘this is outside of our maximum budget’, ‘This will take more time than we have to implement’, ‘I need all stakeholders to agree to this’ – for me these present an opportunity to work collaboratively with your customer to reach a solution and strengthen your existing relationship - time, budget and involvement are great negotiables. The focus here is to create a win:win. Things will drop into this box but can be viewed as genuine relationship building opportunities.

• A hidden agenda: These things are out of your control. These are the things the customer may be holding back and often relate to… The customer has a preference or incentive to use a different product or solution but doesn’t say that outright. You will only learn of these things when you attempt to close a sale or seek clarity for a key detail about your solution i.e. ‘XXX are our only preferred supplier’, ‘we get reward points for using their solutions’, ‘I can’t buy from providers like yourself’ – there is little opportunity to prepare for these so perhaps the best way forward is to acknowledge the comment(s) and take time away to reflect i.e. re-shape your solutions to address the objection or accept it can’t be overcome and be honest & open with the customer – you can’t win them all!

• A perception issue: The objections that land in this box are out also of your control, they will have been formed by the customer due to their research, their previous dealings with your company or you, or comments/feedback from others who they trust i.e. ‘the quality has never been that good’, ‘my colleague had a poor experience with your solution’, ‘your brand has had some poor reviews’ – this is a box to be aware of consistently throughout any interaction with a customer as perception can be formed or shaped during every interaction. Accept that perception is your responsibility and make sure all activities, communications and solutions demonstrate the quality of the brand and professionalism of yourself…if you do then very few things will land in this box.

Practice

We have spoken in this blog about why you will get objections, the type of objections you may face and how to categorise them, but the thing that will bring greatest value is practicing how to deal with them when they arise. Objections should never sound like stumbling blocks, they should arrive and leave as natural parts of the sales/business development process: expected, acknowledged and boxed then addressed. So, get with a colleague or mirror and work your script until your response to every scenario is well versed and natural, if it sounds confident, honest, and expected, then customer confidence in you and your solution is the greatest by-product you will get.

Insurance Support Solutions Ltd can provide specialist support and create training courses to build a proactive understanding of the challenges/objections you regularly face and how to manage them whilst also using the outputs to continuously be improving your customer experience, your team, and your business.

Ask us about what is involved, and we will work with you to provide a bespoke solution that gives you the confidence and conviction to positively impact your future talent.