Experiencing roadblocks in closing deals is unavoidable. Most buyers will have 101 reasons why they cannot commit right away. Your offer might be beyond their budget, they might have no need for your product first, or they need more information about your product or service. But no matter what the reason might be, you can still move these stalled deals forward and even win back the ones you think you’re about to lose.
In this post, we’ll go over the ways you can overcome sales roadblocks and turn them into winning opportunities.
Don’t Be that Salesperson
A lot of sales reps can be likened to boxers. They come to the sales arena very confidently. They think they will come out the winner, but when the conversation doesn’t go their way, they lose their cool, and the strategy goes out of the window.
They begin to aggressively pressure or argue with buyers to convince them. The buyers, on the other hand, become more stubborn with their objections. What should’ve been a pleasant conversation became a stressful one.
Don’t be this kind of salesperson. When you encounter roadblocks, it’s not the end of the world. In fact, you can turn these challenges into opportunities and leverage them to get a yes.
Related: 8 Things You Shouldn’t Do During a Sales Call
Advancing Stalled Deals and Winning Back Lost Ones
There are many ways to face challenges. You can face it head-on, jump over it, go around it, or dig a tunnel under it. But no matter what method you use, clearing them as soon as possible is vital to your success.
The same principle applies to sales. Letting the roadblock sit in front of you longer than it should make it more difficult to remove it.
Roadblocks in sales are the objections buyers have. If you don’t address it immediately, the objections become much stronger. Consequently, you’ll have a more difficult time combatting those objections.
Here are some strategies on how to face these roadblocks/objections and win:
Listen
We can never stress it enough — listening will give you more opportunities than talking. Actively listening helps you uncover things that the buyer won’t say at first.
When your prospect objects, listen first so you can understand what they are truly saying. Don’t respond or interrupt them. Instead, allow them to speak their concerns and objections freely.
Related: From Feet on the Street to Digital: 3 Sales Tips That Never Left
Restate
After they aired their objections and concerns, restate what they said. It sends a message to your prospect that you understand them correctly. They will feel valued and heard. It will also help them clarify their points for you. As a result, they will trust and listen to you.
Validate
After confirming, continue building trust by empathizing and validating their concerns. It does not mean that you recommend your competitors’ products. Empathizing is telling them you understand what they’re going through.
For example, if you are offering a service and your prospect said that they’ve tried similar solutions but it didn’t work out. Or they might say, “the previous management team used that solution but they didn’t go that far.”
Instead of a rebuttal, acknowledge that what they experienced is real, and the emotions they feel are valid. You can say, “Yes, I totally get it. We have a lot of customers who came to us with the same experience.”
Then ask what happened. Don’t just acknowledge that they’ve been burned before. Ask clarifying questions, provide feedback, and share how you handle such situations so you don’t make the same mistakes.
[Highlight: Tell me what happened because we don’t want to make the same mistakes when we implement our solutions. ]
Ask
Treat your sales conversations as conversations. Let it flow as naturally as possible. If you sense your prospect is pulling back, ask follow-up questions to keep them talking.
Use open-ended questions so they can express their thoughts. It will also help you figure out their mental model. Why are their objections so strong?
For example, if your prospect tells you that they can implement the solution themselves, ask: “ How will they go about with this? How long would it take you to be successful?”
Or you can compare their expertise to yours — their successes in doing it versus yours. The issue would be, “sure you have the expertise but do you have time to do it?”
By asking meaningful questions, you can potentially turn those roadblocks into winning opportunities.
Related: 2 Surefire Strategies that Increased My Conversions by 70%
Leverage
Aside from asking questions, you can tell the story of another customer who had similar objections and experiences. Highlight the success of that customer after using your product or service. Then ask if they can foresee themselves in a winning situation like your customer.
Follow up
If your prospect asks for more time for consideration, give them time to mull over their options. But don’t leave them hanging. Instead, set a specific time and date when you can get back to them. Make sure it won’t be long enough that they will lose interest.
The Winningest Solution
Aside from the strategies we gave you, anticipating roadblocks every time you get on a call is the best strategy.
Why?
You have already conditioned your mind so you won’t be surprised when it happens. If you anticipate, you can create a strategy beforehand. When you have a strategy, you can face pressure with grace and gusto. And that’s how you turn sales roadblocks into winning opportunities.
