Video: The Right and Wrong Way to Resolve Customer Objections

Objections are common in sales conversations and, when resolved appropriately, are an opportunity to advance the sale.  When your customers raise an objection they are sharing insight into their deeper thinking.  It is important to respect these concerns and employ a questioning strategy to dig into the details of the objection.  This builds a deeper understanding of the customer's needs, and trust between buyer and seller.  It also helps the seller improve their positioning strategy.

In this video blog, we present two scenarios; the first shows an example of an ineffective attempt to resolve a customer objection, and the second demonstrates the effective execution of an objection resolution strategy.

The Wrong Way to Address Customer Objections

This video demonstrates common mistakes sales professionals make after a customer raises an objection.

These mistakes include:

• Failing to acknowledge the concern to diffuse defensiveness
• Jumping to position a response without seeking to understand the customer’s thinking
• Using argumentative or contradictory language

These mistakes often lead to undesirable outcomes because without doing the work to understand the customer's objection the seller is not able to position an acceptable solution.

The Right Way to Resolve Customer Objections

In the video above, the sales professional uses a number of skills to effectively resolve the customer's objection.  

These skills include:

• Acknowledging objections to reduce defensiveness
• Asking sincere open-ended questions to understand the underlying reason for the customer’s concern
• Positioning specific, tailored responses to address the customer’s concerns
• Asking open-ended checking questions throughout the conversation

By reducing defensiveness and building a better understanding of the customer's concerns the sales professional is better able to position a response that makes the customer feel comfortable moving forward with the conversation.

Watch more examples of effective and ineffective sales behaviours by visiting our YouTube channel.