I've heard it said that objections are excuses to move the conversation forward - a positive sign that the buyer is interested.

I have a very different interpretation. For me, objections mean that the buyer:

doesn't know how to make sense of any internal change your product might require;

doesn't know how to differentiate your product from the competition;

is getting defensive when noticing that a need for your product might demonstrate their personal or professional incompetence;

would need to change their belief they can solve the problem themselves;

doesn't believe they have a problem - or at least one they'd be willing to let you resolve;

is defending themselves against your need to push information at them;

has developed a creative work-around for the problem making it difficult for them to make a change easily.

If the prospect has an obvious, unresolved problem, why would they defend their status quo, you might ask? Because even if the problem is obvious to them, their total solution might not be. And your product - even if necessary, and even if relevant - is only a piece of their solution, not their entire solution.

Remember that your product is merely a potential response to the business problem they need resolved. If the solution will be more trouble than the problem it solves, it's not worth the effort.

WHAT DOES A SOLUTION ENTAIL

From where you stand, a client's problem seems obvious. And, equally obvious to you is how your solution would fit to solve their problem.

But you're standing outside - outside of the problem, outside of the total solution, outside of the buyer's environment, outside of any work-arounds they've created that would need to be undone.

When you think you notice a problem that your product can solve, you see only that part of a hidden system that seems to have the attributes your product addresses. Like a hammer walking around seeking a nail.

Does the likely problem need to be resolved? Or is it ready to be resolved? Does the group want to resolve it? Or want to resolve it with something like your product? Or does the group want to change the current work-around…now? Does the whole decision team agree? How committed to the work-around are they? And who on the decision team would have to add more work, or change their job, or work with someone they dislike, in order to use your solution? Maybe they are attempting to fix it their own way; or they see a different route towards a solution; or they need to keep it that way for a reason.

You don't know the answers to those questions. You can't know the answers to any of those questions.

The truth is, you can't know any of what is truly going on within your client's environment. And even if it seems obvious, even if you ask all the right questions that give you lots of secret data, you will still never know how the buyer's culture operates. It's private, unique, and personal. Like the difference between telling people about your childhood, and having lived it.

And when you assume that your solution will solve a prospect's problem, and offer them the information you think they'll use to understand how your product can help, you are asking for an objection. Indeed, sales creates objections.

Years ago, I sat before three men at a table on a prospecting call. My new sales rep had arranged a visit for us to discuss Buying Facilitation. Since I don't believe in doing face-to-face visits until a prospect is a client, and my driving time totaled 6 hours, I was not a happy camper. But my new sales person had made the appointment and assured me that this was a great opportunity.

As I sat down, the three men facing me were seated about 2 feet apart from one another. The conversation went like this:

SDM: How is your current sales training working?

Prospect #1: Well, it's ok.

Silence from Prospect #2 and Prospect #3.

SDM: Do either of the two of you want to comment?

Prospect #2: Nope. I'll let him speak for now.

Prospect #3 remained silent.

SDM: How long has it been just 'ok'?

Prospect #1: About two and a half years.

Around now I noticed an uncomfortable shifting of seats. It became obvious that men #1 and #2 were shifting to the right, while #3 stayed in place. There was a growing gap between them.

SDM: I'm assuming you want a program that's better than just ok. How did you decide that it was time to call us for possible additional sales training?

Prospect #1: We didn't. Janet called us and told us about you, and we thought it might be nice to have you come down and give us a presentation.

SDM: Well, actually, I don't think we have a lot to discuss. Sounds to me like you're doing fine and you're happy with what you've got.

Prospect #2: Why do you say that?

SDM: Two and a half years is a long time to be unhappy with a sales program. That must also mean you're not getting the results you want?

Prospect #1: That's right. But we stay pretty much on target with our budget numbers so it's seemed fine. I just think we can do better.

SDM: But I don't see you seeking change.

Prospect #1: Right. We'd have to come to some sort of plan.

SDM: Let me leave you with some material, and you can call me when you're ready.

HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN SOMEONE IS A PROSPECTIVE CLIENT?

I left, and was prepared not to hear from the men again. But I got a call the next day from #1 with the rest of the story. It seems that man #3 was the nephew of the owner of the bank, and he had designed, developed, and taught the training material over the years. As it was a family-run private bank, the other men were waiting for #3 to pipe in and be prepared to work with me toward changing the training. He stayed silent throughout - including after the meeting - and men #1 and #2 knew they had nowhere to go.

I could have done the same facilitative questions on the telephone (the same questions can be asked on a phone call that can be asked in person) and gotten the same result. These people weren't going anywhere (indeed I ran into #1 a year later and they were still using the same training); they weren't even in the market for doing anything different, and no matter how good my product is, no matter how brilliant I might be as a sales person, they were in no position to buy.

Imagine if I had entered as a product seller rather than a Buying Facilitator. Imagine if I spent an hour or so presenting, and gotten excited comments by the two interested men. I would have walked out thinking I'd done a fine job and waited impatiently to hear back: after all, they had an obvious need that my product could solve. I would have called in two weeks, and heard either "We're not ready”; "We haven't decided”; "We don't have a budget now,” etc. I would have heard objections, and would have had no easy answer for why they didn't buy my training.

WHAT EXACTLY IS AN OBJECTION?

Let's look at this from a systems perspective. Systems include people, policies, initiatives, and different forms of relationships. All people exist in some form of system, and most probably multiple systems. Certainly in B-B there are many levels of people-issues that need to be managed before buyers will know how to make a buying decision.

When you pitch/present/push product - no matter how small or large the product, and no matter how junior or senior the seller - all you are doing is standing outside the system looking in, hoping that some of what you are presenting or pitching will be acceptable to the insiders. And what happens? The insiders rebel and defend their status quo. Even if they need a solution, a pitch at the wrong time will elicit reasons why change can't happen now.

Because decisions get made based on internal criteria and include the values and norms the buyers live by, and information won't create a behavior change unless it has been determined where, precisely, the information fits into the whole scope of internal systems, pitches come right up against a person or group's norms. Need a new server? Well, the one we're using is fine and yours is too expensive. Want any new training? We like our current vendor, and we're not ready to give our staff any new skills.

Objections actually are healthy for the client: they protect the client from making quick decisions that do not address all internal factors that would need to shift with change.

Once you understand that your job is to help buyers recognize all of the internal issues that need to be managed as part of a complete solution, it will be easier for the buyers to decide. And since you will never know what the buyer is facing internally, helping them recognize their issues cannot come in the form of any sort of information sharing or gathering. Even if you think you understand the problem or a client's needs, you know only a piece of the entire picture.

The Buying Facilitation Method® will teach your buyers how to line up all of their decision variables by recognizing their own internal criteria - without you offering any pitch/information. The Method uses facilitative questions, such as,

How would you and your decision team go about ensuring that all current initiatives get included in your solution?

What has stopped you from managing the X issues differently until now?

This type of question helps buyers decide, and positions you as a true support person - not to mention gets rid of any need to object. After all, you're just teaching them how to make a decision and design a solution rather than pushing (biased) product information at them.

At the point they know what a solution would entail some sort of product information sharing is appropriate. By then the buyer will have a place for it within their solution description. And there will be no reason to object.

Teach your buyers how to buy. Then - and only then - will there be a place for you to sell into, without any objections.