We don’t often talk about sales on this blog, but since it is a part of small business success tied in with marketing programs it’s still important to learn some tips.

Eliminate Prospect Objections Before They Happen

Far too many sales professionals hear prospect objects as personal rejection. Because of this, many sales professionals are terrified of prospect objections. Rather than being something scary, however, the truth is that an objection from your prospect is important information. You are learning about your prospect, how that prospect thinks and feels and what is important to them. Your prospects’ objections can tell you about their challenges and their concerns. Listening carefully can be great cold calling advice for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

That said, however, you do not necessarily have to hear every prospect objection. There are some that you can and should eliminate right away. This is called “preempting objections,” and it’s an important piece in understanding marketing when tying in to your existing customer outreach programs.

Many sales professionals are uncomfortable talking about challenges or issues with the product/service they represent. And yet, that is actually the best way to address those challenges. The way that you preempt an objection is to mention the issue first, before your prospect can even bring it up. This is best used with the types of objections that you hear all the time. Addressing objections first and up front is an incredibly powerful way to minimize the number of objections you actually do hear.

For example: A very frequent objection prospectors hear from their leads is: “It’s too expensive” as in “I’ve heard about your product/service and it’s too expensive.” If this is something you hear frequently you can eliminate this objection’s power by addressing it early on. If indeed your product/service is more expensive than the competition, there is probably a reason for that higher price tag. What is the reason? Does your company uses superior quality products in manufacturing? Does your company offer a special level of service above and beyond what the competition offers? Identify the reason that your product/service is more expensive than your competitors’. Then bring it up yourself. An example:

“Our product/service is certainly not the least expensive. That’s because we use only the best materials and we have 24/7 service. None of our competitors can say that.”

By addressing the objection first, you’ve turned a negative into a positive. And by turning the negative into a positive, you not only eliminate the objection, you are able to position the objection the way that you want it to be perceived—as a benefit.

Your homework, then, is to thoroughly review all the prospect objections that you frequently hear and brain storm ways to preempt them. You will not be able to preempt all prospect objections; however you will be able to preempt many of them. If you do this well you will be in a much stronger place to be able to move your sales process forward.

Editor’s Note: Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. Get the Free Special Report, “Getting in the Door: How to Write an Effective Cold Calling Script,” at http://www.wendyweiss.com.

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