While objection may sound like rejection, you should never assume that when a prospect asks a

question or expresses a concern that you have failed to generate interest in your product or service.
It is true sometimes that your prospect will object when he truly cannot or does not want to buy.
Usually, though, objections mask—intentionally or unintentionally—a request for more information.
They simply signal your prospect’s level of interest and alert you to what actions need to be taken to
bring the sale to a close. If your prospect expresses objections, consider them invitations to continue
to sell. Furthermore, leverage these objections into an opportunity to continue to build your
relationship with your prospect so that you can continue to create a positive influence on the
buyer’s decision.

How Objections Build Relationships

As an analogy, consider asking someone out on a date for the first time. Even if you have hooked
him in with a great pick-up line (approach) and dazzled him with your sparkling personality
(presentation), he may still not be convinced that you are serious about him. Naturally, he might
respond by playing hard-to-get. How you react will reveal to him your level of commitment. By
allowing the relationship to grow slowly and organically, you demonstrate your patience, sensitivity,
and sincerity. You establish a foundation of trust that eventually wins him over. On the other hand, if
you respond by getting huffy and stomping off, he will probably be glad to see you go.

Objections as Opportunities

You might not keep track of objections in your everyday life (especially as they relate to dating).
However, you may find it interesting to know that in sales, a prospect will say no an average of five
times before he buys. That means that it’s more likely than not that you will experience a prospect
who poses at least one objection: asking a question, requesting more information or time, or
pushing back due to financial constraints. Without objections, you would have no way of knowing
what a prospect is thinking, what concerns she has, or what barriers might be in the way of her
saying, “Where do I sign?”

Objections are an important part of the selling process.

Thinking about overcoming objections might be the wrong frame of reference. The word
“overcome” implies that you want to conquer, fight, or win and, therefore, your prospect loses.
Instead, it’s best to think about objections as a perfect extension of the selling process. This is all
about learning more, finding common ground, and providing the solution that is best for your
prospect. Objections and conversation help you better understand exactly what your prospect wants
and needs. The bottom line is that you don’t want to avoid objections; you actually want to
encourage objections and ask for them

Acknowledge

First of all you acknowledge the objection. This is done to rebuild rapport (which suffered a blow due
to the objection). You agree that their objection is important and valid. You match and mirror their
body language as you acknowledge the objection. Use the agreement frame. Avoid the use of the
word BUT, use AND instead.

This stage may only take a minute or less to complete or it may take longer if you have had an
outright rejection. Once rapport is rebuilt and you can feel it move on to the next stage.
Probe

Ask them questions. Assume that the reason for their objection is valid. It is for them. Your aim is to
find out what the reason is for their objection. What are they thinking? How come they don’t see it
the way that you see it? Avoid any questions beginning with the word WHY. Use WHAT, HOW,
WHICH instead. WHY has accusatory connotations, it sends the message “Justify yourself”. It builds
resistance rather than melting it.

We have acknowledged their objection, we then ask them questions so that we can understand their
thinking and fully understand the objection.

Once you can see exactly how they are thinking the way that they are thinking, once you can fully
understand the objection then you have asked sufficient questions. If you ask questions and still
don’t have a valid reason or can’t see what the problem is then you need to ask more questions.

Answer

This section is like a mini presentation. We are now going to address their beliefs and concerns. We
are going to provide evidence that shows them that their concern is not actually a problem
(assuming that it isn’t). We are going to explain why it isn’t true, why it doesn’t have to be the case.
We are going to explain how the value outweighs the cost to them. We are going to explain all the
benefits to them.

Confirm

We confirm with one question. “Does that answer your concerns with regard to (objection/belief)?”

If the answer is “yes” then we can move on to the next section.

If the answer is “no” or “sort of” or “maybe” or “partly” then we need to go back to the beginning of
APAC. Ask the question “What is the reason for that?” and go back to Acknowledging.

Sources:

 https://excellenceassured.com/7953/overcoming-objections-persuade-gain-influence
(accessed: 8th January 2020)
 https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2014/12/effectively-handling-4-types-customer-
objections-cso-gp.html (accessed: 8th January 2020)
 https://smallbusiness.chron.com/overcome-objections-team-communication-47612.html
(accessed: 8th January 2020)
 https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/powerful-selling/s14-handling-objections-the-
power-.html (accessed: 8th January 2020)