The objective for this stage is in getting the prospect’s commitment to buy and needing actions which include using closing techniques and asking for explicit agreement.
Objections are reasons given by a prospective customer why they do not wish to buy a certain product or service.
Objections appear if the prospect fails to see enough value to the product or service telesales executive promote. They are viewed by some as a natural part of a sales process. Although they are regarded as an obstacle, they can also become opportunities, as they can tell telesales executive new things about the customer’s needs, things telesales executive might not have identified in the investigation stage.
The objective of this stage in understanding the customer’s objections and overcoming them by using the steps of handling objections by pause, acknowledge, explore, isolate and answer.
Call scripts usually provide “canned” responses to the most frequent objections. These have limited success, because they are the same for everybody, regardless of each prospect’s individual condition.
A more effective approach to objections is to fully understand them and the reasons behind them, then build a strategy to overcome them while telesales executive are talking to the prospect.
Various steps in overcoming objection are pause, acknowledgement, exploration, isolation, answering and closing.
Pause
Making a pause is the first thing telesales executive should consider. While the prospect is talking about his objection, listen to what he has to say without interfering. After he is done talking, keep silent for two or three more seconds.
This will give telesales executive the necessary time to control your reaction to contradict the customer. Most inexperienced sales agents act defensively out of instinct and start contradicting the customer. They usually use phrases that begin with “yes, but ____” or „still, ____”. Using one of these words as the opening of your objection handling statement usually means the end to any chance of persuading the customer. Prospects will most likely perceive this as
“I understand your objection, but I don’t really care about it”.
Whenever handling an objection, telesales executive must set your mind frame to doing it together with the prospect, not against the prospect. Telesales executive cannot succeed if telesales executive start contradicting the prospect. First of all, telesales executive are on the phone and he can hang up at any time if the disagreement starts to irritate him. Secondly, once he understands that telesales executive are contradicting him, he will start making arguments against telesales executive and will stop listening and being receptive to what telesales executive have to say.
The pause is essential because it keeps telesales executive from contradicting the prospect, while giving him the impression that telesales executive are thinking about what he is saying. However, remember to keep your pauses short. Long pauses are to be avoided at all costs in telesales calls, as they might give the impression that telesales executive are no longer active in the conversation.
Acknowledge
The second step is acknowledging the prospect’s objection. It doesn’t matter whether telesales executive find the prospect’s objection valid or completely ridiculous; he must feel that telesales executive respect his point of view at all times. If telesales executive manage to make him feel that way, he will feel encouraged to provide more details.
Telesales executive must not confuse acknowledging the objection with agreeing to the objection. Telesales executive agree that he has this objection and telesales executive respect that, but telesales executive don’t agree with the objection itself. Some examples of how telesales executive can acknowledge the objection without leaving the impression that telesales executive agrees to it are stated below.
“I see why this might be of concern to telesales executive.”
“That is a very good issue; I am glad that telesales executive pointed it out.”
“I can understand why telesales executive are considering this.”
After acknowledging the customer’s objection, telesales executive should explore it. This is the step where telesales executive try to find out the real cause of concern, by asking open questions and encouraging prospects to provide as many details as they can. Details offered during this step can help telesales executive identify the real cause and nature of the objection.
Isolate
Isolation is the most delicate part of handling an objection. It serves the purpose of helping telesales executive get past appearances and down to the very core of the objection. The objections prospects state are not always the real reason keeping them from buying. They could be lying to telesales executive on purpose, or they don’t know the real reason themselves. For example, “it’s too expensive” usually means “I don’t see the value of this product, the price is greater than the benefits”; “I’ll consider it and then get back to telesales executive” might mean “I didn’t understand what telesales executive told me”.
Well-formulated questions can help telesales executive understand if the customer’s objection is based on logic, hesitation, fear or precaution. Isolation is done by involving the customer in the decision making process.
“Is that the only challenge with purchasing this?”
“Is this the only reason keeping telesales executive from buying?”
“If we can find a satisfactory solution to your concern, then will telesales executive be willing to close the deal?”
“Were there not for this issue, would telesales executive be willing to buy?”
Respond
After isolating the specific objection, telesales executive must respond to it by reaffirming benefits and bringing other new benefits to light, some of which might have been overlooked while making the sales presentation.
Telesales executive must keep in mind that what telesales executive say should not contradict the customer. For example, if he already has something similar to what telesales executive are offering, don’t try to position your product as being better than what he currently owns; rather try to show him that it is complementary with what he has.
