From “no” to “yes”: a detailed scheme for working with objections

Hi all! My name is Michael. I am the author of TexTerra and have worked for a large telecommunications company as an employee training trainer for the past three years. In total, he conducted about 300 trainings on communication skills. He himself started in this company as a telephone sales agent and within a year became one of the top 100 employees of the holding in terms of performance.

In this article, we will study in detail the structure of working with customer objections using the example of sales of Internet marketing services. We will study different ways to close objections, derive the correct ones, and most importantly, we will figure out how to teach this art to our employees and ourselves. The article contains comments from the head of the TexTerra sales department, Sergei Bakhinsky, and as a bonus in the attachment you will find a couple of useful cheat sheets.

Let's set the initial conditions

When you come across various articles or guides on dealing with objections, as a rule, these are a set of ready-made answers or communication tools taken out of context. We will study the issue deeper. For complete immersion, we set the following initial conditions:

1. We are a content agency: we maintain corporate blogs and social networks for small businesses.
2. We receive incoming applications through a form on the website and advertising posts on social networks.
3. Two managers process applications and keep records in CRM.
4. We have a middle price segment.
5. We work with customers from different cities.

The sales funnel looks like this:

And then we receive an application from a client, the manager calls back and hears something like the following after several answers to questions:

“We want a corporate blog, 3-4 publications a week, so that it’s high quality. There are 15,000 rubles for 2 months of management.”

The manager announced the current prices (from 6,000 per article) and received a sharp answer: “No, it’s expensive.” The employee was already prepared to say: “Okay, good luck.” But the client didn't hang up.

Stop.

Now let's stop, study the theory and figure out how to answer this objection so that the client ultimately agrees to work with us. He's still there holding the phone.

What is an objection? In three sentences

In essence, an objection is a conscious refusal of the interlocutor after the presentation (proposal) has been voiced. The fundamental reason for the emergence of objections arises at one of the previous stages of the dialogue due to the following types of errors:

• insufficient knowledge of the product by the manager;
• superficially identified need;
• distrustful contact.

What are the most common objections encountered in the TexTerra sales department?

"Why so expensive?"

“Comprehensive promotion takes a long time!”

“What guarantees do you give? Are you ready to return the money if there is no result?”

“Why is there no forecast for leads/sales?”

“And others offered us SEO for 15,000 rubles.”

“How can you write content? You don’t understand anything about this!”

“This content marketing of yours doesn’t work!”

“We want 100,500 leads in 2 months.”

But objections have two obvious advantages. Firstly, this is a chance to do everything again. And secondly, the wording indirectly suggests which direction to take the dialogue.

So, let's move on to the structure of working with objections.

Typology

There are two types of objections:

• False.
• True.

True objections
False objections are when a person does not intend to buy anything, but out of politeness does not want to directly tell the seller about it.

On a note! The formation of false objections occurs mainly at an unconscious level. For example, the client does not have money, and it is inconvenient for him to voice the true reason.

True ones - have a logical justification for refusing to purchase. A properly handled genuine objection leads to successful completion of the transaction.

First step: listen

At this step we are silent for now. We remain silent and listen. Moreover, it is important that the interlocutor feels from you that you take his point of view seriously. Even if he is wrong in your understanding.

This uses the active listening technique. In direct contact, these are head nods, eye contact and supportive interjections; in a telephone dialogue - only the latter.

Let the potential client speak - then answer yourself.

Yes, we listened. Then you need to speak for yourself. What shall we say? What is the client doing wrong? Let's do it differently.

Stages of work

Objections are processed in three stages:

1. First, it is recommended to listen carefully to the client.
2. Next, the “psychological connection” technique is used - the seller agrees with all the arguments voiced by him, notes that he fully supports his opinion regarding, for example, the high price of a product.
3. Afterwards, the objection is worked out: “I agree that saving money is important, but cheaper analogues of this product are of low quality.” It can be noted that the higher cost compared to competitors is due to the fact that the price of the offered product includes the costs of its maintenance.

Experienced sellers prepare template phrases in advance that allow them to quickly and confidently give reasoned answers to the essence of a particular objection.

Second step: join

Joining is sharing a person’s point of view, which is necessary in order to make it clear to the client that we are on his side and accept the voiced opinion.

So, what are the main types of connections (from simple to complex):

1. Complete (we personally agree with the wording of the objection).
2. Partial (we voice our solidarity with the topic of the objection).
3. Personal example (we say that we were in a similar situation).
4. Compliment (we compliment the client through his own objection).

When an objection is received, it is important to figure out how to respond on the fly.

Let's say our client said:

- No, well, it’s expensive.

And we decided to answer using full join:

– Yes, I agree, the price tag is really high.

Result: everything is in a stupor and there is no result.

Customer complaints - what to do? Bad advice and useful conclusions

Let's use the example of an objection from the initial conditions to record examples of additions:

Important: after voicing the accession, you do not need to say “but...”.

Example: “Yes, I understand that the issue of cost is very important, but our articles will bring you clients.”

At the stage of working with objections, the client obviously treats us more negatively than positively. And opposition devalues ​​the opinion of the interlocutor, that is, from the very beginning it worsens the attitude towards us. Such behavior will not lead to results; it is the same as removing one wheel from a car before a race.

Now let’s add some additions to the meaning of the attachments:

1. Complete. It is important here with what intonation we join the objection. Imagine saying “yes, I completely agree with you” monotonously and indifferently. And how will the interlocutor react to this? And if you say the same phrase, only with the maximum manifestation of empathy in your voice and non-verbal language, the reaction will be polar.
2. Partial. We adhere not to the formulation of the objection, but to the very essence. The most formulaic option: “Yes, I understand, the question... is very important.” Instead of the ellipsis, we substitute the subject of the objection.
3. Personal example . It is always given in the past tense. Why? By the wording, the interlocutor understands that you have been in the same situation before and you got through it.
4. Compliment. The trick is that the potential client does not expect to hear praise from you. And for the objection. The right compliment will help you win over your interlocutor.

To reinforce this, let’s take the classic client “I need to think” and write down the connection options:

And now a life hack from personal experience.

Let's say the client says:

- I should think.

And we answer with the following phrase:

“I would be surprised if you agreed right away.”

First of all, it's a compliment. And secondly, the wording sets the client up for delayed consent.

Which of these methods do you think is most effective?

Personal example and life hack are most suitable, but it all depends on the client. Personal example is the most universal answer.

Yes, we joined. Let's move on. Is it time to start saying something to the client in response to an objection? It's still early, the next step is coming.

Use facts, not emotions

If objections in negotiations are reasoned and rational, it is clear how to work with them - the same rational arguments are needed in response. Problems arise when the opponent begins to appeal to emotions.

As a rule, such techniques are used for manipulation, for example, to piss you off. Or devalue your arguments - relatively speaking, you offer options to get out of the problem, and the interlocutor replies that he doesn’t like them and it’s unpleasant for him.

There are several ways out of this situation. For example, if your interlocutor uses irony and devalues ​​your arguments, you definitely shouldn’t get offended and lose your composure - this way you will lose the negotiations. It’s better to support the joke, but then say: “Of course, humor is great, but let’s return to constructive dialogue?”

Read more: “Six ways to resist manipulation”

Third step: clarify

At this step, we ask clarifying questions to the objection. What is it for:

• specify the objection;
• understand how competent the client is (this will help for the fifth step);
• direct the client’s thoughts in the right direction;
• show your expertise.

So let's remember what the client said:

“We want a corporate blog, 3-4 publications a week, so that it’s high quality. There are 15,000 rubles for 2 months of management"

What questions do you ask? For example:

1. What do you want to blog about?
2. What would you tell readers first?
3. What level of quality are you targeting?
4. How long is each article?
5. What are the goals of your blog?

Now the heavy artillery will come. The client knows the cost of our article and announced his budget. They clearly do not agree, otherwise the objection would not have arisen. To sway the client in our direction, the following clarifying questions will help us:

1. What do you think makes up the cost of creation?
2. You know our price. Why do you think she is like this?
3. What is important to you, besides price?
4. When should you start blogging?

Please note that all questions are open-ended. That is, they cannot be answered “yes” or “no.”

Manager:

– What are the goals of your blog?

Client:

- Yes.

Put yourself in the potential client's shoes. You are asked, for example, 9 questions to which you answer “yes” or “no”. This already looks like a survey, not clarification.

Each answer to a clarifying question is a hint for closing an objection.

The general order of the questions is also important. If we immediately ask the client: “Why do you think the price is this way?”, then there is a risk of causing a defensive reaction in the form of an insincere answer or avoidance of the question. First we ask about pleasant things, then about necessary ones.

The hidden meaning of the third step also lies in the fact that as the answers progress, the objection may become completely different from the original one.

Now imagine that we have received answers to all clarifying questions from the client. And here's the result:

As we can see, the “Became” column is more understandable for perception or response. Please note that the mention of publication frequency has disappeared.

Another personal life hack. If you encounter competitive objections (“Company XXX has a better article”), then at the clarification stage, make up questions according to the pattern “an existing competitor’s shortcoming in interrogative form.”

Example: “What hidden payments of XXX do you know about?” That is, we don’t even engage in counter-argumentation, but direct the thought.

Fourth step: check for truth

The client has the right not to disclose or hide from you the true reason for the objection. Our task at this step is to determine it. So, what methods of checking for truth exist:

In practice, there are many types of truth checks - from switching to another topic in a conversation to replacing the wording of an objection with one that is convenient for oneself.

[Webinar recording] How to build strong relationships with clients: rules identified over 7 years

Returning to our case, how would we test the objection for truth?

“What is your priority: meeting the price or getting quality articles that will bring targeted traffic?”, where:

• “meet the price” - an interpretation of the initial objection “no, well, it’s expensive”;
• “get high-quality articles that will bring targeted traffic” - obtained data from the third step.

So our client told us, “Uh, quality and traffic.” And it all started with “no, well, it’s expensive,” but here you can completely forget about it.

Wow, what to do next?

False objections and how to deal with them

If everything is generally clear with true objections, then many sellers do not know how to work with false ones. When communicating with sellers, I most often hear the following objections: “I need to think,” “I’m not ready to make a decision right now,” “I have everything,” these are just examples that exist in almost all sales. There are many more false objections and sometimes they are difficult to distinguish from true ones. But it is important to understand that behind every false objection there is either a true objection (for example, many clients are embarrassed to say that I don’t have money or this is expensive for me, but will simply say that I need to think about it), or a condition that prevents them from making a purchase .

To learn how to handle false objections, you need to have extensive experience in selling a given product, since you will have to guess at random which objection is true or false. But regardless of experience, it is important to know not to respond to a false objection. You will simply waste time, and maybe completely ruin the sale. Another point to keep in mind: most false objections are due to flaws in needs identification or presentation. And if you constantly hear the same false objections, then you need to change your needs identification and presentation.

Fifth step: argue

Argumentation is a response to a true objection with the goal of stopping a person from taking the target action.

The ability to justify your decision to a potential client is a special skill. Considering that the “client-performer” hierarchy is gradually dying.

This step combines two points. The first is your knowledge of your product, the second is the ability to present it. Here we will focus on the second.

As a rule, when the question arises: “How to handle such and such an objection?”, what is meant is the “Argumentation” item. What happens if you start arguing immediately after receiving an objection? Dispute. In a dispute, the truth is born, but not the result.

Since we are a content agency, the manager needs to understand this matter at least above average.

What are the ways to present an argument? Let's look at a few options:

1. SSV – property, bundle, benefit., where property is any product property that will help resolve the objection; connective – a phrase that connects a property and a benefit; benefit – the answer to the question “what will the client get from using the property.”
2. An axiom question is a question tied to a general value to which a person will definitely answer “yes” (if taken out of context, the answer will remain the same).
3. Metaphor – comparing a benefit with something to create an image in the client’s head.
4. A parallel example is a retelling of another client’s case with a similar objection.

Now let's move on to practice and look at a specific example.

We realized that the client needs, first of all, the quality of articles and traffic.

To close an objection, it is enough to use 2-3 arguments specifically for the true reason for the objection. The ideal argument structure looks like this:

1. SSV;
2. Announcing the cost;
3. SSV + axiom question;
4. Close to target action.

In practice, everything is more complicated. By the way, we are already at the finish line.

An example from the practice of the TexTerra sales department. Objection: “You have no experience working in my field, and it is not entirely clear from what you conclude that I need a budget of 200 thousand.”

Answer: “The lack or presence of experience in a certain topic is not really a 100% measure of whether a company will cope with the task of successful promotion.

In the absence of experience in a certain topic, knowledge of tools for promoting projects through a certain channel, the ability to immerse yourself in the customer’s business and his willingness to provide his knowledge play an important role. This will allow the performer to increase his expertise.

If you have experience in a certain field, you should remember that each project has its own characteristics and its own history on the Internet. It is impossible to predict the result for two different projects in the same topic, since much depends on the region of promotion, on the state of the project, on the history of promotion, on competitors in this region, etc. Therefore, at the current stage, we can make a preliminary forecast of the size of the required budget for successful promotion of your project. We make a forecast based on our experience and your goals.”

Tip #1. Determining the age composition of the target audience

Young customers approach online shopping more easily than the generation aged 45+. The former will press the “Buy” button without hesitation, the latter will carefully study reviews, compare prices and choose the best seller. Therefore, it is worth drawing up a portrait of the target audience, and then conducting segmentation , which allows you to divide potential buyers into groups united by a specific characteristic. If the audience is dominated by people of elegant age, then it is worth building communication based on the following principles:

• absolute openness in all matters – from pricing policy to product characteristics;
• the presence of online consultants, as well as tips that will help the user place an order;
• explanatory materials. If there is a discount in an online store, the client must receive accurate information about the cost and the reasons for which it was reduced.

Users of any age actively respond to various bonuses, however, they should be careful here too. Affiliate programs, cashbacks, coupons and other benefits should work here and now. For example, for every purchase over 1000 hryvnia, 100 bonuses are awarded, equivalent to 10 hryvnia. If a client needs to collect 1000 bonuses that he can spend on internal purchases, then he will simply leave, feeling resentful and distrustful.

Sixth step: close to the target action

The next step after argumentation is to close on the target action. This is similar to a call to action on landing pages (but you don’t need to announce the timer). Our task here is to take the client over the line.

The basic principle is to pose the question in such a way that you cannot be answered “no”.

In the case of our example, the target action is to sign a cooperation agreement.

Possible closing options:

The catch is that working with objections is not a linear process, but a cyclical one. After the first attempt to block a person from the target action, a second or third objection may arise. And for each of them you need to use different closing methods.

How do you know when it’s time to move a client to the next step? How does this manifest itself in behavior?

1) The client himself says: “Everything is ok, what are our next steps?”

2) “In principle, we are satisfied with everything, but there is one “but”.”

3) It feels like the client is moving from the “who are you, what can you offer me here?” phase into the “so you not only looked at us, but also at your competitors, you have a very cool commercial offer.”

4) “Thank you for such a detailed answer, send me the contract.”

5) When I see that the client’s question has been fully resolved and all the pitfalls of the task have been identified. In these cases, the client is usually discouraged, he goes on a free voyage to “think” (about a positive answer). Does he call back the next day? That's it, it's time to press on here.

Why does the client object?

There are several reasons:

1. The client is not satisfied with the price. This is perhaps the most logical objection: if a product is expensive, people tend to look for cheaper ones.
2. The client loves to argue. There are such people: they want the last word to always remain with him.
3. It is difficult for him to make a decision right away. You need to think carefully, consult with colleagues or superiors, and only then, perhaps, decide something.
4. He's in a bad mood. You don't know what happened to him before he went to the online store website and started communicating with you. Maybe he had a fight with his wife. Or maybe he looked at the proposals of ten of your competitors, didn’t find anything suitable, and now he’s sure that you won’t get what he wants either.

And a lot of different reasons! The most important thing is to remember that clients are real people, they can be in a bad mood, have doubts, and be capricious. The task of a good seller is to be a psychologist, to guess the client’s pain and gently push through his position.