6 Ways to Overcome Objections and Get Closer to the Close

Industry Specific - Professional Services

Written by M. Schultz and J. Doerr

Your price is too high.

It’s not the right time.

I don’t need your service.

Those five simple words in each sentence can leave you feeling like you just got back from a high school dance: undervalued, rejected, and ignored. (Really, it’s not you. It’s me.) Any of these might cause you to back away when you hear them. With this attitude, it’s no wonder so many consultants wilt upon the first sign of an objection. They shouldn’t.

In fact, objections are often a hidden indicator of interest. They’re always an opportunity to understand your prospect better, and more often than you might think you’ll move him closer to the sale while you address them.

Objections can be overcome. Here’s some insight into how.

Definition: An objection is an explicit expression from a buyer that a barrier exists between the current situation and what he needs to engage your services. In other words, it is a clear signal that you have more work to do in the selling process.

Your objective: Overcome the objection and make advances towards gaining commitment from the prospect with the following caveats firmly in mind:

•    The close begins the relationship: In product selling, overcoming objections at all costs is the typical message sellers are taught. This does not work for selling consulting services. If you just plow through the objection without addressing it fully, the underlying reason for the objection will usually come back to haunt you. Remember, you have to work with these people once you are done selling.
•    Objections often have merit: Most sales training teaches us to “rebut” objections—counter them with logic, arguments, and sheer will power. In selling services, your purpose is to understand the objection fully, isolate it, and respond to it appropriately.
•   Many objections take a process, not a quick answer, to overcome: Services selling is complex with many buyers and buying criteria. You may need to build a case for overcoming an objection instead of answering quickly on the fly. Some objections, on the other hand, may simply be questions that have to be answered.

6 Steps to Get Closer to the Sale

Objections are not such horrible things. When the prospect indicates that he is not quite ready to engage your services (he voices an objection), you should not be deterred. As a matter of fact, you now have the opportunity to understand your prospect better and move him closer to the sale by following these six steps:

1. Listen fully to the objection (don’t interrupt or anticipate). Fight the common urge to respond immediately to an objection. By doing so, you will hear what is actually on the prospect’s mind rather than what you think he objects to. You will be surprised how much you can learn about what is actually at the heart of the objection.

2. Ask permission to completely understand the issue. The simple act of asking permission to understand lets the prospect know that you respect his concerns. This further establishes you as a confident consultant.

3. Ask questions, restate or clarify the objection. Make sure you get it right and/or uncover the real objection. Many objections are hiding underlying issues that the prospect either can’t or is not ready to articulate.

4. Choose your response carefully and keep it short. Answer honestly and to the point. Long-winded responses very quickly begin to sound artificial and insincere.

5. Propose your resolution to overcome the objection. Simply enough, describe exactly how you are going to remove the barrier for the prospect.

6. Ask whether your answer or proposed solution will satisfy the objection. Don’t always take “yes” for an answer immediately. Many a prospect will accept the solution in the moment, but once you are out of sight, the objection still remains. Be certain you have moved the sale forward.

It’s important that you don’t disregard client objections. They are a crucial part of the sales process that accomplished rainmakers handle with finesse to move the prospect closer to the close.

For more tips on how you can make the transition from service provider to rainmaker, we highly recommend you check out the new free report, The New Rules of Selling Consulting Services in 2011.

It’s absolutely the best way to get ahead of your competition in 2011.

Download the new free report here: http://www.sellingconsultingservices.com/newrules.html.

M. Schultz And J. Doerr -
	Mike Schultz and John Doerr are co-Presidents of RAIN Group, a sales training, assessment, and sales performance improvement company that helps leading organizations improve sales results. They are founders of RainToday.com, named the Top Sales Resource site in the world in 2010 and are co-authors of Professional Services Marketing (Wiley, 2009) and Rainmaking Conversations: Influence, Persuade, and Sell in Any Situation (Wiley, 2011). You can reach Mike at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and John at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .Read More >>
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