How To Overcome Cold Call Objections
Cold calling and objection handling are two of the MOST difficult parts of a sales job. Combine them and you get cold call objections!
When we think of sales objections, we usually think of objections on the closing call.
But there are objections that happen before that …
In the first 30 seconds of the sales encounter …
On the cold call …
Here are the most common cold call objections:
- I’m not interested.
- I’m busy.
- I’m with a customer.
- I can’t talk right now.
- Call me back tomorrow.
- Call me in six months.
- Just email me.
- Talk to my secretary.
- We’re already working with someone.
- We just bought with your competitor.
- It’s too expensive.
Always start with a question!
If you only remember one thing from reading this, remember this:
When you get an objection, respond with a question.
This is especially important at the very beginning of a cold call, for two reasons:
- It keeps the conversation going.
- It gives you another turn to speak.
Question, statement, question, statement … this is the natural flow of a good conversation.
When you ask someone a question and then listen respectfully for a while, it feels natural that you can take a turn to talk.
If you just keep talking and making statements after you get an objection, then the prospect is more likely to hang up on you mid-sentence.
Click here to read more about handling objections with questions.
It’s about “buying time.”
According to recorded call analysis by Gong.io, “successful” cold calls lasted an average of 5:50 minutes and “unsuccessful” cold calls lasted an average of 3:14 minutes.
“Successful cold calls were almost twice as long as unsuccessful cold calls. The longer the call, the greater your odds of getting the meeting.”
The best way to buy time on a cold call?
Well, like we already said, start by asking a question.
And then use this …
The Objection Pentagon
This is the same strategy that we recommend for closing calls.
And it works for cold calls too!
It just needs to be shortened a bit.
Here are the five steps of the Objection Pentagon:
- Objection
- Empathy statement
- Question
- Show value
- Ask for the sale
And here’s what it looks like in a diagram:
Instead of asking for the sale, you’ll be asking for the appointment, or at least a little more time to give your elevator pitch.
Click here to read more about the Objection Pentagon.
Here’s how to handle a cold call objection with the Objection Pentagon:
Salesperson:
“Hey Susan! This is <your name> from ABC Company. How have you been?”
Prospect:
“I’m busy. I don’t have time for this.”
Salesperson:
“I understand, do you mind me asking, is the line out the door at your restaurant right now?”
“I understand” = empathy statement
“Is the line out the door?” = question
Prospect:
“Uh, yeah … how’d you know that … anyways … we’ve got a million orders … I can’t talk right now.”
Salesperson:
“I get it, Susan, you’re busy right now. If I could show you a POS system that would help manage those orders a little more efficiently and make things less chaotic over there, is that something you would be interested in?”
“If I could show you a POS system” = show value
“Is that something you would be interested in?” = ask for the sale
Prospect:
“Maybe. Can you call back this afternoon?”
Salesperson:
“What time?”
Prospect:
“3 PM.”
Salesperson:
“You got it! Talk to you then.”