Why 'Objection Handling' Only Creates More Sales Objections

Learning how to overcome objections is anHuman beings are very much in-tune to subtle,
integral part of just about every sales trainingnon-verbal subcommunication that all human
process. Go through a formal company salesbeings unknowingly send out. When you're
training program, or just pick up any sales book inexpecting sales objections, your prospective
the airport. They all talk about objection handling.customer is going to pick up on it. They may
It only makes sense, doesn't it? You need tosense that you're uneasy, or they may just know
have comebacks to common objections becausethat something is off.
they're going to come up anytime you try toEither way, as soon as they pick up on your
make a sale.doubt, they tune into that doubt and they also
Or will they?begin doubting the decision they're about to make.
After many years, both in sales myself andThen they start firing off objections, and your
teaching others how to sell, I've realized thatsale is stalled.
spending lots of time learning "objection handling"When Napoleon Hill trained insurance agents nearly
can actually be harmful in the long run.a century ago, he taught them that before going
Here's why:to an appointment, they should "send their minds
When you teach a salesperson to overcomeout ahead of them" and imagine themselves
objections, that person begins to expect andalready at the appointment, making a sale with no
anticipate more objections.objections at all.
It's known that a dog can detect fear. So can aOf course, there was no black magic involved
criminal. When you show fear, those who wouldhere. All that really happened is that the
do you harm will take advantage of the situation.salesperson was conditioned to expect the sale.
On the other hand, when you show no fear andWhen you expect a sale, your confidence is
are fully confident, you will be able to stand yourcontagious, and prospects then feel confident
ground and have no fear of attack.doing business with you.
The same is true in sales.When you expect objections, however, that's
Drilling the concept of "objection handling" into aexactly what you'll get.
salesperson's head absolutely convinces thatIf you're a sales manager, take the objection
salesperson that objections are a sure thing. Andhandling lessons out of your trainings and
when you go into an appointment expectingmeetings. Teach your people to expect sales
objections, guess what happens?instead, and as if by magic, they'll get them!
Yep - you will get objections. Lots of them.