How I Coach Objections

6 techniques, 1 system

Chris Ritson

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6 Oct 2023

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3 mins

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Everyone is OBSESSED with starting more conversations in sales.

What if we just got better at continuing them when we’ve started them?

In this newsletter, I’ll show you how I’ve taught 500+ reps (and counting) how to think about and navigate objections in order to continue more conversations with prospects.

In turn, they have to do less activity. They quite literally; ‘‘Work Less, Sell More’’.

Let’s do this.

Step 1 - Understand

This is a non-negotiable for me. We need to stop teaching reps ‘how to handle objections’ before we teach them the Psychology behind why the prospect is pushing back.

The reality is the prospect does not trust you and/or your company enough to continue. It doesn’t matter what stage the deal is at the trust just is not big enough yet to continue the conversation.

Your prospect is literally going into ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ mode.

For example, if you cold call them they do not know you. The prospect will immediately assess you as a ‘danger’ and either push back to try and figure out who you are aka fight mode or go into flight mode and try to exit the conversation.

The good news is each objection is a chance to build that trust with your prospect.

The bad news is these objections will come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

Step 2 - Techniques

There are an infinite amount of words and phrases your prospect can parcel up into an objection.

The aim should NOT be to have a pre-canned response for each and every one of them.

Instead, focus on teaching frameworks to your SDRs they can apply to their conversations.

Why? Frameworks are more scalable because they support skill NOT mastering the skill.

For beginners start off with these 2:

Mirroring - when you repeat the last few words of your buyer’s sentence. And do it with an upward voice tone (like you’re asking a question). It triggers your buyer to give you long, information-rich responses. For example ‘‘already have a solution?’’ OR ‘‘no budget?’’
Labeling - when your buyer expresses an emotion, state an accurate label of that emotion—“It seems/sounds/looks like you _________.” And then let your buyer talk without interrupting.

When you’ve mastered them add these 4:

Tactical ‘Sorry’ - We (salespeople) apologize for everything. Overuse of apologetic language eliminates power and sincerity except for one very specific type of apologizing. Tactical apologies—putting the “blame” on yourself. Example; ‘‘I’m sorry my personalised email wasn’t on the money’’.
Aim for Fair - Nobody wants to feel like they’re being unfair or being treated unfairly. State what you want and then ask if that’s fair. Example: Is it fair to get 30 seconds to tell you why I’ve called?
Clarifying Questions - clarify objections with a question. Asking questions helps you identify the core issue, and turn objections into an opportunity to strengthen the relationship.
Take the Blame - change your language from ‘‘we’’ to ‘‘I’’ can’t do something. This is 1:1 conversation it builds trust because you’re honest rather than deflecting.

Step 3 - Practice

Now everyone has some frameworks to practice things get a lot easier. The job from here is simply for them to practice.

After all, if they don’t have any conversations with prospects what’s the point of teaching them this stuff?

Make sure you coach your reps on their conversations and specifically how they handle objections within them.

Isolating just the parts of the calls they faced objections and coaching on them helps embed their learnings and do more ‘good stuff’ and less ‘bad stuff’.

Step 4 - Review

Give it a month of practice then review their results with them.

I compare samples with the reps from 1 month ago and now. For example, we listen to an ‘old call’ that failed. Then we listened to a new call that won.

Showing them this difference has a high impact as it reinforces the good behavior they’ve exhibited and also promotes your amazing new objections coaching skills.

Win:win.

PS. I recommend for beginners you set a goal of being able to get through the first objections,

I promise you if reps can get through 1 they’ll book WAY more meetings.

Hope this is helpful.

Quick Summary:

Every objection is an opportunity to build trust.
There are 6 techniques I commonly teach.
Practice makes perfect.
Reviewing progress is a great way to embed learning.

This Week’s Action Step:

Set up a session with the team to explain where objections come from. The better your team understands your prospects and how they are feeling when you call and email the easier the conversations will be to navigate.

If this is helpful, share it with your team!

Good luck!!