Speaker 1: The trip really to dealing with anchors or objections is
Speaker 1: a really simple one. Don't get emotional, don't get defensive,
Speaker 1: don't try to overcome it, because the reality is if
Speaker 1: you don't know what you're tackling, you may then handle
Speaker 1: it in correctly and put yourself at risk in terms
Speaker 1: of the opportunity.
Speaker 2: You're listening to the Audible Ready Podcast, the show that
Speaker 2: helps you and your teams sell more faster. We'll feature
Speaker 2: sales leaders sharing their best insights on how to create
Speaker 2: a sales engine that helps you fuel repeatable revenue growth.
Speaker 2: Presented by the team at Force Management, a leader in
Speaker 2: B to B sales effectiveness. Let's get started.
Speaker 3: Hello and welcome to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. I'm
Speaker 3: Rachel Klett Miller. Today we are going to be talking
Speaker 3: about handling objections with face objections a lot of times
Speaker 3: throughout the sales process at all different types, even from
Speaker 3: trying to get that first meeting until the final close.
Speaker 3: And I've brought Antonella Oday on here to talk to
Speaker 3: us about handling objections. Hi.
Speaker 1: Antonella, Hi Rachel, thanks for having you back.
Speaker 3: Yes, we're happy to have you Antonella. I'll just do
Speaker 3: a quick plug. She just hosted a live event on
Speaker 3: a sender on this very topic, So if you haven't
Speaker 3: checked out a sender and you are looking to up
Speaker 3: level your sales skills, please check it out at cender
Speaker 3: dot co. We're also running events every month on there.
Speaker 3: Super Valuable Antonella is one of our sales experts, but
Speaker 3: thankful to have her on the podcast today. So Antonella,
Speaker 3: let's just start with the mindset that we need to
Speaker 3: have when we hear objections, Like, what is the mindset
Speaker 3: we need to have when when we hear those as
Speaker 3: a rep? Well?
Speaker 1: When I think about mindset and objections, minds that I
Speaker 1: really think is everything when it comes to handling objections,
Speaker 1: how we see them, how we address them, very often
Speaker 1: will make or break our opportunities. And if we few
Speaker 1: objections as barriers, they tend to become exactly what we
Speaker 1: think they are. They end up standing in our way.
Speaker 1: They affect our state of mind, they impact our approach,
Speaker 1: they ultimately impact the way customers engage with us. On
Speaker 1: the flip side, if we view them as opportunities, and
Speaker 1: when I say opportunities, I'm talking about an opportunity for
Speaker 1: us as sellers to better understand the customer's point of view,
Speaker 1: what they're thinking, to better understand their mindset and what's
Speaker 1: driving it. An opportunity to better understand their why they
Speaker 1: become just that, an opportunity that is more likely to
Speaker 1: turn into business. Think about how valuable it is for
Speaker 1: both the customer and us to have them talk about
Speaker 1: those things out loud. To put this in an analogy
Speaker 1: that probably everyone can relate to. Think about them in
Speaker 1: the context of a road trip. You start on your journey,
Speaker 1: you hit a roadblock. Now you have two moves there.
Speaker 1: You can get upset and feel your journey's been disrupted
Speaker 1: and complain about it, or you can view it as
Speaker 1: an opportunity that maybe takes you to a new route
Speaker 1: or one that has your problem solving skills, because we
Speaker 1: all know that in reality, roadblocks are part of the
Speaker 1: whole journey.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, that's a great way to think about
Speaker 3: them as an opportunity, and it's good to know it, right.
Speaker 3: Wouldn't you want to know it now than at the
Speaker 3: final stages of the deal, because in the early part,
Speaker 3: if you know it, you can handle it, something about
Speaker 3: it right and manage it. One thing I wanted to
Speaker 3: talk about here at the start is the term objections
Speaker 3: and anchors. We often intertwine them. Talk about why we
Speaker 3: do and what we mean by anchors.
Speaker 1: Yes, let's talk about anchors and what they are. So
Speaker 1: anchors are a tactic that can be used to reframe
Speaker 1: the conversation. Let me explain what I mean by that.
Speaker 1: So let's take, for example, if a customer says, Wow,
Speaker 1: you know, implementation seems more complex than I anticipated, and
Speaker 1: I'm concerned about the time required. They're trying to create
Speaker 1: a frame of reference for the conversation. They want the
Speaker 1: focus on implementation, the complexity, the time. When they say
Speaker 1: I don't want to pay for functions I don't need,
Speaker 1: they're trying to change the reference for the conversation. And
Speaker 1: what's interesting is that this could be conscious where they're
Speaker 1: actively trying to frame or reframe the conversation, or it sometimes,
Speaker 1: very often could be unconscious from the customer. The challenge
Speaker 1: for us as sellers is that we allow this to happen.
Speaker 1: We let our customers reframe the conversation and we die
Speaker 1: like deep into it. So now you know what's the
Speaker 1: connection between objections and anchors. All objections are anchors because
Speaker 1: they all attempt to reframe the conversation, but not all
Speaker 1: anchors or objections. You could have a situation where a
Speaker 1: customer might say something like, I find it interesting that
Speaker 1: you and your competitor tackling pricing so differently. We may
Speaker 1: see that or interpret that as an objection, but they
Speaker 1: just might be saying it a statement. It may not
Speaker 1: need anything significant at all whatsoever, So it could come
Speaker 1: in the form of a statement that's not truly an objection.
Speaker 1: The trick really to dealing with anchors or objections is
Speaker 1: a really simple one. Don't get emotional, don't get defensive,
Speaker 1: don't try to overcome it, because the reality is if
Speaker 1: you don't know what you're tackling, you may then handle
Speaker 1: it incorrectly and put yourself at risk in terms of
Speaker 1: the opportunity. And when I say risk, it could be
Speaker 1: risk to damage the relationship. It could be the risk
Speaker 1: of losing that customer. So use a customer's anchor or
Speaker 1: objection as an opportunity to better understand your customer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's great, that's great frame of reference there. And
Speaker 3: I know there's a three step process that you have
Speaker 3: that we teach reps to use whenever they hear an objection,
Speaker 3: so I want to talk through that. I think for
Speaker 3: those of you listening, this is a great way to
Speaker 3: approach these objections in a methodical way and give yourself
Speaker 3: the right mindset and use them to help you in
Speaker 3: the deal. So first is showing that you hear it
Speaker 3: right and not blowing by it, not ignoring it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, it should be obvious, but not always the
Speaker 1: easiest to execute on right. The first thing you want
Speaker 1: to do is listen really well. You want to demonstrate
Speaker 1: that you hear what your customer's saying and that you
Speaker 1: desire to better understand their business. So how do you
Speaker 1: show your listening. You might say something that displays some
Speaker 1: empathy and acknowledge your buyer's concern.
Speaker 3: What does this do?
Speaker 1: It allows your customer to feel more comfortable. It opens
Speaker 1: the door to have a more in depth discussion about
Speaker 1: what's important to them. It lays the foundation to build
Speaker 1: some trust, all those things that we are focused on
Speaker 1: if we're truly trying to build relationships with our customers.
Speaker 1: What we don't want to do here is overpower the
Speaker 1: discussion by talking over your customer and steering the conversation
Speaker 1: away from them. You also want to avoid looking like
Speaker 1: you're ignoring them and trying to get past the issue.
Speaker 1: The reality is there's something underlying that anchor or objection.
Speaker 1: The only way to get a good outcome for both
Speaker 1: you and your customer is to understand what it is.
Speaker 3: That's so true. And I think I was in a
Speaker 3: contract negotiation actually this week, and we were going back
Speaker 3: and forth on one specific point and we were holding
Speaker 3: tight to it was a number in the conversation, and
Speaker 3: then we just took a step back, and I was like,
Speaker 3: why is this important to you? Why can't you come
Speaker 3: up to where we are? And then they walked it through.
Speaker 3: They said, well, here's the things that I'm worried about
Speaker 3: if we put this hard number in this contract. I
Speaker 3: was like, that makes total sense. Okay, let's figure out
Speaker 3: how we can come to agreement because I understood the
Speaker 3: why right, and getting defensive or getting annoyed or just
Speaker 3: ignoring that in the conversation would cause problems down the road.
Speaker 3: We were going for signatures, So let's figure out what
Speaker 3: it is and understand the why, and then I can
Speaker 3: explain the why too to our team when they see
Speaker 3: that in the contract. So you also talk about understanding
Speaker 3: that why. So we're not blowing by the objection. We
Speaker 3: hear it, we're going to acknowledge it, and then we
Speaker 3: want to understand the why. I just sort of kind
Speaker 3: of ted you up for that, so expand on that
Speaker 3: a little bit antonella.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly right. The why is what is happening
Speaker 1: very often beneath the surface that helps us better understand
Speaker 1: the situation. It's the motivation behind their statement. So the
Speaker 1: how in terms of understanding that why happens through really
Speaker 1: good discovery, asking good open ended questions, asking questions that
Speaker 1: help them and you get clarification. So let's go back
Speaker 1: to that example I shared at the very beginning. Or
Speaker 1: maybe the customer's concerned about the complexity of implementation. If
Speaker 1: the goal is to get to the real root of
Speaker 1: the concern there, I might ask some questions like what
Speaker 1: previous experiences with implementation or influencing your concerns about this one,
Speaker 1: or what resources or support do you have available in
Speaker 1: house to handle the implementation, What does a smooth implementation
Speaker 1: look like for you. There's obviously a lot more questions
Speaker 1: you can ask, but you can kind of get a
Speaker 1: sense that these types of questions, where's the customer to
Speaker 1: validate and question their own point of view, and it
Speaker 1: either helps clarify things for you, it helps clarify things
Speaker 1: for them, and it potentially sets forth a good opportunity
Speaker 1: for us to reframe as well.
Speaker 3: Yes, so that's the next step, right, reframing the objection?
Speaker 3: What do we do here? How do we reframe it?
Speaker 1: So good news here, customers aren't the only ones that
Speaker 1: get to set anchors in these conversations. We get to
Speaker 1: do it as well, and we should as often as
Speaker 1: we can. So if we want to reframe the conversation,
Speaker 1: we can do it by using maybe a proof point
Speaker 1: you have that's valid and aligns well with the person
Speaker 1: that you're talking to, or it could be something that
Speaker 1: they shared in a previous conversation that focused on what's
Speaker 1: important to them. It could sound something like we just
Speaker 1: finished working with acme Coorp, who had a highly complex
Speaker 1: system and limited internal resources, and we were able to
Speaker 1: successfully implement our solution in under three months. We provided
Speaker 1: and what's step by step guidance, We set up the
Speaker 1: rollouts so it would avoid disruption, and we offered hands
Speaker 1: on support to their team throughout the process. Not only
Speaker 1: was the transition smooth? They so great improvements in their efficiency.
Speaker 1: Let's discuss how we can achieve similar outcomes for you.
Speaker 1: So I'm now refraining the conversation. I'm taking it away
Speaker 1: from the complexity and talking about how smooth and simple
Speaker 1: we've made it for others. So we're addressing what might
Speaker 1: be top of mind for them, but we're also now
Speaker 1: having a conversation around what we want to talk about
Speaker 1: in the context of still what's.
Speaker 3: Important to the customer. Yeah, that's great, And you know,
Speaker 3: you can't talk about objections without talking about the price
Speaker 3: objection because it's probably the one we hear most often
Speaker 3: even throughout the sales process. So talk about how we
Speaker 3: would execute this like three step approach that we've gone
Speaker 3: through with that objection.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so price objections do come up really often. But
Speaker 1: before I I walk you through like how am I
Speaker 1: tackle it? I do want to briefly discuss like what's
Speaker 1: really typically behind these price objections because the number one
Speaker 1: reason why they tend to come up is because the
Speaker 1: customer doesn't see value. They don't think your solution is
Speaker 1: going to deliver that ROI that they're looking for, and
Speaker 1: your only logical move if this is the case, is
Speaker 1: to go back and try to re establish value. You
Speaker 1: do that through maybe some of the questions that you
Speaker 1: ask and keep that top of mind when you hear
Speaker 1: them come up, because you don't want to use these
Speaker 1: as a reason to go back to your manager and
Speaker 1: ask for concessions, right. You want to be able to
Speaker 1: handle these effectively on your own, because if you're giving
Speaker 1: price concessions every time you have a price objection, you're
Speaker 1: eating away at revenue for your organization, You're eating away
Speaker 1: at margin for your objectives. There's a lot of downside
Speaker 1: to that. So let's say your customer says to you, Hey,
Speaker 1: you know, Rachel, your solution is very expensive. I just
Speaker 1: not seeing how we're going to move forward here. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you want to show that you're listening, so I may
Speaker 1: say something to the effect that, Rachel, I hear what
Speaker 1: you're saying. I know it's important to make sure that
Speaker 1: any investment that you make is justified and it's going
Speaker 1: to deliver the outcomes that you're looking for. So I'm
Speaker 1: showing empathy. I'm proving that I'm actually paying attention to
Speaker 1: what you just said. Now, I want to understand your
Speaker 1: why Rachel, and I might ask a series of questions,
Speaker 1: and these are just some examples. Obviously they should have
Speaker 1: a good flow and they should follow one another. But
Speaker 1: I may ask questions like what aspects of the solution
Speaker 1: are you not seeing value in? Or I may ask
Speaker 1: something like what outcomes have shifted since our last conversation,
Speaker 1: or what priorities should I be aware of that are
Speaker 1: not being met by our solution, or how are you
Speaker 1: measuring the ROI or savings from the solution over time?
Speaker 1: Things that help me understand and clarify where the customer
Speaker 1: really stands. But if you're my customer, Rachel, I want
Speaker 1: you to think about this more deeply, like am I
Speaker 1: looking at this just from a price perspective? Or is
Speaker 1: there more to this that I don't even as a
Speaker 1: customer understand and I need to be thinking about. Once
Speaker 1: I get at better understanding of the why now, I
Speaker 1: want to reframe the conversation and I may say something
Speaker 1: to the effect of, hey, Rachel, you know we've talked
Speaker 1: a lot about how your goal is to increase revenues
Speaker 1: by fifteen percent this upcoming year. I put you in
Speaker 1: contact with one of the organizations that we're working with
Speaker 1: and how we deliver those results for them. You've been
Speaker 1: able to understand it from their perspective. Let's revisit how
Speaker 1: we can deliver those outcomes for you. So now I'm
Speaker 1: taking the conversation from I think this is expensive. I
Speaker 1: want to reframe it around outcomes, because if I can
Speaker 1: get you thinking about outcomes versus price, I may be
Speaker 1: able to shift the focus for you on what's most
Speaker 1: important for your organization at the end of the day.
Speaker 3: That's great, that's great a common objection that we hear,
Speaker 3: and thanks for giving us the context around that. I
Speaker 3: hope that this conversation for all of you listening, you're
Speaker 3: able to take some great little tidbits that will help
Speaker 3: you in your sales conversations this week. That's always our
Speaker 3: goal with the Audible Ready Sales podcast. Antonella, thank you
Speaker 3: for your perspective today.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Rachel all right.
Speaker 3: And thank you all for listening. Make it a great week.
Speaker 4: At Force Management, we're focused on transforming sales organizations into
Speaker 4: elite teams. Our proven methodologies deliver programs that build company
Speaker 4: alignment and fuel repeatable revenue growth. Give your teams the
Speaker 4: ability to execute the growth strategy at the point of sale.
Speaker 4: Our strength is our experience. The proof is in our results.
Speaker 4: Let's get started. Visit us at forcemanagement dot com.
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