Objections on a cold call are par for the course when you’re trying to build a pipeline of new business. A lot of reps are worried about objections when they get on the call. But that’s silly. Objections are the quickest way to get buy-in from a prospect, IF you know how to approach them.

Let’s face it – you can’t prevent sales objections and they aren’t going anywhere. Ever since the time people lived in caves and bartered goods, they have been raising objections when being sold to. 

Objections are nothing to fear. I would say that objections are a good thing. Actually, if you want to really be an effective sales rep then they’re a GREAT thing to encounter. 

Your prospects are going to have objections. Especially on a cold call or cold email – they simply don’t know enough about what you’re selling and their objections are a way of expressing that uncertainty. 

That’s why you should actively seek out objections. 

What Sales Objections Can Teach Us 

Every objection reveals a little about your prospect and critically – what matters most to them. 

Here’s the thing. It’s hard to get someone to open up about their business on a cold call. Most people don’t feel comfortable sharing which metrics they didn’t hit last quarter on a call with a stranger. 

But people happen to love making excuses in the form of objections. These excuses can be totally valid:

“We don’t have room in the budget this quarter.”

“That’s not my job.” 

“Your solution is too hard to implement.”

“We already have a vendor who does that and we don’t want to switch.” 

Sound familiar? These are all valid objections and if you’ve been selling B2B for any length of time then you’ve likely encountered at least one or even all of them. 

Each one tells us more about why our solution doesn’t solve the prospect’s problem. 

Here’s what they’re really saying:

“We don’t have room in the budget this quarter.” = “I don’t think you will provide ROI or solve an urgent problem”

“That’s not my job.” = “My business might care about this, but you should speak to my boss or a different department.”

“Your solution is too hard to implement.” = “We did our own research and don’t understand what you do.”

“We already have a vendor who does that and we don’t want to switch.” = “The cost of switching is higher than the marginal value we think your solution provides.” 

In each case, you need to dig a little deeper to really understand what the prospect is trying to say. Some folks might be blunt enough to spell it out for you but most of the time people will be a little vague in an effort to be nice. 

Overcoming Sales Objections with Insights

In each case, you can still overcome the objection. But the trick is to do so by providing a new insight to the prospect. You need to teach them something new and help them shift their mindset towards seeing the value in your solution, which is not readily apparent after only a sentence or two. 

You need to use their objection against them, by delivering an insight that reconfigures how they think about their original objection. 

How do you deliver an effective insight? Well, luckily there’s a formula you can use. 

You start by empathizing with them. You need to make it clear that you recognize and understand their objection and where it’s coming from. A handy tactic is to reframe their objection as something you’ve already heard from one of your current customers. 

So if someone says: “We already have that and don’t want to switch.” then you should be prepared with a story about a current customer who has switched from a competitor to your solution. 

Here’s an example:

“I totally understand that you already have a solution in place. We work with ABC Corp, and when I first reached out to them they also had an existing solution in place. By switching to us, they realized POSITIVE OUTCOME 1 and POSITIVE OUTCOME 2. Can I ask – who are you currently using to solve for those?”

There’s a few things going on in this response, but let’s break down each part of it. 

“I totally understand that you already have a solution in place”

First off, we’re empathizing with the prospect and repeating their objection back to them. 

“We work with ABC Corp, and when I first reached out to them they also had an existing solution in place.”

Next, we’re using social proof by mentioning a company we work with and relating it back to the objection. Your prospect is going to associate their own company with the one you referenced. 

“By switching to our solution, they realized POSITIVE OUTCOME 1 and POSITIVE OUTCOME 2.”

Then you’re going to give them a view of the promised land by sharing some of the positive outcomes that “ABC Corp” experienced after switching to your solution. Since the prospect has started to associate “ABC Corp” with their own company, they’re going to be wondering if those same benefits would happen if THEY also made the switch to your solution. 

Note: It’s important to know that each organization and each person at that organization will respond differently depending on which positive outcomes you share. What catches the interest of an executive is not necessarily going to apply to a manager who’s focused on day-to-day execution, and vice-versa. And it won’t be the same for two different companies that have differing goals and initiatives. 

The outcomes that you choose to highlight will play a large role in whether the prospect continues to listen to what you have to say, or checks out. 

“ Can I ask – who are you currently using to solve for those?”

And lastly, you end the response with an open-ended question. As a rule of thumb: the earlier in the conversation you are, the easier your open ended question should be. You don’t start by asking for sensitive information like revenue numbers or specific strategic plans. Ask them which tools they’re using or how much of a priority a specific initiative is, and then drive deeper into the problem your solution solves from there. 

Putting it All Together

You can use this formula to build out responses to the majority of valid objections that you’ll hear while making cold calls:

Empathize + Connect Current Customer to Prospect Objection + Share Positive Outcomes + Open Ended Question

That formula will disarm most valid objections and open up a path towards having a conversation with the prospect. It’s effective because it reframes your value and gives the prospect another way to think of you – in most case, prospects will shoehorn you into one box or another right after hearing your pitch. By reframing your value proposition, you’re able to get another chance at having an open discussion with them. Or at the very least, asking them a question that moves you toward an open discussion. 

Once you’ve gotten them to start talking, you can ask more specific questions to qualify their need for your solution. Remember – not everyone is going to be a good fit for your solution. As a salesperson, your goal is as much about weeding out the bad prospects as it is persuading the good prospects to move to the next step of the sales process. 

Try it out yourself – before your next cold call, make a list of common objections you’ve encountered and apply the above formula to create responses that will keep the conversation going. Leave a comment below and share what you come up with!