The Most Common Reasons Your Customers Say No–and How to Get Them to Say Yes

Every product or service that a company sells to a specific target market carries with it predictable, specific and repeatable sales obstacles that you must learn to effectively deal with and overcome. Understanding the possible reasons for a “No” during the sales process, will go a long way to increasing the number of times you will hear “Yes” on a sales call.

So today, I wanted to give you a list of some of the most popular reasons a customer says “No” during a sales call and the best ways to overcome them before you lose the sale.

Common Objections

• Financial. “It’s too expensive….” or “I don’t have the money.”
• Timing issues. “I’m not quite ready to make a purchase yet…”
• Credibility Issues. “I just don’t know if you’re able to deliver…”
• Lack of Urgency. “I don’t feel like I have to do this right now….”
• Another Selection. “I’m going to buy or have already bought from someone else…”
• Higher Authority. “I need to run this past….”
• Status Quo. “I’m satisfied with what I have right now…”
• Time Challenge. “I just don’t have time to deal with or use your product/service right now…”
• Decision Delay. “Let me think about it and get back to you….”
• Poor Prior Experience. “I bought from YOU before and didn’t like the experience…”
• Trust Issue. “I’m not sure I can really trust you….”
• Delivery Issue. “I just can’t wait that long to get it…”
• Quality Issue. “I need a higher quality solution than what you have to offer….”
• Cost of Change. “It would just cost too much time and money to switch from our current solution…”
• Feels Obligated to Current Vendor. “I just couldn’t tell my current vendor we’re switching…”
• Fears Change. “I just hate change, so I’d rather just say no…”
• Going out to Bid. “I’ll need to check on your pricing before I buy, to make sure I can’t get it for less elsewhere…”

Overcoming Objections

Once you have a good idea on the most common objections for your particular service or product, you can begin to develop a strategy to overcome those objections and closing more sales.

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1. Handle It. The most common way to deal with an objection is to handle it when it comes up during the sales call. Many sales people will have a list of the most common objectives along with a few responses written up for each objection so that they are ready for whatever comes their way.

2. Harnessing. The second way to handle an objection is to use it to your advantage during the sale. Find a way to use their objections to provide emotional juice and momentum for a close.

3. Reframe it. Another way to approach an objection is to reframe it in a new context. This can be done either before it comes up, or after it is raised, and can be used to make their objection the reason why it makes sense to buy.

4. Preempting. The final way that a salesperson can overcome an objection has to do with being proactive and designing their objection out of the sales conversation all together.

Objections are a common part of any sales call, and if handled properly they can actually help you land more sales and meet your quota. So don’t be afraid of the objection, be prepared.