7 Common Sales Objections and How to Handle Them

An unexpected sales objection can leave even the chattiest of salespeople speechless, and if you don’t sound like you fully believe in what you’re selling, why should your prospect?

You’re not going to be able to predict every objection that gets thrown at you. But with the right preparation and research, you’ll be able to keep your cool and handle – almost – anything.

The main thing to remember: it’s not about getting aggressive or arguing your case, it’s about understanding your buyer’s concerns. Take the time to understand your prospect, how they work, their pain points, and their business goals – don’t just hit them with a hard sell.

It’s all about the LAER framework: Listen, acknowledge, explore, respond.

Let’s look at some of the biggest objections in sales, and how you can adopt this framework to overcome them.

How to handle objections in sales: top 6 techniques

Here’s a quick-fire round of techniques to remember, whatever your sales pitch or however your attempt to close a deal is going:

1. Do your research on the business and your contact
2. Be empathetic to your prospect’s problems and circumstances
3. Take your time on calls – think through your responses before speaking
4. Ask questions; qualifying, follow-up, open-ended, and ultimately unbiased questions
5. Make the most of your team – team selling increases close rates by up to 258%, so don’t be afraid to ask around for advice, opinions, experiences, or even get other members of your team involved in your pitch
6. Use data and insights to demonstrate the true relevance and value of your product

The most common types of sales objections

1) “The price is too high”

The thing is, businesses can be a little tight with their money – actually, they almost definitely will be. And who can blame them? Your own business will be the same. So, this sales objection is very common – actually, the most common.

That’s why your sales pitch is so important, but also why gatekeepers exist. Because every day, businesses will be targeted by salespeople. The trick is to demonstrate the value of your product from the get-go.

You don’t want to waste anyone’s time, including your own, so get to the point. And how do you get to the point faster? Hit them where it hurts: their pain points. Bring the data, and provide a solution that will ultimately lead them to an increased ROI. What’s not to love?

2) “We don’t have the budget”

Okay, so this one is kinda linked: there’s not enough budget. Again, this about proving the value of your product and the results your prospect could have if they purchase it. Budgets can be moved around and reconsidered – but only if you make your pitch clear.

Prove that your product or solution is something the business cannot go without, using your knowledge of their business, their pain points, their goals, and the industry itself.

Don’t forget, your sales pitch needs to prove the test of time. No one wants to reshuffle their budget assignments and invest in a temporary “quick fix”, they’re in it for the long haul. We’re talking about long term benefits – and at the end of the day, value > cost.

Now, I might be biased as a member of the marketing team, but this is where your marketing team can help you go the extra mile. Why? Because marketing is all about showing value. Lean on the marketing materials you have, including case studies, video testimonials, reports – you know the drill. Here’s one example:

If your marketing department doesn’t have anything like this, ask for it! It will be more than worthwhile, for both you and the marketing team – and your prospect.

3) “Now isn’t the right time”

This is either a swift diversion to get you off the phone or out their inbox, or your prospect just doesn’t yet know that your product is actually more than worth their time.

If time is the apparent issue, you’re going to make sure your sales pitch is as clear and concise as ever so you can hold their attention. But also delve into where their priorities are currently, because this could be another way in.

And hey, don’t just tell them why now’s as good a time as ever to join forces, show them the good stuff. Our case studies of similar companies can quickly rope people in, and so will relevant data. The idea of success and more revenue are hard to ignore.

With Similarweb Sales Intelligence, it’s not just relevant data and insights you can get your hands on – it’s the exact data your lead cares about: their growth. Where could this business perform better? What are its pain points? What are the industry competitors doing better? How could your product help the business get to where they want to be?

On top of that, you can use the data available on our platform to demonstrate the ROI of what they could get using your solution, or what they would be missing out on if they waited.

4) “We’re already working with [enter competitor here]”

Showing why you’re better than competitors? This (probably) ain’t your first rodeo. Get those battlecards and that USP ready, folks.

Just because they’re saying they are happy with their current product, service or solution, doesn’t mean you can’t convince them. Continue the conversation, and find out why they chose this current supplier. Then dig a little deeper, and find out where they might actually be falling short.

Enter: your solution to save the day. ‍♀️

Your USP should be created from your competitors short fallings, because this makes it easy for you to slot in. This is what will take your product from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” – you’re filling a (necessary) gap, and making growing their business quicker, easier, or more cost-effective.

5) “I’m going to need to consult my boss”

Uh oh, you’re not speaking to the decision-maker. This is a common obstacle, and can quickly turn into a time-waster if you’re not lucky.

If you’ve already built a great rapport with the original person you are speaking to, fantastic news. Our suggestion would be to set up a call with this person and the decision-maker to run through the points that were already so convincing, (even if it wasn’t the key person).

Don’t forget to do your research on the decision-maker though. This will help to seal the deal.

If you fancy avoiding this potential obstacle completely, that’s just another thing that Similarweb Sales Intelligence can help you with. The whole point of the platform is to help you sell smarter, and that includes finding you the best prospects to target and the contact details you need within that account – whatever role that might be.

6) “Can you put it in an email?”

We’ve all done it – someone rings us at a less-than-ideal time and we ask it to be put in an email so we can get back to it later. While some might get back to that email, some definitely do not, or they take their time about it.

But the thing is, everyone’s inbox is filled with sales messages that your prospect moves straight to the trash if it doesn’t grab their attention. If the prospect allows you the time, use it wisely.

Sure, start off by saying “yes, of course” and asking for their email address – but this is just the hook. Continue to ask qualifying questions and other follow-up questions; it’s likely they will have lowered their guard a little, investing more time and energy into your conversation.

You should still end the call telling them that the information will be in their inbox ASAP, but that sale went a lot further than it would have if you stopped the call after getting their email address. Now, your name, company and sales pitch will stand out from the rest of those emails and that LinkedIn request.

☝️ Yeah, what he said. And that’s another thing Similarweb Sales Intelligence can help you with. Rather than sending over a generic email, you can customize your emails using our Insights Generator, highlighting their specific pain points, what their competitors are up to, and where your solution can help the business reach new heights.

7) “How do I know I can trust you?”

It’s not uncommon for people to question salespeople; where they work, what they’re trying to sell, what they’re saying. It’s not easy to handover money to businesses you don’t know, like, or trust.

Don’t invalidate this response – in fact, don’t invalidate any objection you hear from a prospect. Where did being defensive ever get us? Not to the top of that sales leaderboard of yours, that’s for sure.

It all comes down to being authoritative yet authentic, and demonstrating the value of your product in the most relevant way to them as a potential customer. From this you can build rapport, and even if it’s not the right time now, it could be a matter of jogging their memory the next time you reach out.

With Similarweb Sales Intelligence, you can move from being a salesperson who’s just there to sell a product to being a trusted advisor, providing insights and solutions powered by trusted data.

Handling sales objections with Similarweb Sales Intelligence

Whilst Similarweb Sales Intelligence can’t do the whole job of overcoming sales objections for you, we can definitely help.

From determining the right accounts for you to target (including, 480 million contact details for those accounts) through to providing you with the data and insights you need to win your prospects over.

Here’s a quick run-through of our features to help you close more sales:

• Lead Generator: Search our database of over 100m companies to create a list of your ideal prospects.
• Insights Generator: Create effective outreach based on solving your prospect’s specific pain points and areas of opportunity.
• Contacts: Find the key decision-makers at the companies you’re interested in, and download their contact information at the click of a button.
• Account Review: Full insight into each account, including performance and technologies.
• Sales Signals: Spot upsell and cross-sell opportunities, and reduce churn with account alerts.

Fancy selling smarter with Similarweb Sales Intelligence? Book a demo today:

by Leah Messenger

Senior Content Marketing Manager

Leah is a Senior Content Marketing Manager with a passion for turning complex topics into engaging, educational content.