CHAPTER 10
RESPONDING TO OBJECTIONS
Outline of Chapter
I. The goal is to build relationships and sell value
II. When do buyers raise objections?
A. Setting up an initial appointment
B. The presentation
C. Attempting to obtain commitment
D. After the sale
III. Common objections
A. Objections related to needs
1. I do not need the product or service
2. I’ve never done it that way before
B. Objections related to the product
1. I don’t like the product or service features
2. I don’t understand
3. I need more information
C. Objections related to the source
1. I don’t like your company
2. I don’t like you
D. Objections related to the price
1. I have no money
2. The value does not exceed the cost
E. Objections related to time
1. I’m just not interested today
2. I need time to think about it
F. Other objections
IV. Behaviors of Successful Salespeople
A. Anticipate objections
B. Forestall known concerns
C. Relax and listen—do not interrupt
E. Evaluate objections
F. Always tell the truth
V. Effective response methods
A. Direct denial
B. Indirect denial
C. Compensation method
D. Referral Method
E. Revisit method
F. Acknowledge method
G. Postpone method
H. Using the methods
I. Confirming That the Objection Has Been Answered
J. Objections when selling to a group of buyers
VI. The price objection
A. Use to-to-date information
B. Establish the value
C. Use communication tools effectively
VII. Dealing with tough customers
VIII. Selling Yourself
IX. Summary
Teaching Suggestions
(an alternative would be to use the PowerPoint slides provided with the text)
1. Start by asking students:
“How do you feel when someone interrupts you? Or causes you to start talking about a
different topic before you’re ready? Or tell you “no”? How do you feel?”
Elicit their responses. Then explain that objections are basically when the prospect does
these kinds of things to a salesperson. Thus, we need to discuss how to effectively handle
objections so that both the buyer and seller are pleased.
2. Briefly mention the reasons why buyers object. Note that personal risk (of making a bad
decision) can often be a hidden objection. You may want to discuss the results of Exercise
before class.
3. Ask students to list all of the objections they can think of, assuming that someone is
trying to sell them a luxury car. List these on the board. When finished, add ones that they
might have forgotten.
4. Provide more information about the objection: “The value does not exceed the cost.”
Talk about the tradeoffs that occur in a buyer’s mind.
5. List the traits of salespeople who are successful at helpfully responding to objections.
With regard to “positive attitude” you may want to relate an example they can
understand:
“Policemen are our friends. We like them. They protect us and enter our house for us if a
burglar is still in there. They save lives because they are trained to respond quickly and
effectively in times of emergency. We have a positive attitude toward them. Our attitude
changes, however, if we are driving down the freeway at 85 mph in a 65 mph zone and
they pull us over. We wish they weren’t there. We resent them.”
“In the same way, objections are our friends. They help us know what’s on the prospect’s
mind. They come at the wrong time, though, right while we’re covering an important
point. Even so, we should have a positive attitude toward them.”
6. Describe forestalling known concerns. Many students get this confused with postponing
an objection. In fact they are almost exactly the opposite.
7. Discuss effective response methods. Go over an example of each one. Then ask students
to provide an example of each response method for the objection: “I can’t hire you!
8. Discuss the “Thinking It Through” from the text:
Assume you have worked as a salesperson for an industrial chemical firm for six months.
You attended a two-week “basic selling skill” course but have not yet attended any
product knowledge training classes. You are making a call with your sales manager. The
buyer says, “Gee, you look too young to be selling chemicals. Do you have a chemistry
degree?” Before you get a chance to respond, your manager says, “Oh, he (meaning you)
has already completed our one-month intensive product knowledge course. I guarantee he
knows it all.” What would you say or do? What would you do if later the buyer asked
you a technical question?
It is usually best to correct misstatements as quickly as possible. For example the rep
could state: “Well, actually Jim (the name of the rep’s manager) I did go to a two week
class and am scheduled for my product classes in four weeks. I’m really looking forward
to them. Until then I have Jim by my side always.”
9. Talk about the importance of having the prospect agree that the objection was totally
resolved before moving on in the presentation. Ask “What would happen if the objection
was not resolved but the seller went on with the rest of her presentation?”
10. Talk about how to deal with tough or angry customers. Have students relate stories from
their own lives for examples. You may want to complete Exercise 10-4 (which can be
11. Summarize the discussion by reminding students of suggested steps to follow (Exhibit 10-
3).
Suggested Answers to Ethics Problems
1. In this chapter you learned about the acknowledge method (pass-up method) where you
let the buyer talk, acknowledge that you heard the concern, pause, and then move on to
another topic. Given that you are not actually answering the buyer’s concern, how can
that be ethical? Wouldn’t the ethical thing to do be to answer the concern directly?
2. Why not just use the direct denial method for objections or concerns that are raised by
the buyer that are factually inaccurate? Isn’t using the indirect denial just a trick to keep
the buyer liking you?
Suggested Answers to Questions and Problems
1. Categorize each of the following responses into the five basic types of objections. Then
illustrate one way to handle each.
a. After a sales presentation, the dairy farmer says, “You’ve made some good points,
but your competitor’s feed supplements can do just about everything yours can do.”
b. After the Nike salesperson answers an objection, the prospect remarks, “I guess
your product is all right, but as I told you when you walked in, things are going pretty
well for us right now without your product.”
c After a thorough presentation about new educational resources for early
childhood students, the prospect answers, “Are you kidding me? You want how much
money for that online access to those articles?”
d. The industrial maintenance customer says, “I can buy those cleaning supplies
online for a lot less than what you’re selling them for.”
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3. Describe the differences between the compensation method and the referral method for
responding to objections. Then, making any assumptions necessary, provide a clear
example of each for this objection: “This new virtual reality training headset is way too
expensive. I can buy some virtual reality headsets much cheaper than buying your units!”
Compensation is where you help the buyer understand that there are tradeoffs when
producing a product, with the absence of one feature being hopefully offset by a feature
that is present. Referral method is bringing the testimony of someone else to the table for
proof of an assertion.
4. Occasionally a buyer will offer several objections at one time. How would you respond if
a buyer made the following comments without pausing? “Say, what is the estimated
delivery time for these units, and how can I be sure they will arrive on time? Oh, and
what happens if my needs change before our contract were to end?”
5. In Building Partnerships 10.1, the seller offered this advice: “Stop selling and begin
helping” Give an example of how you might be able to do that if you were selling group
tickets to a business for a sporting event on your campus.
Student answers will vary. For example, “You said you’re looking for a way to bring your
6. Choose a hotel in your town. Assume that you work at that hotel and are planning to
make calls to local civic organizations like the Kiwanis Club, the Lions Club, and so
forth. Assume that the hotel has a private meeting room available that will seat 25
people. Your objective is to have officers of the clubs schedule their monthly meetings at
the hotel..
a. Make a list of three objections you may expect to encounter.
b. List the answers to those three objections, and label the methods used.
Students should have no trouble coming up with a long list of objections (e.g. “You’re a
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9. For each of the following objections, provide answers that clearly demonstrate the direct
denial and indirect denial methods. Assume each objection is not true.
a. My architectural customers wouldn’t be impressed with the ability to see their
proposed design plan in a 3-D virtual walkthrough. It’s enough for me to just explain it to
them and show them two-dimensional drawings.
b. The cost of replacing the power supply system will be more than just buying a new
unit.
Direct denial: Actually, that’s not the case. The filter only costs … while the cost of a
new unit is . . .
Indirect denial: At first glance, that sounds valid. However, you might be surprised to
learn that the cost of a new filter is only …
c. I heard that the flame retardant used in manufacturing your systems might cause
cancer.
d. I can buy this cheaper online.
Direct denial: No, it’s not offered online anywhere.
10. For each of the following objections, provide answers that clearly demonstrate the
compensation method and referral method. Assume all the objections are either true or
are the prospect’s opinion, and make any assumptions necessary:
a. Your after-incident cleanup service, for buildings damaged by storms and fires, costs
a lot of money!
Compensation method: It’s true it does cost a lot of money. But take a look at the
features of our service… they more than offset the cost of the service…
b. I don’t think our customers will like the new bluetooth speakers you’re selling.
c. Your repair technicians aren’t certified by the international certification agency.
Compensation method: That’s right, they’re not certified. But we’ve found that that
saves our customers about $55 an hour on labor. And they are fully trained by Joe, our
master mechanic, even though they just aren’t certified.
d. My customers have never asked for this brand of air freshener.
Suggested Answers to Case Problems
Case 10-1: Zadro Inc. (Part B)
1. What objections could the buyer raise? (Use any assumptions necessary to develop this
list.)
2. Provide a response to each objection you listed in question 1 (make any assumptions
necessary to create your response). Include the name of the method you recommend for
each objection.
Other objections could be listed. These are just a few examples.
1. I don’t need the wand.
2. We’ve never had a wand like that before. It would be impossible to learn how to use it.
3. I’ve never heard of your company before.
4. You seem too young .
5. We don’t really have the money to buy your wand.
(Compensation) I know what you mean. The wand does cost money. But the reality is
Case 10-2: The London Telegraph
Questions
1. Here is a list of possible objections you think might occur during this first meeting with
Skylyn. Assume that each objection for this question is actually an untrue statement. For
each objection, provide a possible response, and label the method you used. Make any
assumption necessary to create your responses.
a. Your paper has been involved in a scandal for taking bribes from politicians so you
will give them favorable editorial treatment.
b. Advertising with you costs more than with other papers in London.
c. You have never dealt with an auction house before, so you couldn’t know what our
needs are or how to address them.
d. I read that your circulation is down to about 200,000 daily.
Indirect denial. Years ago, you were correct, because it was down. But for the past five years, our
circulation is actually growing and stands at 350,000 today.
2. Here is a list of possible objections you think might occur during this first meeting with
Skylyn. Assume that each objection for this question is actually a true statement or an
opinion. For each objection, provide a possible response, and label the method you used.
Make any assumption necessary to create your responses.
a. I never did like your paper because it is too conservative-leaning.
b. The circulation of your paper is way down from its high of years ago. I’m afraid it
could fold.
c.You published a nasty letter-to-the-editor from someone who had very unkind things to
say about Barnebys.
d.The London Evening Standard is a better paper.
End of Chapter Role Play Chapter 10
For the Instructor:
On the next several pages you will find the buyer scenarios for the three sets of role
plays.
Assign the students to visit the Gartner website if they haven’t done so already in order to
get the latest pricing and product information. There is information at the end of the book
that they can use also, but it helps them prepare if you make them go to the website and
look for it because they are more apt to read how others have used Gartner and other
important information. They’ll need pricing information before the next role play on
closing in Chapter 11.
Our students tend to complain that they don’t know enough about Gartner to handle these
objections. This is a great opportunity to point out the following:
1. You need to know your product, but also your competitor’s product! We didn’t include
any difficult objections about competitors, but this is a good time to raise that issue of
objections involving product comparisons.
2. The web-site contains a lot of information that they can and should have been using – as
do competitors’. Remind them that it is there, along with the end-of-chapter information.
3. Note, also, the relationship between objections and the multi-attribute matrix. Sometimes
objections arise because the rep misunderstands the weight that a buyer places on a
feature, or how they rank your feature. This is a good time to review that material.