Finding the Right Time to Address Objections

A sales director just told me how his team lost their biggest deal of the year. "Everything was going perfectly. Amazing discovery calls, perfect product fit, champion was advocating for us, budget was confirmed. Then in our final meeting, the prospect said: 'This all looks great. We just need to think about it.'" His rep's response? "Sure, no problem. Take all the time you need." The deal died two weeks later. Here's what that rep fundamentally misunderstood: When prospects say they "need to think about it," they're not asking for time. They're asking for help. What the rep should have said: "I totally understand you need to think about it. Help me understand what specifically you need to think through…" When we dug deeper into this situation, we discovered the real issue: The prospect was worried about implementation timeline conflicting with their busy season. A 5 minute conversation about phased rollout options could have saved the deal. But because the rep gave them "time to think" instead of clarity on their concerns, the prospect's worry festered into a no-decision. Here's what "I need to think about it" really means to your prospects: → "I have an unspoken concern I haven't voiced" → "Something doesn't feel quite right, but I can't articulate it" → "I need more information but don't want to seem uninformed" → "There's a stakeholder objection I haven't mentioned" → "I'm not convinced this is the right timing" The best sales teams understand this and train their reps to respond accordingly: "What specifically concerns you most about moving forward?" "What questions do you think will come up when you discuss this internally?" "What would need to be true for this to feel like an obvious yes?" "What's the biggest risk you see in making this decision?" Stop accepting "I need to think about it" as a natural end to your sales process. Train your team to treat it as the beginning of their most important conversation. Remember: Confusion kills deals. Clarity closes them. — Want to hear a top sales VP sharing how he blows out sales targets? Go here: https://lnkd.in/gH7amsci

Next time you hear an objection, take a pause and isolate whether it's a current state or future state objection. Current state objections = cost of inaction isn't big enough to warrant action. There may be pain, but the pain of same is tolerable. Ex: "Let's revisit this in 2026". Future state objections = concerns with perceived risk of buying/implementing the solution. Prospect agrees the pain of same is intolerable, but has concerns re: whether this is the right solution or right partner. Ex: "We're going to need more time to evaluate the options internally before we schedule the next call." Current state objections and future state objections are very different problems to solve in the mind of the buyer. Current state objections = is this problem is worth solving, and worth solving now? Future state objections: is this solution, from this vendor, the right way to solve the problem? Pitching ROI/case studies to a current state objection doesn't align with the root cause of the objection. Pitching COI to a future state objection doesn't align with the root cause of the objection. Bonus: Once I started doing this, I counted how many objections were rooted in current state vs. future state. In December 2020, I noticed I was heavy on current state objections. It helped me see that I was jumping to solution WAY too quickly (likely out of a fear of missing my target and acting desperate to rush the sales process). I wasn't framing the cost of inaction. I was playing solution show and tell. Give this a try. Not only will it help you address the RIGHT problem with your buyer, but it teaches us a lot about where we may be rushing our process!

Timing objections are one of the toughest parts of sales. If you're like me, you're trying to find the right balance between building urgency and respecting a prospect's timeline. Here are three things I do to handle them: 1. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 '𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻': Pin down specifics like, "𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳?" This helps separate real timelines from brush-offs. 2. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 '𝗪𝗵𝘆': After they share a timeline, dig deeper: "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵?" This reveals internal priorities, like RFPs or lighter workloads, that help gauge urgency. 3. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗨𝗽 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗹𝘆: Ask, "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥?" Prospects who welcome follow-ups are higher priority than those who don’t. Once I’ve asked these three questions, I can bucket prospects into "High-Priority Follow-Ups" and "Low-Priority Follow-Ups." LinkedIn fam—how do you handle timing objections?