Ever wonder what the best sales objection handling techniques are?

As a coaching entrepreneur, it’s important to understand that sales objection handling techniques are a normal part of the sales process. However, it can be difficult to handle them effectively, especially if you’re feeling resistant to selling.

The first thing you need to know is that an objection is NOT personal.   It’s not a reflection of you or your coaching service.  If you’ve built a great rapport with your prospect, and you’ve established needs well, and you know they’re a good fit for your service, then an objection is simply a part of the conversation that enables the prospect to gain greater clarity.

In my 25 years coaching and mentoring in sales, both in the corporate environment, as well as for entrepreneurs, I believe that the BEST way to handle sales objections is actually throughout your entire discovery call process.

You CAN minimise the need of your prospect to raise objections, which are essentially a need for more clarification, or an expression of their deeper doubts or fear, by the way you conduct your discovery call.

Sales objection handling techniques are a normal part of the sales process

By positioning your expertise, pitching your services confidently, providing them with a clear pathway to their results, and demonstrating your understanding of your prospects doubts and desires, you literally remove all obstacles for them, thereby mitigating the need to raise an objection.

Let’s dive a little deeper into this (if you prefer to watch / listen then here’s the vlog of this blog: https://youtu.be/uOykie3Mgw4 )

Step 1) Follow the 80 / 20 rule

Your prospect should be talking for 80% of the time, and you talk for only 20%.

Listen.  Probe.  Be curious.  Ask questions and then dive deeper. Be silent, give them time to think and answer your question before moving to the next.

Your sales calls are about establishing your understanding of where your prospect is, how it feels to be them, and what they want, and why they want it.  Like a diagnosis, you’re diagnosing your prospects problem in order to make a sound prognosis, and be able to offer your solution with full integrity.  Your prospects will appreciate this and they will trust you more as a result.

Many people forget this, and move too quickly into selling themselves and their services.   This is off putting, because your prospect is unlikely to feel fully heard and understood.

This may be the first time your prospect has had an opportunity to articulate their problem, and be heard judgement free. This is important.

“What else?” is a powerful question that takes your prospect out of their head, and into their heart.

Step 2) Give time to your discovery calls

I’ve seen coaches offering 20 minute sales calls.  This isn’t long enough.  Do you think it’s fair to expect someone to invest £3k plus with you after 20 minutes?  Nuff said.

Step 3) Positioning your expertise

One of the biggest advantages of the information age we’re living in, is that you get to position your expertise in the minds of your prospect through your content.

Research has shown that consumers are 80% sold on a product or service even before they’ve contacted the company to talk to the sales team.  This includes you and your business!

Your prospect has likely consumed your content, been following you for a while, already sees you as the specialist and as someone who can help them solve their no.1 problem.   (So, remember to continue to post great content, that adds a ton of value and is aligned with your offering.  Check out my blog on how to position yourself as an expert).

You can reinforce your expert position on your discovery call in 3 ways:

1. Manage your own state around this.  If you’re doubting yourself and your ability to deliver the results you’re promising, or you’re feeling desperate for the sale, you’ll sabotage your call.  Your prospect will unconsciously detect your nervous energy and most likely raise objections as a way to exit the call as quickly as possible!  You must own your specialism and stand in your power as the expert you are, inside and out!
2. Follow step 1!
3. See Step 4…

Step 4) Your Pathway

Your pathway is the bridge that gets your client from where they are to where they want to be.  It’s made of the essential milestones that your clients MUST go through.

Too many coaches struggle because they’re trying to sell a number of sessions, or a duration such as 90 days, and they only specify the end result,  without a clear pathway.  This often creates too big a cognitive leap for your prospects.  They need something more solid, concrete and tangible to invest in.

This is where your pathway comes in.

When you’re able to clearly define the steps your prospect will take, they’re able to the “see the how”, which offers them greater certainty that they’ll achieve the results they’re seeking.   People pay for certainty.  When your prospects see that you have the route map, all laid out, and it makes sense, they’ll feel “safer” and assured of the outcome.

So define and describe the steps they’ll go through while ensuring you’re following Step 5

Step 5) “Which means that…”

Using the words “which means that…” or variations thereof, bridge the gap between the features of your coaching programme, and the benefits to the prospect, which means that you’ll get more emphatic “yes” closes to your sales calls, minus the awkward objections! (See what I did there!)

In the minds of your people, they’re not buying coaching, nor are they paying for 60 minute calls with you each week, or the pretty workbooks you’ve created!  They’re not even parting with their hard earned cash for the EFT, hypnotherapy or the NLP processes that you’ve mastered your craft in.

Remember the dictum “People buy the why”.   The cold truth is – they don’t care about your process.  They care about what’s in it for them.

“Which means that…” enables you to firmly position your process, and the pay-offs for your prospect (loving the alliteration of that sentence.

Step 6) Using Your Prospects language

Everyone’s world view is unique to them.  We all bring our own perceptions, filters and interpretations, and this is vital to understand in your sales conversations.

Imagine you’re a Confidence Coach for female aspiring leaders in corporate.  You help people overcome a lack of confidence when it comes to speaking up in meetings.  You know first hand how frustrating this is, and you love the fact that when this challenge is overcome, doors of opportunity really do open up, so you’re excited to help people with this.

A prospect books a call with you because she’s been consuming your content, and is ready to overcome her #1 problem.  During the call, she tells you she’d like to find her voice, and express her ideas without fear of being judged.  She believes her ideas will reduce the overwhelming stress, and bring about increased productivity and happiness for her team.

During your pitch, you excitedly tell her that you can help her develop rock-star confidence,  help her assert herself without fear,  and get herself seen and heard by the bosses – thereby accelerating her progression up the career ladder.

Great.

Except that’s NOT what she said she wanted.  It’s what you say to everyone.  Rock-star confidence as you see it may be completely discordant with what she wants.

She will be thinking “Oh, this isn’t for me”  Guaranteed.

Simply repeating back that you can help her find her voice, so she can express her ideas without fear of being judged, thereby helping her team… is all you need to do to create connection, show you were listening and you understand exactly what she wants.

So, in conclusion, the BEST sales objection handling techniques on your discovery calls are to NOT have to handle them at all, and this is achieved through ensuring you are following the 80 / 20 rule with regards to how much listening to talking you’re doing; give your calls more time; position your expertise; demonstrate your pathway; bridge the features and benefits gap with “Which means that…” and deliver your outcomes using your prospects specific language.

Helpful?  Why not share this blog with someone you know could benefit.

Thanks for reading!

Love Sanae

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