The sales process · Sales enablement
Too expensive can mean four different things and only one of them is money.
Objection handling is the method for answering a pushback. Work out what the sentence actually means before you reply, and decide whether the problem is price, value or trust. Answer in two sentences, and know which objections you ought to lose on rather than argue with.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Objection handling is the method for answering a pushback. Work out what the sentence actually means before you reply, and decide whether the problem is price, value or trust. Answer in two sentences, and know which objections you ought to lose on rather than argue with.
Your price is too high can mean I cannot see why it costs this. It can mean the budget for this year is already spent. It can mean I believe your price and doubt you will deliver, or my manager will ask me to justify choosing you. A discount answers one of those four and damages the other three.
So the first move is not an answer. It is a question, asked plainly: when you say the price is high, is that against the budget you were given or against the other quotation. Then stop and let him tell you which problem you are actually in.
The sorted list from the step before is the input, and you write answers only for the handful at the top. After this comes qualifying, where many of these objections stop appearing, because they came from meetings that should never have been taken.
Where this sits
Stage 5 of 10, sales enablement. What the person selling says, sends and answers with, written down instead of improvised.
- The stage before
- Lead generation
- The stage after
- Sales qualification
If you want this done for you
Have a ready, honest answer when a buyer says your competitor is cheaper.
The work
What this step is actually like.
“Price, value and trust are three different problems”
A price objection means he wants it and the money is awkward, so the answer is phasing, payment terms or a smaller scope. A value objection means he is not convinced it is worth this, so the answer is proof. A trust objection means he believes the price and doubts you, and a discount there costs you the margin and the order.
“Answer in two sentences and stop”
Acknowledge without agreeing, ask the clarifying question, answer briefly, then check whether that covered it and go back to the conversation. The commonest failure is the ninety seconds of explaining that follows an objection which had already been dealt with in the first line.
“Decide in advance what you will lose on”
If a buyer needs delivery inside a week and your shortest honest lead time is a month, the answer is no. Say it early and without apology. Pick the two objections you will concede on and tell the team, or a salesperson will invent a promise to stay in the room.
“We will think about it is not an objection”
It is a meeting that finished without a decision, and arguing with it is how sellers get politely blocked. Ask what he would be weighing up, and who else has to be comfortable before he can say yes. His answer is usually the objection he never raised.
What we do
What you end up with.
The artefacts this step produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
One page for each of the top five
Six fields on a page. The buyer's sentence, what it usually means in your business, and the question you ask back. Then the answer in two sentences, the proof you can put in front of him, and the point where you say this is not for us.
Result: Two salespeople give the same honest answer to the same objection on the same day.
A concession list signed by whoever sets prices
What may be given away and in what order: payment terms first, scope second, price last, with the floor written down. For a printer in Rajajinagar quoting on repeat work, the order might be reversed, and the list should say so.
Result: Nobody discounts to end an uncomfortable silence on a call.
Two rounds of pushback in roleplay
An answer counts as ready when it survives the buyer objecting twice to the same thing. Most written answers fail on that second push, where the seller either repeats himself or starts conceding.
Result: The team finds out which answers are weak before a buyer does.
A card for the phone
The five clarifying questions on one side of a card, nothing else. During a call there is no time to open a document and read, and the question is the only part that has to be exact.
Result: The caller asks before answering instead of guessing which objection this is.
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales management. A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3 · you are here
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
The buyer says a competitor is cheaper. What do we say?
How many objections should we write answers for?
Who decides how much we are allowed to concede?
Can objection handling be kept in-house?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this step further.
The rest of sales enablement
Or read the whole sales process in order.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.