Objections Handling 101

Many potential objections can be identified and handled during the Pre-Call Planning, Discovery, and Presentation phases of the Sales Process.

Objections that do come up during the sales call should be treated with seriousness and care, and whether they are a bump in the road or a serious obstacle can often be determined by how you handle the objection.

The CGC Sales University approach to objection handling is covered in Module 8 and uses the LAIR (Listen-Acknowledge-Inquire-Respond) method:

1. Listen: Employ active listening skills to truly hear what the objection is (just as you did during the Discovery Phase).
2. Acknowledge: Restate the objection in your own words to demonstrate that you understand before you attempt to be understood.
3. Inquire: Employ open-ended questions to uncover the underlying beliefs and assumptions of that objection.  You are essentially back tracking in the Sales Process at this point to the Discovery Phase.
4. Respond: Your response to the objection should be similar in approach to the Presentation phase of the Sales process – presenting data/facts/information from an educational/teaching approach.

Finally, be sure to circle back at the end of the LAIR process to ensure that the objection was satisfactorily addressed and then determine next steps to closing out the call.