An "objection" is a reason or argument presented in opposition as defined in Merriam-Webster.  For me, I don't need a fancy definition.  I do objection handling on a daily basis whether it's personal or work related.  

On a personal level, with two kids aged 11 and 8, objection handling is part of my daily routine especially with my "tween".  I've already heard, "You're ruining my life . .  ." which usually occurs when we are having a disagreement.  I never thought I would hear these words until she became a teenager . . . but I was wrong.   Most of the time (not always) she and I will come up with an alternate solution we can agree upon.    Mind you, she is the sweetest girl in the world and I wouldn't change her in the least.  Plus she is learning the art of negotiation or in terms of this blog ... Objection Handling.

As an experienced cold caller, here are a couple general Objection Handling tips to help you on your next call.

"Your product sounds interesting, send me some literature."

Or in today's terms, "send me an email and call me next week and hopefully I won't answer the phone".    Okay, so how many times have you heard this objection?  When I encounter this objection, I always feel the prospect is trying to get me off the phone, especially when it is at the beginning of our conversation.  Do you agree?    

Here's one way to handle this objection especially if you haven't qualified the prospect.    "I would be happy to send you appropriate information about our company, what specifically is your area of interest?" 

What this does is it helps you determine if the person is sincere and allows you to focus on a specific area for qualification.  You may be able to answer their questions immediately and eliminate the need for a stall in your sales process while you are sending information.  If they can't describe their area of interest, it means you haven't identified their pain or they simply aren't interested.  Either way, you have a better idea of where you stand with them.   

"I'm busy right now."

If you've read my other post, Sales Referrals Increase your Pipeline & Credibility, I'm a firm believer in using the Help Me Request.  This request has always helped me in my cold calling efforts.

Here's one approach:  "I won't take up your time but maybe you could help me... would you be the appropriate person to speak with regarding xxx"?

What this does is it allows you to confirm that you are attempting to contact the right person and if not, allows you to ask for a referral.

As always, if you have any suggestions that have worked for you, please post them!   And PS.. if you have a tween and have found something that works with the "you're ruining my life objection" - send that along as well!

Effective objection handling is a key skill for any sales person. One of the most common objections heard on a daily basis is the dreaded "I don't have any budget". In a tight economy, this objection is being used even more frequently.

 When you hear "No Budget", it usually means 1 of 2 things:

• either the prospect is on board but truly has no access to funds
  or
  
• they don't know what you do, don't care what you do, and are trying to blow you off. Who doesn't know that if you tell a sales person you have no money they will hang up and go away!?

So how do you handle this objection?

Throughout my career, I've had the chance to work with some really great salespeople and have gathered some insight on how to handle this situation.

1. First and foremost, determine that indeed you can solve a pain that the prospect is feeling. If you can't, then why waste their time or yours?  BTW, if the prospect is using the "no budget" objection before he knows what you do, it is a blow off!
   
   
2. Reconfirm you are dealing with the decision maker or at least an influencer/recommender. Technical evaluators seldom have access to budget and quite often influencers/recommenders do not have knowledge of the general/slush funds that decision makers can access.
   
   
3. Confirm that the prospect agrees to the pain you can solve and has a vision for the benefit they will receive from your solution. You establish this by asking questions:  "Bob, do you agree that we can save your department this amount of xxx compared to what they are doing now?"  If he says "no" you have a bigger problem.  If he says yes, you can move on to ask....
   
   
4. "Since we can save you this amount, what would be the most logical next step for ensuring that you can reap these kinds of benefits?" or "I would really like to have you as a customer. I understand you have no budget. Since we both agree the value my organization can bring is significant is there any way we can overcome this obstacle?"
   

Brainstorm with your prospect on various ways to address the issue whether it is payment terms, a less robust version of the product, a hosted version...whatever the case may be.  It is called negotiating.  Want to learn how to negotiate?  Go buy a car...those guys will negotiate your teeth right out of your mouth.

You have to strike while the iron is hot because if you wait for that budget to become fully available there may never be a deal because of other influences such as new competitors, management changes, etc.

In summary, hearing the dreaded "No Budget" isn't the end of the world. You have to:

• do your job around vision creation
• make sure you are dealing with someone who has access to budget
• ask questions that partner you with your prospect on finding alternative solutions

Would love to hear from other sales professionals on how they handle this situation so feel free to comment!