How to Handle Objections in Sales Calls

TL;DR:

• Common objections include lack of budget, need, trust, urgency, authority, and hard no.
• Handling budget objections involves shifting the conversation to value and offering flexible payment plans.
• Urgency objections can be addressed by understanding the prospect's timeline and highlighting the cost of their current problems.
• Trust objections can be overcome by providing testimonials, case studies, and personal branding on platforms like LinkedIn.

Sales objections are an inevitable part of the sales process.

The important thing is to know what resources you have at your disposal to help overcome these objections and move the deal along anyway — whether that's now or a short ways down the line.

Common Sales Objections

Sales objections typically fall into six categories:

1. Lack of Budget: The prospect believes they can’t afford or get the proper approval for your product or service.
2. Lack of Need: The prospect doesn’t see how your offering fits into their operations or solves their problems.
3. Lack of Trust: The prospect doesn't know who you are or whether you're a credible company. They may prefer to stick to companies they know.
4. Lack of Urgency: The prospect doesn’t feel that the problems you solve are pressing enough to warrant a paid solution.
5. Lack of Authority: The prospect isn’t the decision-maker or doesn’t have the power to make the purchase. Here, you need to clarify if the conversation can proceed or needs to change hands.
6. Hard No: The prospect is not interested at all, which is a clear and firm rejection. Hopefully, you're driving interested and qualified opportunities and can avoid this entirely.

How you handle these objections can make or break a deal.

We would always recommend using thoughtful sales enablement content to close deals — for an in-depth breakdown of what content to make for specific purposes, check out our guide.

Handling the Three Core Sales Objections

It goes without saying that you need to handle objection conversations calmly and with empathy for your prospect. Remember, you're there to help them.

Listen actively. Ask clarifying questions. Tailor your responses as much as possible to the prospect's specific needs, and always be ready to offer more information and resources.

There are three core objections you'll face in sales calls.

1. Budget Objections

Budget objections are arguably the most common of all objections you'll face in calls.

Examples include,

• "We don't have the budget right now"
• "I'm not sure management will sign off on this price"

When a prospect claims they can't afford your offering, try to shift the conversation from cost to value.

You might share case studies that highlight the cost-saving benefits experienced by similar customers and any tangible ROI.

Discussing flexible payment plans can also be helpful.

2. Urgency Objections

This indicates your solution is not a priority at the moment.

Examples include:

• "This is not a priority right now"
• "Can we circle back on this?"

If a prospect doesn’t see an immediate need for your product, you need to:

• get an idea of their current timeline
• get an idea of the problems they are facing

This will help you get a better understanding of how to fit your solution into their timeline.

You should then take the opportunity to highlight the cost of current problems they're facing to increase their sense of urgency.

Refer to case studies where customers faced similar, debilitating issues that led them to a purchase.

3. Trust Objections

Prospects don't know if they can trust you outright as a seller, especially if you're not part of a recognizable brand in your space.

Examples of objections include:

• "I haven't really hard of you guys"
• "We're looking to work with more established brands"

When prospects doubt your credibility, providing testimonials, case studies, and success stories can help build trust. If it's appropriate, you can even refer them directly to customers or champions for more personal testimonials.

It's also important that you and the rest of your sales team have personal brands on a platform like LinkedIn, which is full of B2B buyers.

This can help improve your LinkedIn reply rate and even your quota.

• Share your learnings
• Share helpful resources
• Share unique perspectives
• Show up often

"Being a trusted seller means becoming a subject matter expert and sharing your knowledge. Whether it's through LinkedIn or other channels, your insights and opinions help close the credibility gap with potential buyers." — Greg Costigan, Zenefits and Box

Our own founding BDR has improved his number of booked meetings with the impact of social selling on LinkedIn and exceeded his quota.

There is AI For Handling Objections

Increasingly, AI is being used in sales enablement. This includes for objection handling.

For instance, you might decide to manually copy call transcripts into LLMs like ChatGPT and ask it to identify objections and make suggestions for content to send to overcome them.

This is pretty tedious and time-consuming, though, and ChatGPT doesn't have access to your content. That's why we built sales enablement specific features into Letterdrop.

It integrates with Gong, Chorus, and Fireflies to analyze your sales calls. From there, it can:

1. Organize Sales Call Content into Objections

Letterdrop automatically categorizes sales call content into various themes, including objections, giving you an immediate look into recurring problems and questions.

You can also opt to receive a weekly report summarizing the latest questions being asked in calls, helping you stay on top of common objections and adjust your approach accordingly.

2. Answer Questions About Why Buyers Don't Buy

You can ask Letterdrop specific questions about your sales calls, such as "What is the most common objection among our buyers?"

The AI analyzes the data and provides precise answers based on the themes and patterns it identifies in the calls you choose to analyze.

3. Suggest the Right Content Assets to Send Post-Call

Letterdrop suggests the most relevant existing content up on your site to send to prospects post-call based on what was talked about.

4. Automatically Create Sales Enablement Drafts

Letterdrop can draft content based on the objections and insights gathered from your sales calls, saving you time in getting important and targeted content to the right prospects.

5. Help Build Trust with Prospects

Letterdrop can help to build trust with prospects by automatically turning valuable call insights, blogs, and videos into shareable social media posts.

It can also automate engagement from your team, amplifying your posts across multiple networks without any additional lift on your part.

Remember to Follow Up

Distinguishing between a “hard no” and a “not now” is important.

Thoughtful follow-ups can keep you on the prospect’s radar. Instead of generic check-ins, provide valuable information that addresses their needs and positions you as a helpful resource.

Common FAQs

What are the 4 P's of objection handling?

• Personalization: Tailoring your response to address the specific concerns or needs of the prospect.
• Perceived Value: Emphasizing the benefits and value proposition of your product or service to showcase its worth.
• Performance Value: Highlighting how your offering can effectively meet the prospect's requirements and deliver results.
• Proof: Providing evidence, testimonials, case studies, or data to support your claims and build credibility.

What are the 3 F's for handling objections?

When handling objections in sales calls, one effective strategy is to use the "Feel, Felt, Found" method.

This approach involves acknowledging the customer's feelings by saying you understand how they feel (Feel), mentioning that others have felt the same way (Felt), and then explaining how those individuals found the product or service beneficial (Found). This method helps to empathize with the customer, show understanding, and provide a solution to their concerns.

Streamline Your Objection Handling with AI

Successful objection handling comes down to showing true value. This often comes in the form of well thought-out content rooted in conversations with your ICP.

Tools like Letterdrop can provide the insights and automation you need to manage objections effectively. This helps turn objections into opportunities and makes your sales process more efficient.

Reach out to us if you want to put objection handling on autopilot.