One of the most challenging parts of an inside sales call is overcoming the many objections that the prospect may come up with to dodge your sales pitch.
Look at these sales objections not with dread but as an opportunity to close the deal.
Think about it this way: if the prospect didn’t have any objections and just hung up, you wouldn’t have any chance of getting the deal.
Tips for Overcoming Sales Objections
Get to know your audience in detail
Sales presentations can often feel like a shot in the dark. You deliver your meticulously crafted pitch, only to be met with hesitation or objections. And you’re left wondering, “Where did I go wrong?”
The root of this disconnect often lies in a fundamental misunderstanding of your target audience.
The truth is that you and your team probably know something about your target audience, but the question is: how specific should you get?
Understanding your ideal client goes far beyond surface-level demographics.
Aim to develop an in-depth profile of the top three industries you serve most frequently. Consider factors like:
- Typical company size: Number of employees and annual revenue.
- Location: Geographic regions where these companies operate.
- Common pain points: Business challenges and needs they face.
- Decision-making structure: Key individuals within these organizations who influence buying decisions.
Eliminate objections early on
When it comes to sales objections, it’s best to reduce them early in the sales process — so that you’re only getting them around 20 percent of the time.
Now, this doesn’t mean you go and throw out your scripts for handling objections.
You still need to be well prepared to handle them because it will make you a better salesperson. You definitely want to master how your solution works, why it addresses customer pain points, and what differentiates it from other options on the market.
Minimizing sales objections should stem from knowing your target customer really well — having a clear sense of their industry, size, and the other factors mentioned in the previous section. Once you’re dealing with a prospect who meets that criteria, you should also be very clear on their problem — the problem that your product or service can solve.
Calling and saying: tell me about your needs is a relic of the past and won’t get you very far.
Many reps cast a wide net because they don’t want to lose any sales, so they take anybody and everybody, and they end up spreading themselves too thin.
The trick is to be very specific
Know your audience + know their problem = closed deals.
Refine Your Lead Qualification Process
Landing a meeting with a prospect holding the “right” title might feel like a win, but it’s far from the finish line. True qualification requires a deeper analysis.
Shifting your perspective
To qualify leads effectively, you need to step into your prospect’s shoes.
Consider these crucial factors:
- Genuine need: Does your prospect face a genuine challenge that your solution can directly address?
- Financial capacity: Does the prospect have the budget to invest in your offering?
- Decision-making power: Is your contact truly authorized to make purchasing decisions?
Prioritizing quality over quantity
The role of a Sales Development Representative (SDR) isn’t merely about hitting targets. It’s about focusing on setting up high-value meetings for the Account Executive, a strategy that will yield far greater long-term success.
Nail your opening value statement
After you’ve defined your ideal customer and carefully qualified your leads, it’s time for the crucial first outreach. A weak Opening Value Statement (OVS) can jeopardize the entire process in seconds.
The common pitfall
Many SDRs tend to push their agenda by building their OVS around their company or solution, neglecting the prospect’s core needs and challenges.
The winning approach
Craft your OVS to subtly highlight a pain point the prospect struggles with. Think of it as addressing a nagging issue they might not even be fully aware of. Avoid launching into a sales pitch — at this point, the focus should be on sparking curiosity and establishing relevance.
Keep it concise
Remember, your OVS should be brief and impactful. Aim for a statement that resonates with your prospect while fitting comfortably within two or three short sentences at most.
Sample sales script with a strong OVS
Here’s an example:
Hi, this is Shawn Finder of VanillaSoft, and the reason for my outreach is that my company actually offers inside sales teams all the tools they need to engage, qualify, and close the sale. If I caught you at a good time, I’d love to ask you a few questions just to see if what we have to offer may be of some help to you. Would that be okay?
Simple, yet effective for three important reasons:
- This short and sweet OVS piques interest right away because we mention a problem he can solve
- We gained permission to continue the call, so the prospect drops their guard and is open to listening
- The more control you give away, the more you retain. By sharing the control, as we do in this example, we’re turning resistance into interest before the resistance happens.
The best approach is to pique interest and gain permission to continue the call. Once they signal they’re open to hearing more, you can start engaging them in the qualifying phase.
Now, we can list some of the most common sales objections and effective techniques for overcoming them.
Common sales objections
1. I need some time to think it over
Strategy: Uncover what the prospect wants to think about.
There may be unanswered questions that weren’t addressed earlier. Answer the question and try to continue with your sales pitch.
Response: “If you need some time to think about it, I understand. What in particular would you like to think about? Maybe I can offer some more information.”
2. Can you send me some more information?
Strategy: This is often used when the prospect really isn’t interested and wants to get rid of you.
After agreeing to send the information, redirect the conversation by asking an additional question. In many cases, the additional question helps continue the conversation to make the sale.
Response: “Yes, I can email you some more information. What particular information are you interested in?”
3. I don’t need your product
Strategy: If the prospect was qualified properly earlier this sales objection shouldn’t come up.
Reaffirm what the company does, then mention how your product or service has helped a competitor or a similar company in the industry.
This gives credibility to your company. After all, prospects don’t want a competitor to have an edge that they don’t have.
Response: “Your company does X, Y, Z, right? If the answer is “yes,” continue. “We’ve worked with company B to increase its client base by 45%. Is this something you would be interested in?”
4. It’s too expensive
Strategy: Point out the advantages of having your product/service and how your company can save time, money, etc.
Hopefully, this will help you justify the price. You’re selling value. Also, mention any payment plans or options.
Response: “I understand your concern. If you could save money on X and still increase your profits, would this be worth the initial investment? We have payment plans available. I’m sure we can work something out for you.”
5. Can you call me back later?
Strategy: Find out if the prospect is truly interested or they’re just trying to brush you off.
If you asked if the prospect was busy early in the conversation, their availability would have already been discovered.
Ask for a specific appointment time to see if the prospect really wants to talk to you later.
Response: “I would be happy to. What time is convenient? Does Thursday afternoon work for you?”
6. I’m happy with what I have now
Strategy: This response is more of a challenge.
Many people have the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality and are afraid of change.
Compliment their loyalty, then have prospects think outside the box and explore that there may be something better than what they have by offering a free trial or product demo.
Response: “That’s great. I appreciate your loyalty. A lot of people are interested in looking at other potential product offerings just to compare. You may find us a better match for your needs, which would be great, or if you decide to keep what you have, you can feel good about your current situation. How would you feel about attending a product demo to compare?”
7. I’m not interested!
This one is much more complex than the rest and requires a more detailed approach.
If you hear the very common “I’m not interested” objection more than once or twice a week, it might be a hint that you’re doing something wrong.
It might also be because of some of the issues we discussed above.
No matter how far along you are in your career, you’re never above having to re-tool your sales process to accommodate both the regular and new clients you work with.
If you can’t seem to overcome the “I’m not interested” objection, it’s high time to rethink that strategy.
Overcoming the “I’m not interested” objection
1. Prioritize clarity
Sometimes, your prospects aren’t interested because they just don’t understand the benefits of your offer, and they don’t care enough to ask.
The thing is, it’s not your job to make them care just yet; it’s your job to make them curious.
After they hit you with the objection, explain how the features of your solution differ from competitors and ask follow-up questions that will point out exactly why your product will meet their needs.
Connect the dots for them, then gauge their interest in learning more.
Try this:
🗣 “I’m not asking you to make a decision at all. I’m only calling because we recently helped [name competitors] avoid [problem] on their [X that you have a solution for] while streamlining their lead management process. I wanted to ask you a few questions just to see if what we have to offer may be of some help to you as well. Would that be OK?”
2. Show that you can relate
Even if your prospects are interested, sometimes they just need more from a sales pitch to be convinced.
That’s where showing your potential clients that you understand them comes into play.
Express your empathy to overcome the “I’m not interested” objection and connect with your lead in a new way.
How do you do that?
Validate their concerns, humanize the call, and let them know you understand how they feel.
Ask about their challenges.
Try these:
🗣 “It’s absolutely reasonable if you’re not interested in my first call to you. That’s why I want to allow us to schedule another, more formal time. For now, I’ll email you some incredible success cases that might pique your interest. If it does, I’d love for us to keep our appointment.”
🗣 “Not being interested at this particular time in the conversation is not uncommon and makes perfect sense. Should I put you on a 6-month follow-up call?”
Post-yes: “Awesome. What should I keep an eye out for in-between then?”
3. Delight them with your track record
Dazzle your prospects with shining examples of how other companies have successfully used your product to reach their goals – the more stats you can provide, the better.
Whether you email them testimonials, provide customer references, or share the numbers behind why your product works, pull out any example necessary to get your prospect from “I’m not interested” to “I’m available on December 5.”
Try this:
🗣 “I know you’re not familiar with this yet, but like me and everyone else, I can tell you’re interested in [increasing production, return, etc.], and that’s why I’m calling. Let me ask you a quick question: if I could show you how you can [insert your unique benefit] while saving [time, money, etc.], would you be a bit more interested in setting up a meeting and finding out more?”
4. Let your prospects do the talking
Naturally, your prospect’s first instinct isn’t to say yes right off the bat. They usually need more convincing. It’s your job to guide them to discover the benefits of your offering through strategic questioning and active listening.
To keep the pulse of the phone call beating, after the “I’m not interested” objection, ask your potential customer what is and isn’t working for them.
Try these:
🗣 “What would have to change for you to be more open to something like this in the future?”
🗣 “I’m sure something is missing in your X. What pain points do you have that you’d like to find a solution for?”
5. Set yourself up for later and track their information
Unless your prospect hangs up before you fully greet them, there’s always something to be gained on a sales call.
If all else fails, you should end the phone call with a way to get in touch with your lead in the future, plus any relevant information that can help you close a potential sale.
Just because they’re not interested right now doesn’t mean they won’t be later.
That means taking note of anything important that you learned on the call, like their specific needs, budget, or who they currently work with.
Don’t be afraid to sneak some qualifying questions in there, too.
Besides being a general best practice, keeping track of your prospects this way will also be of great help when you call them back six months down the line and can’t remember your previous conversation.
Try these:
🗣How about this: I’ll email you my contact information in case you ever do need anything, and then I’ll get out of your hair. By the way, would you be the best person to email this to, or does someone else handle [department] now?”
🗣 “I totally understand. I just want to make sure that you still know we’re here if you need something down the road. By the way, do you guys still carry/use/order [product]?”
Will these help you close every single time?
Probably not – there’s no winning formula.
What will happen is you’ll build more confidence, shake up your usual sales strategy, and be able to use these examples to learn how to resolve customer objections – as opposed to just figuring out how quickly you can close a deal.
Closing words
Understanding your prospects’ needs and pain points is crucial for overcoming sales objections. Prospects’ answers to your questions will give you a better understanding of their wants, requirements, and product offerings, arming you to shatter any objection based on budget, authority, need, time, and value. Use these expert techniques to combat objections, win over the prospect, and position yourself to close the deal.
