This blog post is extracted from a Reddit thread titled, “Struggling to Overcome Sales Objections? Read This.”
At one point in the conversation I wrote, “I changed my sales paradigm over 25 years ago and haven’t had to overcome an objection since.”
One person asked me:
What are you doing differently to have zero objections in 20+ years? I acknowledge the framework you went through is still in existence and I agree it is no longer relevant, but to say you don’t handle ANY objections seems unrealistic. What are objections, really, in your opinion?
I responded with the following:
Before changing my worldview of selling, and whenever I slip back into trying to turn a prospect into a sale (I ain’t perfect), I had to handle plenty of objections.
Objections are simply the reasons a prospect doesn’t want to buy, generally expressed when we are trying to get them to buy.
Let’s be real, when you and I are shopping for a new car, we don’t list our objections in our minds UNTIL we encounter a typical sales situation. 😉
Sales resistance is caused by selling or being sold in the way that it is usually done.
Objections are really just resistance to being sold on a non-mutually acceptable basis. A defense system to counter being sold.
Prospects buy in their own time and their own reasons. And much of what we sell requires a real commitment to follow through on the purchase.
So, the choice is between objection-based selling or commitment-based doing business.
Do prospects have reasons that hold them back from buying? Yes, we all do. Are these reasons for objections or objections that need to be overcome by a salesperson?
Not at all. Because we can seek them out and respect them before they become a defense system. It’s our way of being as salespeople that makes the entire context of objections necessary in the first place.
I guess the real question is to ask our prospects if they feel the need to use objections at all?
You can find me on Reddit as the Illustrious Bunnster.