An Objection Doesn't Mean No

In a previous post, I explained how to get a prospect on the telephone to ask for an appointment. But what if the prospect doesn’t immediately agree to the meeting? Simple. Ask again. In fact, you should ask for the appointment at least three times before concluding that the prospect is truly not interested.

A refusal always takes the form of what’s known in sales as an “objection.” These range from the... almost hopeful “Call me back later” to the apparently fatal “I’m not interested.” Novices take these rejections at face value and give up. Pros know that a prospect with an objection may just need some convincing. After all, if prospects truly aren’t interested, they’ll just hang up on you.

Your job is to answer the objection in a way that leads towards your goal, which is landing that appointment. Here’s how.

On your first day of cold calling, write down every objection you hear. (Think of it as a treasure hunt, because you’re going to turn those objections into gold.) Once you’ve got a collection (and it won’t take long), create and memorize a short response to each objection, crafted so that it leads immediately into another request for a meeting. For example:

Objection: I’m too busy.

Response: Okay, I won’t keep you. What I’d like to do is come by when you have more time to talk. How does Friday at 10am work for you?

Objection: We had a bad experience with your company.

Response: I’m sorry to hear that. You know, we’ve changed a lot since then. Why don’t I just come by Monday at 2pm to learn more about what happened and figure out how we can help you now.

Note that each response agrees with the objection; you want an appointment, not an argument. And the request for a meeting includes a time and date. That tells the prospect that your time is valuable, too.

Andrea Sittig-Rolf, who regularly runs corporate “sales blitzes” where reps make a hundred cold calls in a single afternoon, says that, in most cases, you’ll get the appointment after answering one or (at most) two objections. If you get a third objection, though, it’s time to move on.