6 Steps to Handling Objections

One of the most important steps in the selling cycle (which goes hand in hand with marketing), is listening and responding to your prospect's/customer's concerns.


Its important to remember that objections are not impasses, but rather an opportunity to reassure your client and demonstrate why your idea is best suited to them. Often times, criticism is a signal your client/prospect has been paying attention to your marketing/sales pitch and is interested in learning more.

Here are some key steps to overcoming objections:

1. Hear your customer/prospect out.

Don't be quick to address every phrase your prospect utters. Give her time: encourage them to tell you the whole story behind her concern. If you don't get the whole story, you won't know what to do or say to change their mind.

2. Feed the objection back

By rephrasing your customer's concern, you are in effect asking for more information. You want to be sure that they have aired all of their concerns, so no other objections come up after this one (this is often one of the most overlooked problems when people deal with assumptive closes!)

3. Question the objection.

Subtlety and tact come into play here. Be sure to find out what feeling is behind each objection and reassure our prospect that you product/service is right for them.

4. Answer the objection

When you're sure you have the whole story behind her concern, you can answer that objection with confidence (leadership matters!)

5. Confirm the answer.

"Does that answer your question Jenn?" Not completing this step will often make your customer raise that objection again.

6. Change gears with "By the way..."

These three words are some of the most useful words for persuading, or showing a person your side of the story. Use these words to change gears - to move on to the next topic. Blathering on, will not help you stay focused on solving you target audiences needs or make your presentation purposeful.