Being good at objection handling is critical to success in B2B sales. To help, we will provide tips and responses to the most common objections you will face.
What Is Objection Handling in Sales?
Objection handling is the process of responding to prospect resistance during sales conversations—especially during cold calls and outreach. Common sales objections include lack of interest, lack of time, lack of budget, or already using a competitor.
The bad news is that you will face sales objections in almost every cold outreach interaction. The good news is that the list of objections that will come up is relatively short, and we have created a list of the most common objections you will have to face:
I am busy right now.
What is this in regards to?
Is this a sales call?
I am not interested.
We are already using someone.
We are not making any changes.
We do not have any budget.
Can you send me your information?
Call me back in X months.
Three Objection Handling Options During Cold Outreach
You have three options for how to handle and respond to objections:
- Comply
- Overcome
- Deflect
Complying With Sales Objections
To comply with objections is to give in or accept them. For example, if the prospect says they are not interested, a compliant response would be:
Okay, I understand. Have a nice day.
Sometimes you will need to accept the objection and move on, but the key is knowing when to do so and when to push forward or respond differently. A good rule of thumb is to try to get around the objection two or three times before complying.
Overcoming Sales Objections
Overcoming objections means trying to resolve the objection or change the prospect’s mind. If the prospect says they are not interested, an overcome-objection response is to shift them from not interested to interested.
This is how most salespeople respond to sales objections because it is your natural instinct as a salesperson to try to overcome and change the prospect’s mind. But when you are performing cold outreach, this is not the best objection handling technique for a few reasons.
Selling the Product is Not the Next Step
When you try to overcome the objection, you are focusing more on the last step of the sales process, which is the purchase and selling the product. When you are performing cold outreach and first interacting with a prospect, the next step is not to sell the product; it is simply to have a conversation. This means you really do not need to overcome the objection. If the prospect is not interested, you do not technically need to change their interest.
Keeping these sales process steps in mind can completely transform your objection handling by making many common and challenging objections invalid. For example, if the prospect has no budget today, that is a valid reason not to buy the product. But it is not a valid reason to not keep talking and have a conversation.
Don’t Have Time to Overcome
Another reason trying to overcome objections is not great when performing cold outreach is that you do not really have the time needed to really address the objection and make your case for why the prospect should change their mind.
Deflecting Sales Objections: The Most Effective Objection Handling Technique
The third option for objection handling is to try to deflect the objection. Deflecting is not avoiding the objection—it’s acknowledging it without letting it end the conversation. This is to respond with something that allows you to almost bounce off the objection and keep the call going. For example, if the prospect says they are not interested, you respond with a question and a response like:
Oh, I understand. But if I could ask you real quick, how much of a priority is it to get more leads out of your website?
This is extremely effective because it keeps the conversation going and helps you to learn more about the prospect. In most scenarios, you will get some sort of answer to your question, and this provides many different directions for you to go in, and you can either ask a follow-up question or go for the close if their answer presents a reason to talk more.
Objection Handling Responses
With those three options, we recommend you primarily try to deflect objections when performing cold outreach, and I am going to show you how to deflect all of the common sales objections.
I am busy right now.
This is not a complex objection, but it is very common, so here is a quick deflect response:
I understand. I can be extremely brief or I can call you back later. Which would you prefer?
What is this in regards to? Is this a sales call?
These are very common objections that gatekeepers and prospects use to screen out salespeople. Instead of directly answering the question, deflect to your value proposition by saying something like:
Well, the reason for the call is that we help businesses to increase the revenue and leads generated through their website.
I am not interested.
We are already using someone.
We are not making any changes.
We do not have any budget.
All of these objections can be deflected by asking a question with something like:
I understand. If I could ask you real quick, how are you currently generating new leads today?
Can you send me your information?
This is a very common sales objection prospects use to blow you off and get off the phone without looking like a jerk. Instead of complying and sending your information, you can deflect with an objection response like:
I can certainly do that. So that I know what to send you, can I ask you real quick, how do you feel about the look and feel of your website?
Call me back in X months.
This is a sales objection prospects often use to either get off the phone or to kick the can down the road. Instead of complying and calling back, you can deflect by saying:
I can certainly do that. When we spoke last, you were having challenges with pain point 1, pain point 2, and pain point 3.
Are you sure it makes sense to put off talking for another X months with those going on?
We hope these objection handling responses provide you with new ideas for your own objection rebuttals and responses!
