5 common sales objections and how to overcome them
Sales objections: we’ve all had them! But that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. Isn’t there some magic formula or script to follow that would turn every “no” into a “yes?” Sadly, no. I mean, if I had that kind of wizardry I’d be teaching at Hogwarts! There are some best practices though and I’m sharing them with you.
Before we dive in I want to say one thing: I don’t believe in high-pressure sales tactics. I don’t believe in taking credit card payments over the phone. I do respect that for high-ticket investments people might need to take a moment to make a decision. I know there are other people out there who disagree with this, but I really only want people to work with me who feel excited about it and are doing it for the right reasons.
Here are 5 commons sales objections and how to overcome them:
“I need to check with my spouse/partner.”
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about people who don’t respect this response when potential clients give it. Can it be an easy way out for people who don’t want to be honest? Sure. But I like to assume best intentions. While I don’t run every business investment past my husband, if it’s a larger one I may want to talk it over with him. Not because I need his permission (I don’t), but because he’s someone I respect and maybe he has an objective outlook on the situation.
If your pricepoint is over $1,000 it’s normal for someone to take a moment to think about it and consult with other trusted people. One thing you can do is say, “Of course! When will you be able to discuss this with them?” If they say “tonight” or “tomorrow” then schedule a time to follow up with them within 24-48 hours. Getting a follow-up appointment set before you get off the call will prevent procrastination.
If they still sound like they are trying to get out of it, see if you can follow up during the following week. If they’re still uncommitted you can add them to a “future follow-up list” and don’t sweat it too much.“I need to think about it.”
I think of this one in the same way I think about my response to the first one. Usually I will say something like, “Did you have any questions for me or was there something you need more clarification on?” This opens up the option for them to keep the dialogue going and eliminates confusion. Then I set a time to follow up with them, usually within 24-48 hours. I remind them that if they think of other questions in the meantime, they’re welcome to email me.
If they are non-commital on rescheduling, follow the same procedure as in Question 1. I know it’s really disappointing to realize that someone probably isn’t being honest with you, and would rather lie than simply say, “I’m not interested.” But it happens. Womxn especially are raised to feel we can’t disappoint others so it happens frequently that we give someone a not-quite-true response rather than risk hurting their feelings.
Blame the patriarchy, add them to your “future follow-up list,” and move on.“I don’t think I can afford it.”
I like to cut this one off at the pass by making my pricing very clear both on my website and my intake form. Other people say that a price objection just means you haven’t shown the value of your offer clearly enough. Here’s why I don’t follow that advice.
I once had a really fantastic conversation with a woman who is an incredibly talented conversion copywriter. She’s someone I know personally and everyone raves about her work. I had never hired a copywriter so I had no idea what the price range for this service was, and she didn’t have pricing listed on her website. While I know projects can vary on price, there was also no “starting at” price.
I was looking for someone to create a nurture sequence for my opt in, and at the time I didn’t have a marketing engine in place that was driving a lot of people to the opt in to begin with. In my mind I was guessing I’d probably be spending at least $1000 for this service, but probably not more than $2000. So when she came back with a quote of $4,500 there was simply no way I could justify that.
I fully believe she’s worth every penny and I wasn’t offended or appalled at the proposed price. Instead I felt incredibly guilty for wasting her time. Not just the time on the discovery call, but her time on the back end doing some research and creating the proposal.
Because I want to avoid this in my own business, I have the prices of my services listed on my site and I have a checkbox on my intake form that asks if they are able to invest right now, and I give a minimum price. I’ll still hop on calls with people who check the box that they can’t invest right now, but if they said “yes” and now they are objecting to the price, I can remind them that they said they could invest. And then if there’s hesitation, I can dive deeper into the transformation and support they get from the investment.“I’m not sure this is what I need.”
The next two are areas where you can get a bit more “coachy” on the call, because these speak to one of two things: You have either not conveyed the value well enough OR they don’t believe in themselves. Usually it’s the second one, but people won’t often admit this outright.
Perhaps they made a bad business investment decision in the past and they’re worried they’ll do it again. Or maybe they made a great decision but didn’t end up doing the work. This is especially true if they’ve purchased things like courses that they haven’t completed. Or they deeply feel like they’re unworthy of getting this help or are fearful of success. It’s real, and it’s hard, but you can talk through this with them.
Here’s where you can say things like:“Interesting, tell me more about that…”
“What do you feel like you need now and why?”
“Is there an aspect of the work you feel you do need, and another you feel you don’t?”
For someone like me, we might be discussing my full coaching program that comes with a marketing plan and accountability, but maybe they feel they just need the plan. By knowing this I can let them know I have a separate offer where they get the plan and can execute it on their own or with help from their VA or other support staff.
In the case of the conversion copywriter it helped me realize I was putting the cart before the digital horse. A highly-converting email funnel won’t get me any sort of ROI if I’m not driving enough people to my list! Even if her pricepoint had been lower, the conversation made me realize I was thinking too many steps ahead in my marketing plan. I would’ve been better served by getting paid help that would drive more traffic to my opt-in first.“I don’t think it’s the right time.”
Not only is this an opportunity to ask more questions, but you can also get ahead of this by asking good questions during the discovery call.
Questions such as:“Why are you looking to get help on this right now?
“What do you fear may happen in 3-6 months if you don’t get this problem solved?”
“Is there anything that might make it harder for you to work on this right now?”
By asking these questions you can show them why now is a good time for them to go ahead with this, if you feel that it is. Conversely, if they tell you that they only have 5 hours a week total to work on their business and your program requires 3 hours/week, perhaps it really isn’t the best time for your specific offer, and you can direct them to a smaller offer if you have one.
Overcoming objections in sales conversations can feel really strange at first. It can feel like you’re trying to be pushy or salesy. But when you overcome objections with sincerity and their best interests at heart, you’ll help foster greater trust and confidence, and you’ll end up working with better-fit clients overall.
