How To Overcome Objections In Sales: The Objection Pentagon
There’s lots of advice out there about how to overcome objections in sales. In another post, we went step-by-step through the best objection handling strategies.
As we analyzed those strategies (including strategies from top tech sales companies like Gong and HubSpot), we realized that they all have a lot in common.
So we made a “master list” of all the steps in an ultimate objection handling process:
- Listen
- Pause
- Acknowledge
- Question
- Isolate
- Respond
- Confirm
- Ask for the sale
But we all know there is not enough time for an eight-step process during objection handling. Sometimes the prospect is giving you objections 100 miles per hour as they’re trying to rush off the phone.
So we condensed the “master list” into an easier-to-use (and easier-to-remember) five-step objection handling process that we’re calling the “objection pentagon.”
Introducing … the Objection Pentagon!
Based on our own selling experience and our research on other objection handling strategies, we believe the Objection Pentagon is the absolute best strategy to overcome objections in sales and close more deals.
We chose the shape of a pentagon because there are five steps in the process and its defense against objections is as rock-solid as the Pentagon itself.
Here are the five steps:
- Objection
- Empathy statement
- Question
- Show value
- Ask for the sale
And here’s what it looks like:
1. Objection
The objection is really just the start of the objection handling process.
While the prospect is telling you their objection, remember two things:
- Listen
- Pause
LISTEN actively and attentively when your prospect is voicing their objection.
And no matter what, do not interrupt! ❌
To make extra sure that you don’t interrupt on accident, remember to PAUSE after your prospect is finished talking.
Here’s why:
- They might have more to say.
- It gives you an extra second to think.
- And it slows down the tempo of the call.
According to recorded call data from Gong:
“Successful reps pause when they get objections. In fact, they pause for longer after an objection than during other parts of a sales call.”
The Gong research suggests that “Top Performers” pause up to 5x longer (~1.5 seconds), compared to “Average Performers” (~0.3 seconds).
Click here to read more about the power of the pause.
2. Empathy statement
Again, before you say your empathy statement, remember to PAUSE for at least 1-2 seconds before you start talking.
The empathy statement has a very specific purpose: make sure the prospect feels heard.
If you steamroll right past an objection without expressing empathy and understanding, the prospect will be thinking to themselves, “Did they hear what I just said?!”
At all costs, especially during objection handling, we want to avoid a situation where the prospect feels like they are being steamrolled, misunderstood, ignored, or forced into doing something they don’t want to do.
To achieve this, we can use any of the following:
- “Softening” statement
- Mirroring statement
- Combination of the two
Here are some examples of softening statements:
- No worries
- I understand what you’re saying
- I hear you
- I see where you’re coming from
Here are some examples of mirroring statements:
- It sounds like … [and then repeat what they said]
- I’m hearing that … [and then repeat what they said]
You can even combine the two.
For example, let’s pretend the prospect tells you,
“I’m busy.”
Then you can respond with a softening and a mirroring statement, like this:
“No worries, it sounds like I caught you at a bad time.”
“No worries” = softening statement
“It sounds like I caught you at a bad time” = mirroring statement
But be careful with mirroring. The problem with mirroring during objection handling is that it can seem like you’re agreeing with your prospect’s objection, which then makes it more difficult to turn the conversation in a more positive direction.
Now, the empathy statement should be used as a preface for a question. There should be no pause between the empathy statement and the question.
3. Question
“Top performers counter objections with questions far more often.”
The Gong research suggests that “Top Performers” follow up with a question for 54.3% of objections, while “Average Performers” follow up with a question for just 31.0% of objections.
This is probably the most important part of how to overcome objections in sales.
If we’ve said it a hundred times, we’ll say it again: asking questions is the #1 key to success in sales.
This question needs to be open-ended. Even better, it needs to be intentionally designed to invite a longer response from the prospect.
Click here to read more about asking better questions.
If you’re in the closing part of the call, you might start by asking a question that “isolates” the objection.
It’s very similar to an up-front contract, and it should sound something like this:
“Other than [this objection], is there anything else that might keep you from moving forward today?”
“You can’t begin chasing and answering every objection they give you! First you must question and isolate the objection to make sure it’s the REAL objection.”
But really, just asking any question at all is much better than rushing into an unprepared statement about an objection that might just be a “smokescreen.”
Click here to read more about “smokescreen” objections. ☁️
4. Show value
You should have already shown value earlier in the pitch, so now you just need to remind the prospect of the same value that you already explained before.
Based on the prospect’s response to your question, you should have a better idea of the section(s) of your pitch about which the prospect is still unsure.
Go back and sell value on that specific part of your pitch.
For example, maybe your prospect has given you a price objection:
“It’s too expensive.”
And so you respond with your empathy statement and question:
“I hear you, Susan. It sounds like the price seems a little high. Have you gotten quotes back from some other vendors?”
By the way, you should already know the answer to this question from qualifying. It’s like playing chess—when you make a move, you want to already know what your opponent’s next move is going to be.
Susan responds:
“Yea, we got a quote for $2,000 less from Company B.”
And then you can transition into re-selling value like this:
“I’ve worked with quite a few other clients who were also considering Company B. Let me show you why they decided to pay a little more for our product …”
5. Ask for the sale
This last part probably sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many salespeople forget to ask for the sale again after they’ve handled an objection.
Sometimes it’s because the salesperson gets nervous about asking again after the prospect has already told them “no.”
Other times it’s because the salesperson overtalks when showing value and loses track of where they are in the sales encounter.
But you can’t close a deal unless you ask for it.
So ask for it!
And if you get another objection … you already know what to do! Just go through the five steps of the Objection Pentagon again.