Never Let Them “Hear” You Sweat

An old deodorant commercial showed a person who was nervously anticipating a presentation he had to conduct. When it came time to do the presentation, he didn’t sweat, because (according to the advertisement) his deodorant worked. If all day you hear, “Your price is too high” or “I’ve never heard of your company,” you may become nervous, anticipating this response from your customers. Think about it; if you react negatively or defensively, you validate the customer’s perception that there is a reason not to buy. Stay cool. Handle the objection skillfully.

Remember, you are on the phone, so the customer can’t see you. Never let the customer feel that you are rattled by any objection. Stay calm, cool, collected, or at least always appear that way to the customer through your relaxed and professional tone. If you do become uncomfortable, it won’t show over the phone if you control your voice. To do this:

• Massage your neck to loosen tight vocal chords.

• Take a slow, deep breath to reduce your heart rate.

• Slow your rate of speech slightly, so you do not give the impression of being stressed or rushed.

• Stand up at your desk to allow the blood to flow better to your brain (after all, that’s where the great ideas come from).

• And if all else fails, and you have to, simply defer the response to the objection. For example, you may have to get an okay from a higher authority and that requires getting back to the customer. However, this is your last resort. You may not have the opportunity to get that customer on the phone at a later time.

Of course, the best way to not appear uneasy with an objection is to actually not be uneasy. You come to this point by preparing, so that you:

• Know your customers’ situations

• Know your product

• Know your competition (customers will sometimes throw that at you as an objection)

• Know what the objections are going to be before the customers state them

• Know how to handle any objection by thinking quickly on your feet

Knowledge is not only power; it is also confidence. We are rarely nervous in situations that are familiar and that we have navigated successfully in the past. However, we are often on edge with the unknown. So, we are going to move objections into the “known” column, and make them yet another part of the sales process over which we have control.

Be prepared and you command the situation. If the customer says, “Your price is too high,” this objection should not be a surprise, because whether the product is diaper services or capital equipment, we have all heard this objection. It’s almost become a standard statement. You have to be ready to respond, and that is what gives you the advantage in a phone-selling situation.

The customer doesn’t know that you have heard price objections, credibility objections, or company size objections. You’ve heard them all and are prepared. Delivery, service, company size, credibility—none of these matters. Anticipate any objections that you regularly hear as well as any you can brainstorm and think of yourself. You’ll be amazed at how much smoother you will sound during the objection-handling portion of your calls. The result? More closed sales on objections.

If you receive objections you have never heard before (and that can always happen), read on to learn how to handle any objection in any call.