One thing you can be certain about when cold calling for sales is you’ll very likely run into some sort of on each call.  Objections are like mini stop signs in which the prospect will hold up to attempt to end the call.  What you do and not do when getting an objection determines your level of sales effectiveness.

When speaking with a prospect during a cold call and presented with an objection, your natural instinct is to try to overcome the objection and resolve it.  An example would be to respond to an uninterested prospect by trying to make them interested.   The following are three reasons why it’s counterproductive to attempt to do this when cold calling for sales:

Confrontational:  When trying to overcome an objection and change a person’s position on something, it is easy to create a feeling of confrontation when not handled with skill.

Time Constraint:  We usually deal with an extreme time constraint when cold calling because we only have a very short window to get the prospect’s attention as well as get our message across.  In that case, there isn’t enough time to effectively work with objections.

Give it Fuel:  When attempting to overcome an objection while cold calling for sales, we’re acknowledging it.  By acknowledging it, we give it fuel and build its’ validity.

Taking those factors into consideration, a more effective approach when facing an objection during a cold call can be redirecting. By redirecting an objection, we mean to ask a question that moves the conversation in a new path without acknowledging or ignoring the objection.  Keeping the conversation flowing and not overcoming the objection is the goal of the redirect.

Following are examples of redirects for common examples that you can encounter while cold calling for sales:

I’m not interested.  Redirect: What are you currently using?

I’m happy with my current system.  Redirect: How long have you been using your current system?

I don’t have the budget.  Redirect:  I completely understand.  I’m not seeking to sell or suggest any changes today.  My goal is to just open a conversation to learn more and share information.

I do not have the time. Redirect:  I completely understand.  When would be the most convenient time for me to reach out to you?

You’ll consistently come across only so many objections for the products which you sell.  In that case, it’s helpful to create a list of objections to expect and script out the best redirects.

You keep the conversation flowing and get the prospect to put their mini stop sign down by redirecting.  It may buy you a little more time while cold calling for sales when using this tactic, which in turn, might lead to you gathering more valuable information or giving more information, which helps to greatly improve your sales effectiveness.

SalesScripter provides sales coaching, helping sales professionals to improve cold calling for sales skills.