10 common sales objections and how to overcome them successfully

Sales objections are not the end of the sales process. On the contrary, they are your golden ticket to uncovering the concerns keeping your prospect from closing the deal.

YOUR PRODUCT IS TOO EXPENSIVE

Sales Objection: Cost

How to overcome it:

Here’s the answer Blair Singer, World Famous Sales Expert and BRAND MINDS 2023 speaker recommends you give to this question:

I appreciate your saying, but why do you think it’s too expensive?

It’s the perfect way to open up the conversation and find out what they compare your product to. This way you can immediately step in and bring forth the differences between the two products placing the spotlight on the advantages your product has that are relevant to your prospect.

What you need to do is show prospects the value they will receive from using your product and how much it costs them by not using your product. Offer a free trial or a money-back guarantee to alleviate concerns about the cost.

YOUR PRODUCT IS TOO COMPLICATED

Sales Objection: Complexity

How to overcome it:

Prospects may find your product or service is too complicated to use or understand, which can lead to frustration and abandonment of the product.

Let’s say you sell a highly efficient money management tool. Emphasize the user-friendly features of your product and provide tutorials or training materials to make it easier for prospects to understand and use. Highlight how the tool can simplify their financial management process and save them time in the long run.

IT’S NOT WHAT WE NEED

Sales Objection: Lack of customization

How to overcome it:

Prospects may desire more customization options, such as the ability to add specific categories, filters or customize reports.

Show your prospect how your product provides options for customization and, whenever possible, highlight the exact features your prospect needs to solve their problem more efficiently.

I DON’T TRUST YOUR PRODUCT

Sales Objection: Reliability

How to overcome it:

Prospects may experience glitches or errors with your product, leading to distrust in its accuracy and reliability.

Provide support and resources to help prospects understand how your customer service manages any issues customers encounter. Offer a clear and transparent process for reporting and resolving issues.

I DON’T WANT TO SWITCH TO YET ANOTHER TOOL, I’M COMFORTABLE WITH THE OLD ONE

Sales Objection: Learning curve

How to overcome it:

Prospects may find that your product has a steep learning curve, requiring too much time and effort to master.

Provide comprehensive tutorials, guides, and support materials to help prospects learn how to use the product. It’s also helpful to calculate how much it costs the prospect to keep working with the old product and how much money they lose by not switching to yours.

Offer ongoing support and resources to help customers continue to improve their use of the product over time.

I WILL GET BACK TO YOU

This is something sales reps hear a lot. Whenever you hear this, know that it’s a sales objection in disguise. It hides a specific concern that your prospect hasn’t shared with you yet and it’s your job to uncover it and handle it.

How to overcome it

The best response according to sales experts is this:

In my experience, whenever a prospect tells me ‘I’ll get back to you’, there is usually either of 3 reasons: they need to consult a higher authority, they are considering another solution, they feel it’s too expensive.

The three reasons mentioned above serve as an example. What you need to do is replace them with your actual reasons, which could be one, two, three or more. Your prospect’s reason may be among them and they will confirm it or may not be among them and they will share it with you. Whatever the case may be, you are back in action.

I’M STRUGGLING WITH X (insert concern)

Sometimes, your prospect would throw obstacle after obstacle after obstacle at you and no matter how hard you work with them, you just don’t seem to break through.

How to overcome it

When this happens, tell your prospect this:

In a hypothetical world when [your prospect’s obstacle] didn’t exist, would you say Yes? 

Sure!

Great! Let’s see how we can solve [your prospect’s obstacle] so we can do the deal.

Examples:

• My boss wouldn’t agree with this purchase.
• If you knew your boss would agree, would you do it?
• Sure!
• Then let’s see how we can present [your product] so he would agree to it.

I NEED MORE TIME TO MAKE A DECISION

This is also a sales objection in disguise.

How to overcome it

Answer your prospect like so:

It doesn’t take time to make a decision, it takes information and understanding if my solution is the right fit for your situation. I am the only source of information so what are your main concerns?

I NEED TO TALK TO MY PARTNER

This is a common way for your prospect to hide their concern behind a higher authority.

How to overcome it

Ask them this and they will tell you their concern:

What would your partner/manager be concerned about if they were in your place?

IT’S TOO MUCH MONEY

This is one of the easiest sales objections you can handle.

How to overcome it

What about it is too much? Paying too much all at once? Is it a cash flow issue? 

Too much all at once.

Then if the money were broken down into instalments, would that work for you?