In the sales industry, many obstacles can get in the way of a salesperson's success. The most common is overcoming objections. Objections are hard to tackle and can make you question your career decisions.
But the good thing — you can easily tackle the most common sales objections as a telecaller by being a little smart, well-informed, and following some simple steps.
In this blog, we will cover everything about overcoming objections. So, let's start…
Common Objections in Telecalling Sales
If you've ever been in sales, getting someone to say yes can be challenging.
Salespeople are often frustrated when they don’t achieve their targets. Then they crib about ‘cheap’ prospects, lead quality, and diss their life choices.
(Source: www.tenor.com)
But let me tell you something — all of these are excuses. A good salesperson doesn’t try to find excuses, but understands the problems, finds a solution, and succeeds.
You need to follow the same process, and that's why you need to understand the most common objections telecallers hear.
The reason — many times, objections aren't even logical or valid. You can only prepare to overcome these when you know the most common objections or excuses given to telecallers in India.
Here are the most common ones:
- Lack of Money — The product is too expensive / I don’t have money to buy this.
- Lack of Trust — I’ve never heard about your company / I don’t know who you are.
- Lack of Need — I don’t need this product / I don’t think this can help me.
- Lack of Urgency — I don’t need this right now / I am not looking for such services.
You must also have heard many other objections and excuses like:
- I don’t need this right now.
- I don’t have time to learn how to do this.
- I don’t know anyone who has this.
- I don’t know if I want to spend this much money.
- I don’t think I’ll ever use this.
- I'm not interested.
The Easiest Way to Overcome Objections in Sales: Proven Framework
When a prospect has an objection, they're trying to justify why they shouldn't buy from you. At that moment, they're prepared to deny everything, no matter how useful you are, how good you speak, or how you promise to solve their problem.
You need to change your approach in this case. Instead of trying to push them to listen to you more, you should do the opposite.
Let me explain — you need to listen, accept, explore and respond.
The framework, known as LAER Bonding Process, is an effective objection-handling method that many telecallers use to improve their sales productivity. Here's how you can do it too:
1) Listen
Hear your customer with full attention and give them time to vent out their thoughts. This tells them that you are deeply interested in their point of view and you care about what they have to say.
2) Acknowledge or Accept
Acknowledge or accept that you have been actively listening to them. Agree with their point of view. This can be a simple 'I agree with you, sir' or an elaborate response telling them that you are ready to communicate further. Most telecallers start arguing. You needn't do that to overcome objections.
3) Explore
Once they are done telling, and you've accepted their point of view, it's time to look for a viable solution. This involves a deep understanding of their concern and then suggesting something that doesn't make them uncomfortable but suits your goal too. For example, if the customer provides an objection against the price, there are high chance that they know your competitor (and their price point). You can plan to offer them an extra discount or a freebie or add-on if they tell you right away.
4) Respond
The final step is your proposal— what you have to offer to them to satisfy their objection. This is when you tell them what ‘extra’ effort you’re ready to put in to make them feel special. You can even offer multiple alternatives and make them choose.
You must be thinking — all this is good, but how to implement this practically? So, let's take an example:
Say, for example, you call someone who replies that they are not confident that your product can solve their problem. And further, they ask you a difficult question about the product.
You have two options here:
- Stick to your standard response and transfer the call to your product team or,
- Listen to them, acknowledge their concern, and provide them with additional information that solves their query.
If you can address their concern or question right away, they’ll be more likely to buy from you.
But how do you do this?
There are two main approaches to this situation.
You can either try and win the person over with a compelling offer, or you can get rid of the objection by demonstrating to the person that they have nothing to lose.
Win Them Over With A Compelling Offer
The best way to deal with objections is to show the prospect that you have something specific to offer that will help solve their problem. It's important to understand that in order to win someone over with a compelling offer, you need to be able to demonstrate that you know exactly what the person needs.
You can't just say, "I'm here to help you." You need to deeply understand what your prospect's problems are (Listen & Acknowledge), and you need to know how your product or service can solve those problems (Explore and Respond).
This means that you need to do your research. Your research should include listening to them deeply and making notes on the way about their pain points, problems, and goals they want to achieve.
Once you've heard them out, you need to explore your options and respond with a compelling offer.
A compelling offer is a solution that addresses your prospects' problems directly — it's an offer that solves their problems without them having to make an extra effort (in terms of money, learning, or effort).
Basically, a compelling offer is a solution that offers real value to the person. In other words, a compelling offer is one that solves a person's problem without them having to make any changes in their current situation.
An example of a compelling offer would be "Giving them a hassle-free visa application experience that doesn't require them to waste time."
This offer is compelling because it solves the person's problem of not having the time to gather documentation. But it will work only with people who care about their time.
You need to understand their objections deeply and provide a compelling offer on-spot. This means you need to be really good with your product understanding and research.
Demonstrate That They Have Nothing To Lose
Another approach to dealing with the "I'm not interested" or any other objection is to get rid of the objection by demonstrating to the person that they have nothing to lose.
You can do this by offering a free consultation, fee-free or zero-cost product experience, or something where a customer doesn’t have to spend any money or waste any time.
Again, you need to have a compelling offer, basically.
Tips to Get Better at Overcoming Objections
Want to get some quick tips that will help you overcome objections when you still get them after following the LAER framework? Here are six simple tips to remember:
1) Refer and practice
Create a directory of the most common objections you receive every day. Then think of the best comebacks (offers) to overcome them. You can use a notes app or a simple diary to note down everything and use it later to refer to when you hear a similar objection again.
In case, it sounds like too much work; you can use a call monitoring app or a system that keeps a record of all your calls, note and status for each call.
2) Standardize your best-performing responses
You can test out your responses and highlight the ones that give you the best results. Use them to create sales scripts that work and then customize them according to case to case. Over time, you will see you will have a large library of responses to tackle any kind of objection on the call.
3) Don’t forget to listen before you respond
Most telecallers forget this important principle — listen before you speak. Because in a bid to quickly close a sale, you will rush your response and become sloppy.
Remember, there’s no such thing as a perfect response. But you need to be really careful that you say everything that suits the prospect’s intentions.
Don't be afraid of long calls. We know that you fear not achieving your daily target of leads approached, but we think if your conversion rate improves, you'll be a better performer.
In fact, our in-house research shows that callers who spend more time on a call with a prospect end up being the top performer in the long run.
4) Always provide a contextual solution
Never try to pitch in what you have in your mind directly. Instead, after you listen to them, try to relate to your prospect's objection and pain points. Only then will you know what offer will convert the best and overcome your lead's objections well.
First, stay calm, take a pause while they talk, and finally, share a contextual offer. Contextual offer means something that the person actually needs or desires or solves a problem. Basically, your prospect should pause for a moment before saying no.
BONUS: Behaviors That Help Handle Objections on Phone
Despite your best preparation and everything, sometimes, you fail at handling objections. But that's not something you should be scared about. Because, as telecallers, you need to be really unmoved by the results while calling.
Still, here are some behaviors that you can add to your demeanor while calling that will help you reduce the chances of objections.
- Take a Pause: Successful sales reps pause 5x longer than their peers. So, if you want to be successful as a sales or telecalling representative, learn to pause and take a breath whenever your prospect presents a concern.
- Slow Down: Your success doesn't depend on how fast you can talk. In fact, the more you slow down, the higher the chances of tackling objections. According to a survey, telecallers and reps who slowed down and talked at 176 words-per-minute were able to address better concerns and objections, rather than others who talked at 188 words-per-minute.
- Talk Less: Always try to listen to their objection. At the same time, you might be tempted to argue and counteract by rushing. But successful ones always hear more and talk less.
- Try Mirroring: In the famous book about negotiating, Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss shares that one should try repeating the last few words that your prospect uses. For example, when your prospect says the price is too high, you should respond by saying — the price is too high? In a questioning tone. This makes them feel heard and comfortable, paving the way for future conversation.
Don’t be afraid of objections. Tackle them with documentation and data
Handling objections shouldn’t be painful. With these simple steps and suggestions, you can easily tackle on-call objections and improve your relationship with your prospects.
Remember, your job is not to close the sale immediately but rather open up a way to follow up and arrange the next call. So, always learn to document and analyze the data of your unsuccessful calls to improve your chances of closing a sale.
And if you’re looking to analyze your call data, you can always use Callyzer. You can download the Callyzer app directly on your smartphone and start tracking your daily, weekly, and monthly performance and success easily. This will help you get better at overcoming objections eventually.