E55: Q&A Week: Handling objections without sounding pushy

December 28, 2023



How can I overcome objections in sales without sounding pushy?

In this episode, I answer:


  • How can I overcome objections in sales without sounding pushy?


If you have any sales or mindset related questions, send me a message through the contact page or via LinkedIn.

  • Show Transcript

    Hello, and welcome to another episode of Ehe Sales Experience Podcast. This is Episode 55. Last episode, I did a recap in the beginning, if you didn’t catch that, listen to it because I kind of restated the mission and explained why I do this podcast.


    In order for this episode to get right into the action, let’s just go right into some questions and see what we can get through today. All right.


    The first question, how can I overcome objections and sales without sounding pushy?


    This question is an interesting one, because I see this a lot. Whether a salesperson asked this question, or they just experience it is that if you’re not careful, as a salesperson, when you respond to somebody’s objection, or their question, whatever their issue is, they’re pushing back on something, sometimes it could be a question, it could be an issue, it could just be a statement, but you take it the wrong way, you take it as some reason why the sale might not go forward, you react.


    A lot of sales, people react in a defensive way. So they instantly reply back, hit the person hard with some kind of rebuttal response. If not, careful, a lot of times, and I hear this so much, whether its clients I’m working with, salespeople I listen in on or just even out in the world in a buying kind of environment, is you hear the salesperson with a defensive tone.


    They are trying to win that battle, they are trying to win that prospect convert them into a sale, and they’re trying to overcome. They get fired up a little bit, there’s a little bit of an attack mode.


    You know, people who make good sales professionals are a little bit more confrontational, they’re willing to go head to head, they don’t shy away from very much. The challenges that sometimes that can come across the wrong way.


    That could come across confrontational. And like I tell people all the time, you may win the battle. You might win the battle over that question and come back with the perfect answer and move them forward.


    However, if you’re not careful, you’re going to lose the war. Just because you had a great answer just because you pushed back on them, if you have an attitude or it’s not the right response, or it’s not supportive for them in their sales experience, you’re going to lose the war, which means you’re not going to make the sale.


    So keep in mind, first part is in answering somebody’s question or objection, or whatever that is, if you don’t want to sound pushy, make sure you watch your tone and your attitude. So, you want to remember that if somebody asks you a question, don’t take it personal, don’t take it as a battle against you a pushback, don’t take it personal as in it’s a judgment or attack on you as a salesperson. Just take it as a question and then move forward.


    Another great way to deal with questions, objections, without sounding pushy, is to reverse it back on them. And do it in such a way where I call it empathetic reversing where you try to learn more about where that question is coming from.


    You’ve got to be careful, because if you do it the wrong way, it’s going to make you sound even worse. If they say “Hey, is there a fee for this program?” And you say, “Yes, there’s a fee. But why is that matter? Then that’s going that’d be terrible.”


    And I know you may be listening to that and laughing and thinking no salesperson would say that, and this guy’s crazy. But I’m telling you, literally, I hear that all the time. I hear people who reply back and get kind of in an attack mode because they’re taking it all personal.


    There is a proper way to do it, in my opinion, which is answer their question and then ask them a question just trying to find out more. When you reverse it on them with the goal of discovering more or where that questions coming from, or what happened in the past that’s leading them to that point, it will give you some more information, and it will shift you from being the pushy salesperson to the person that’s just still trying to help them.


    And again, this goes into anything you’re selling. You might think, well, I sell cars so I have to be pushy. I sell business to business, SaaS products, and so I’ve got to be pushy, and I’ve got to hit back if somebody asked me about the fee, or the financing, or the cost.


    No, in my opinion, you don’t because that’s not what most prospects want these days or tolerate these days. They might buy from you or they might go through a conversation and then they may disappear and never answer your calls again because they didn’t want to say it to your face. But something you did or said, push them in that direction.


    So when somebody asks you, for example, is there a contract that I have to sign? And let’s say there isn’t one, you could say “Bo, there’s no contract. But let me ask you, why is that important to you? Why is a contract matter to you?”


    And they may say something that just totally blows you away, that then helps you steer the conversation in a totally different direction. I’ve seen it so many times where somebody responds to a question like that and says, “Well, I once signed up with somebody and I had to sign a contract for 12 months.


    And it turned out that they were a total scam company, rip me off, when I call back, they didn’t even answer their phone and I was stuck in this contract that I paid for and there wasn’t anything I could do about it, right.”


    And so you find out that information and now you can then address that. And not in a well, look at me, I’m great and I’m not not a bad person. But you can then handle it differently now that you understand where their question is coming from.


    And that gives you so much more leverage, both in the persuading, selling conversation that you have so you can be more effective in that conversation. As well as just being more effective overall with communicating with that person because now you’re at a deeper level.


    Now they’ve shared something with you, something that maybe hurt them in the past, or they’re worried about it or they’re worried about their credit, or they’re worried about financing, or a cancellation or return policy, whatever that might be.


    Now you know something a little bit more, and then you can address that and be supportive and move forward by helping them. That’s one of the best ways to not sound pushy when somebody gives you a question and you’re trying to overcome it.


    You always want to answer it as short as possible, step back, ask them some kind of follow up questions and see if you can get at their true nature of where that question came from. Because every question that somebody asked comes from somewhere.


    It’s either something they’ve dealt with in the past, something that’s happened to them, that was bad, and they don’t want it to happen to them again, right. So, they dealt with some other salesperson, some other company that screwed them over, or they had a bad experience and they don’t want to have that happen again.


    Or it’s questions or objections or issues that they know that somebody outside of them is going to ask them. And so they better have the answer for. Perfect example is if you’re dealing with consumers, at some point, you’re going to deal with somebody who is worried about what, let’s say their parents are going to say, or Uncle Bob or their significant other.


    And so sometimes they may be asking you questions purely because they want to check that off the list in case they call their parents later on. And their parents say you bought what, you signed up for what? What about this? What about that? Did you ask them about this?


    They know from experience, their parents are going to ask that. And instead of looking like an idiot, like they have in the past where they’ve either made a mistake or their parents are pushing on them or Uncle Bob, or whoever it is, they want to be prepared with all the answers to justify why they did it.


    And so you it’s good to know that. It’s good to ask questions, say, “Hey, why is that important? Let me ask you why you’re asking these questions?” And again, do it with the right tone, because you can also do it terribly wrong.


    “Let me ask you, why is that important to you? Well, why do you keep asking me all these questions?” That stuff will trigger things and make it go really south. So, you want to make sure you’re asking it from the right place inside, for the right reasons with the right goal.


    And they might say, “Hey, yeah, my dad is going to ask me all these questions or my husband or my wife or Uncle Bob is going to ask me all of these questions or ask me these things. And I want to be able to tell them, this or that, what the fee was or contract, whatever that might be for your situation.


    So keep that in mind, ask questions, get the root of that. And that’s basically should help cover it and then you can make your sale and not just in the moment, right. Part of this and this is what I talked about a lot on The Sales Experience Podcast and my whole focus is, it’s not just about making the sale today.


    I could teach a lot of people how to make sales today, but they’re going to turn into terrible cancels tomorrow, terrible reviews online, lots of backlash, lots of charge backs. That’s not good, right? There are ways to get sales, that would be very short term thinking. But that’s not why I’m here, that’s not what I’m helping you with that’s not what I help my clients with and salespeople with.


    The goal is long term. So not just getting the sale today but somebody who is less likely to wake up at two in the morning, freaking out and worried about what they bought or a week later, they still feel excited for what they bought, they’re still thankful.


    If you were to call them in a month, would they be excited to hear from you? Would they be thankful to hear from you? And then when you ask them for referrals, would they be willing to share your information with people they know or give you direct names and phone numbers of friends, families, acquaintances, whoever they know that might need your product or service? That’s what you should focus on.


    And when you deal with their objections in the right way, addressing them, handling them, and then trying to discover more, then you can get to that point where you’re closing sales, even at an amazing rate. Closing way better, maybe even then manipulative salesy salespeople that everyone is worried about, and long term clients. Whether you ever talk to them again or not, you’re doing the right thing and they’re happy long term.


    All right. That’s it for another episode, another episode of me getting through one single question, but hopefully this is helpful. Hopefully, you’re enjoying this. Make sure to send me a message, CutterConsultingGroup.com, the website, you can find the contact page on there, you can find my email, send me a message.


    Also LinkedIn, I spend a lot of time on there on chat. You know, send me a connection request, let’s connect. Let’s talk, let’s chat. We can even get on a phone call. I love talking about sales as you could probably tell, considering the fact that I can literally only get through one question at a time on the show here.


    Hopefully, you’re enjoying it. If you have specific questions, send me a message would love to hear from you. And as always remember that everything in life is sales and people will remember the experience you gave them.


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By Jason Cutter February 26, 2025
How Can You Predict The Future Of Sales Ops? One of the keys to sales success is to be able to predict the future – what that other person is thinking, what they might say, what they will experience, how they will feel about the product/service. But what can you do – from a sales ops leadership perspective – to predict the future in masse of all the potential customers that will flow into and out of the sales process/funnel? That is a really tough one, but it is doable. Meeting Prospective Customers Where They Are The key is to always meet the prospective customers where they are and with the experience they hope to find. It’s a common theme now in these articles because it’s important AND widely disregarded – your potential customers do not care about you, your sales team, your company, your industry. They don’t care about your stats, your testimonials, your logos. They don’t care about your mission statement or your values. They only care about themselves. They also firmly believe that there is currently unlimited choice for any product/service, which means that everything in their mind is a commodity. Easily replaceable and interchangeable. Nothing (other than iPhones…which you can only get from Apple) is special to consumers unless they feel like it should be special. Are You Still Making It All About You? There is a good chance you are still running a marketing, sales funnel that is all about you. I bet if I looked at your company’s website that from the top down it’s all about you (the company). How great you are. What you do for people. What you have done for others. I bet if I tried to speak with your sales team, I will be made to go through your process whether I like it or not. Maybe fill out a form and wait for a response. Or made to call into a toll free number, even though I don’t want to talk to someone yet. Or made to use a chat widget on a site to get started. I bet when I speak with your sales team, 70-80% of the conversation will be about them, your company, and how amazing you all believe you are. This is all fair. No one starts a company to be mediocre. The goal is to provide value and make money. The missing piece, again like I said above, is no one cares about your goals. They only care about themselves. Predicting What Customers Want From The Sales Experience Back to your mission as sales ops leader – predict what massive amounts of prospective customers are going to want from the Sales Experience. It’s why I wrote about it last week and even offered up a book for free to help in any way that I can. To succeed at your mission, you have to stay ahead of the curve of what the public, and specifically – your buying demographic, psychographic, and valuegraphics, want from that experience. Key Questions To Shape The Sales Experience Do they want to call, text, email or chat? Probably all of them…so can you offer each one? (Don’t make someone decide if they want to go through your hoops…remove all the hoops) Do they need to see pricing online – should it be available and transparent? (In most cases, yes) What sales process will be ideal for moving the most people through the sales conversation to a successful outcome? (More discovery, empathy, active listening. More front-loaded about them, not you. Use the Authentic Persuasion Pathway as your model) Who are the decision makers? Is that individual going to decide or do they need to check with others for approval? (Set them up for success, and don’t force them to make a decision in the moment – you will just lose the potential sale) What type of follow up do they want and need until they make the buying decision? What type of post-purchase follow up would go above and beyond a) their expectations and b) what others in your industry do? If there is an ‘onboarding’ stage after the sale – how can you make that actually customer centric and successful? (It is rarely both) Can You Stay Ahead of the Curve? Remember – evolution is natural. The buying public is always evolving their desired sales experience. Can you predict the future of what they want so that when they encounter your company it matches what they were hoping to find – both in the experience and the solution to their need?
By Jason Cutter February 25, 2025
How do you, as a sales leader, help your team become Oracles that can predict the future? [make sure to read the Selling Effectiveness article this week https://go.sellingeffectiveness.com/LI.2.25.AM ] There are five ways to facilitate their Oracle-ness. Be Present in the Moment First, you have to get your salespeople to be in the moment. The challenge that most salespeople (and…humans, for that matter) experience is they are always thinking ahead. Salespeople default to thinking about what they will say next. The next part of their script or process. The next question they want to ask so they can get through discovery. The next part of the agreement they need to discuss and review. Their mind is too busy thinking about what they are going to say and do next, that they aren’t present. As weird as it sounds, if you want to predict the future you must be present. I have said this for decades: the moment you no longer need to think about what you are going to say/do next and can actually be present with your prospect and truly listen to what they say (and don’t say) – you will become a sales professional. Master Active Listening Second is Active Listening and paying closer attention. It’s actively listening…it’s taking what I mentioned above and putting into place. First step is to be present, second is to actually listen. For what they say. For what they aren’t saying. For changes in their tone. For when they are talking to someone on the side – who are they talking to, and is it about your sales conversation? If you sell in person, reading their body language and facial expressions. You must help them develop an almost sixth sense of listening (and yes, I know hearing is one of our senses…but this goes beyond hearing…it’s truly, deeply listening). Ask Better Questions Third, is to help them ask better questions. So many people in sales ask the discovery questions they are required to ask in order to check the discovery ‘box’. Or, they have done sales long enough they know all the answers, they think they know what everyone wants and why, so no reason to even ask questions. [Note – this type of salesperson thinks two dangerous things: 1 - everyone is the same and wants the same thing, 2 – people like to be sold to.] When your team asks better, deeper discovery questions with a focus on uncovering the what and the WHY, they will get better answers. Remember this – when you ask the right questions and you listen close enough, each prospect will tell you EXACTLY how to help them buy. Build Up Experience Fourth, build up experience. If you want to predict the future it comes from enough experience to know the probability of what will happen. For example, when I am in a season of commuting from home to an office, I am the type of person that can predict exactly what will happen on the freeway. Which lane is always faster around certain exits, which lanes always slow down, how much leaving five minutes later can make the drive suck a lot more. How do I know what will happen on a freeway with hundreds and hundreds of random people? Because of experience (and the fact that most people are just going through the motions in life so they become predictable). The more experience your team has with sales scenarios, they more they can predict the future. I generally see that it takes about six months for most people in a new sales role to have seen enough scenarios where they can start to know what will come next before it happens. Trust Intuition The fifth and final trait to help them with is intuition. One definition of intuition is “a thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning.” It’s that feeling you get when you know something, even if you cannot explain it. It’s what Malcom Gladwell wrote about in Blink! It’s what we do very well as humans, even if we don’t listen to it. The more you can help your team tune into their intuition and listen and trust it – the better they will do in helping persuade that other human. This goes back to the first suggestion – about being present. When your team trusts they know what to do and say next and they are mentally living in the moment with that prospective client, they can let their intuition guide them. Conclusion When I do trainings, public speaking, facilitating meetings, interviews, and sales – this is my main key to success. I trust and know that I have the experience to handle whatever comes my way in the present moment, while also knowing the destination I am heading towards. I can be present, let that experience and my intuition guide me instead of getting stuck in my head and worrying about what I will say next. Get your team to do some or all of these five steps – and they will become an amazing Oracle.
By Jason Cutter February 25, 2025
The Oracle’s Role in The Matrix If you have seen the Matrix movies, starring Keanu Reeves (as Neo), then you are familiar with an Oracle. In the movies, the Oracle knows what will happen. She has seen it, and it is predestined. In the Oracles mind there is no such thing as free will. In the first Matrix movie, Neo goes to visit her and knocks a vase off the shelf, and it hits the ground and breaks. Right before he hits it, she says “Don’t worry about the vase.” Neo says, “How did you know?” Then the Oracle responds with “What’s really going to bake your noodle later on, is would you still have broken it if I hadn’t said anything.” Becoming an Oracle in Sales Your mission as a sales professional is to be an Oracle for your prospects and clients. To know the future. Then be able to see around corners, as they say. Which means you know what is going to happen before it happens, because you have enough experience that you have become a psychic. You want to be able to predict, with amazing accuracy: What will happen next What will happen after that What issues will pop up What your prospect/client is thinking before they think it What concerns they might have before they have them Eliminating the Fear of the Unknown During your presentation/demo you want to set the expectation of what is going to occur next. Remember, humans fear the unknown. They want to avoid risk as much as possible. Your sales presentation is risky and dangerous and very unknown. They don’t know if you have good intentions or not. Are you going to persuade them? Are you going to try to manipulate them? Are you going to overcharge them? Will you actually care about what they need and want? Dealing with salespeople is so scary. Yet they still need and/or want something, so it’s the dangerous game they must mentally play. Guiding the Buyer Step by Step When you explain what you are going to do in part 1 of your process, and then what that part is done you let them know the plan for part 2, and so on – they will be at ease in the moment. They will feel like they have control over this portion, that there is an exit they can take if they don’t want to proceed. That level of control will help them accept the risk of part 1, and part 2, and part 3. Tell them what you will do. Do it. Tell them what you did. This will validate that you can be trusted. Predicting Thoughts and Feelings The next level is being able to predict what they will think and feel before they do. You can use this information in your presentation (without telling them what you are doing). You can also verbalize it, which could sound like “I am guessing from experience that you are probably wondering about _____, so let’s cover that right now.” Or “most people I speak with ask about _____.” They will think – wow this person knows what I am thinking, he/she is in my mind! And that’s a good thing. A really good thing. Conclusion The more they feel like you know what you are doing, know what they are thinking, know what they are afraid of – the more they trust you as a Guide. Because Guides only know what they know because they have helped other Heros successfully accomplish their journeys. Your mission as a sales professional: Become an Oracle.
By Jason Cutter February 19, 2025
What does it take to build the ideal Sales Experience? Why does it even matter? Maybe you think you already have one. You are a professional sales ops leader. You have put everything you can in place to help your salespeople sell more. You have optimized the processes so that your sales team can focus on one thing – selling. But I promise – even if you think all of that is true, it’s not. The Reality: No Perfect Sales Experience Exists I have never seen any company or team with the ‘ideal’ Sales Experience and operation. And to be honest – I have never built one successfully. Why would I admit that? Because the ideal Sales Experience is aspirational and business, teams, processes, and customer needs/desires are constantly changing. So as soon as you put new processes in place, something else needs to change and evolve. The Scalable Sales Success Iceberg In my Scalable Sales Success Iceberg – there are 24 categories that, when built out, create a scalable sales machine – where you can add in an input and get way more output. I would love to see companies have all 24 categories set up and running optimally. But that’s not even possible – because, as I mentioned, things are always changing. Focusing on the Biggest Levers Here is the key – to build the ideal Sales Experience takes focus on the biggest levers. The ones that, when pulled, create the biggest and best results. There are many processes and systems that you can put in place – but those are going to get you a few percentage points of improvement. Instead of putting it all in here, I want to make you a special offer. Email me at jason@sellingeffectiveness.com with your mailing address, and I will mail you the book that I co-wrote with Nick Glimsdahl called Reasons Not To Focus On The Sales Experience. It will be your starter guide, facilitating the creation of your ideal Sales Experience.
By Jason Cutter February 18, 2025
The Numbers Game Mentality is a Losing Strategy Sales is no longer a “numbers game.” You cannot succeed, long term, by focusing on volume of activity. Making a million dials, sending a million emails, knocking on a million doors (the first two are way easier than that last one) is a scorched earth strategy that will sink your business. You can’t out-dial a bad sales process. It will lead to even more bad online reviews. You can’t out-email a terrible sales funnel process that requires people to jump through poorly planned hoops. You can’t out-knock your way past slimy tactics and bad products/services. The Danger of the "Every No Gets Me Closer to a Yes" Mindset The whole “every no gets me one step closer to a yes” mentally is dangerous. That mindset and strategy assumes that it’s a numbers game. That the only thing that matters is finding the right person who will buy from you. Potentially, no matter what you even say – they are just ready to buy. Not only will this destroy any online reputation you have it will also wreak havoc on your team. It is the fastest and best way to burn out your team. It will lead to a revolving door or hiring, training, and quitting as people realize how unfun the game is you have built and how hard it is to be successful. It will also feel like a mismatch – very few people (and hopefully even less over time) are long-term excited about the business model of calling 500 people a day in hopes of making a few sales. If It’s Not a Numbers Game, Then What Is It? It’s quality over quantity. [Now…note – it does take a certain quantity of activity to fill a sales pipeline. So I am not saying that your sales team can just sit and wait for people to fall into their pipeline with money in hand.] It’s about the Sales Experience. It’s about your team ensuring that they are providing the right and best experience for that potential customer – in a way that sets them up to get into the buying mood and mode. All that matters is the Sales Experience. How can you support your team in terms of the quantity of activity to fill a pipeline, and then the quality of interaction that leads to sales? What Does an Ideal Sales Experience Look Like? What does that look like – the ideal Sales Experience? It’s when your team understands that the potential customer they are speaking with only cares about themselves. They don’t care about the salesperson, your company or the product. They are only focused on themselves. It’s when the Discovery/Empathy portion of the conversation is the most important part. Does your team realize that everything after Discovery – when done right – is just a presentation of the solution? It’s the fact that when you combine the parts of the Authentic Persuasion Pathway (Rapport + Empathy + Trust + Hope + Urgency) that the assumptive close is all you need. If your team is having to ask for the sale they are doing sales wrong. And don’t confuse earning the right to close with asking for the sale. The Sales Leader’s Role in Creating a World-Class Sales Experience Your job as a sales leader is to ensure your team understands that the only thing – above all else – is the sales experience they provide to each potential customer. That customer knows that they have the power and the feeling of unlimited choice. Which means they will decide who to give their money to based on the experience they have with buying from a company. How can you shift your team away from the numbers game mentality to actually providing a world class sales experience to each and every person they speak with?
By Jason Cutter February 17, 2025
The Abundance of Options Today we all have lots of options. While writing this I could speak into my phone and order whatever I want. I can get food delivered before I finish writing this article. I could get a TV delivered to my door before I wake up tomorrow. When someone wants to buy something, they are armed with as much information as they want to access. They can research, read reviews, and watch videos about a product or company. The Shift in Power to the Buyer Because of this, the power balance of sales has shifted away from the salesperson and company to the buyer. Knowledge is power – and they now have all the knowledge they want. With knowing that they have ultimate choice of what to buy (internet and globalization has led to the ability to order anything you want from anywhere…so you are no longer limited to the stores you can drive to and what they have on hand), it means that everything is a commodity in their minds. Nothing is unique or special. Everything is interchangeable. Does the Sales Experience Even Matter? So, this means the sales experience doesn’t matter anymore. There is no reason to put effort into the sales process, the conversations with potential customers. No value in spending time trying to ‘help’ people – since they just view products, salespeople, and companies as interchangeable. You are not special, so there is no benefit in caring. They will walk into your store, and they will decide what they want. They fill out your online for, and they decide if they answer when you call and how the call will go. They walk up to your event/booth, and they decide how the interaction will go and if they want to listen to your elevator pitch. They will let you know if they are interested in moving forward. They will let you know how they want to buy. So, like I said above, there is no real value anymore in the sales experience. Or could it actually be valuable? Is it possible that all that matters IS the sales experience? If people feel they have ultimate information and control of the buying process, how do they decide on what to buy and who to buy from? When I search on Amazon for a product type I have never purchased before, how do I pick? When I want to go shopping for garden supplies for the house, how do I pick where to go? When I need to buy a new fridge, who will I hand my money over to? The cheapest place with terrible service? The place with reasonable prices and great service? The Sales Experience Shapes the Decision I choose based on the sales experience that I will receive. With everything else being equal, I (and I believe most people) will select the place to shop at or the products to buy online based on the experience I receive. To me all that matters is the experience. While I am trying to buy something. Once I receive it – ensure it does what I need it to do. With the feeling of unlimited choices, it can actually be harder now to buy something that in the past. People get into analysis paralysis more often. Which means that for consumers to buy something new they need help. They need a professional salesperson. They need a sales experience that matches their expectations. They want a guide who will help them make the right decision for them, with an experience that goes above and beyond what more people receive any more when they walk into a store, call a company’s toll-free number, or visit a website and have to fill out a form. If you want to succeed in sales – the only thing that matters is the sales experience you provide.
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