The Definitive Guide to Overcoming These Common Sales Objections

As a B2B salesperson you are often confronting resistance, especially in today's challenging and ever-changing industrial B2B environment. But objection does not always mean rejection. In fact, in every sales objection there is an opportunity. Being prepared for some of the most common objections in sales is key to keeping the conversation going and moving towards a long-term partnership.

 This guide to the best responses to sales objections will provide strategies to improve your odds of success.

Six Most Common Sales Objections and How to Handle Them

The following list highlights the six most common objections and approaches to overcome them.

1. “I need to do more research.”

First, let’s examine the background behind this objection. B2B decision-makers are increasingly digitally focused. Rather than proceeding with whatever information a sales representative provides, they base 27% of their purchasing process on self-obtained internet data.

Only 18% of their research results originate from offline sources. With these statistics in mind, you can readily understand a prospect’s compulsion to spend additional time with a search engine before executing a purchase. So your response must establish trust in your expertise about your product and comprehension of the problem it will solve for the prospect.

As part of your qualification process, you can also ask about the prospect’s next step upon completing their research. Suppose they confess that they’ll have to communicate their data to upper management. Then you’ll know that you haven’t reached the decision-maker. You need to make higher-level contact for a reasonable opportunity to close the sale. Internet-savvy prospects may have additional apprehensions. Learn more about how to respond when prospects say they need to do more research. 

2. “The price seems a little high.”

Prospects have many reasons to hesitate about approving substantial expenditures. The CFO may be risk-averse, applying pressure to keep capital investment down. Your contacts may not understand the value your offering will provide or how many resources it takes to produce it.

If that’s the case, you may want to put off discussing costs until you’ve explained your product’s worth. Potential buyers may also want to see evidence of success, so you should be prepared to share testimonials and statistics. In addition, your potential client may come from a culture where haggling is part of doing business, or maybe they just enjoy sparring. Prepare yourself to clarify why your price is the fairest deal in the marketplace. Need further details? Read more on overcoming price objections in B2B sales. 

3. “I’m still thinking it over.”

Are you coming up against the end of the quarter? To make your quota, you need to close some sales, and the last thing you want to hear is that a prospect is still thinking over a purchase. So how do you get over the hump and achieve your sales goals?

First, you need to determine what’s holding up a client’s decision. For example, you may have to address concerns such as installation procedures or cost. Then if you can present immediate solutions to any uncertainties, you can close a sale.

If you need some time to put workarounds in place, you can at least proceed to negotiations. The person making the decision may also be dealing with multiple stakeholders. If you can discover the identities of deal obstructors, you can make your case directly. Find out more here concerning getting the holdouts on board. Read more on handling prospects that need time to think it over.

4. “Now is not a good time.”

You can clearly establish your needs. You need to make a sale. Unfortunately, your potential clients aren’t as clear about their objectives. At this point in the conversation, your primary task becomes justifying their need for your product.

Many vendors make the sales-killing error of not responding to potential purchasers’ questions. As a result, the queries go unanswered a mind-bending 84% of the time. By quickly getting back to customers with sufficient and impressive information, you put yourself at the head of the pack.

However, this is only the beginning of your sales journey. You must maintain your connection even if a client seems to drop away. By staying in contact, you’re ready to spring into action when your prospect reaches a decision point. Explore more suggestions for engaging unresponsive prospects.  

5. “Let me get back to you.”

You recognize a sales-killing response when you hear one, and having a prospect say they’ll get back to you sounds like the voice of doom. However, your transaction need not meet its demise. A customer's motivations for trying to keep you at a distance may be more complicated than you imagine.

Supply chain problems and labor shortages arising from the pandemic are far from old news. Many organizations still struggle to recover their profitability. A prospect may also be unsure concerning the response of a stakeholder. Effective sales representatives must discover whether a contact wants them to take a walk or merely needs to resolve some company turmoil. Discover the specific actions you can take to determine if your sale is a lost cause or a goal worth pursuing in this post on handling prospects that say they'll get back to you.

6. “Just send me more information.”

Does a request for more information imply a genuine thirst for knowledge, or is it a strategy to end a call? You’ll often find the latter is the case. However, if you can keep the discussion going, you retain your chance of achieving a sale. You may not have qualified your call well enough to determine if you’ve reached a decision-maker.

If your call’s recipient has no authority to do business, you need to find out who does. However, if you have reached your desired target, you must discover the root problem and address it. Most commonly, the sticking point will be money. Read more on the best responses to prospects who request more information. 

Ways to Handle Rejection

When you’ve done all you can, but the customer’s response remains stubbornly at “no sale,” you’re not a failure. If you expect to close every sale, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Forge ahead, setting these three objectives for yourself.

Plan for rejection. Understand when to cut your losses. However, employing a powerful tool such as IndustrySelect will help you better understand your prospect and increase your success rate.

Accept a “no” for what it is. Don’t waste your time and energy on a lost cause. Still, by utilizing an industrial database subscription from IndustrySelect, you can obtain the names and contact information you require to find more fertile ground.

Try to understand the prospect’s perspective. Each company has unique needs. Positioning yourself better to understand a company’s pain points and offer your product as a solution is the best way to avoid a flat-out rejection. Learn more about three ways to handlle rejections here.