subject: Negotiating Tips: How To Handle Objections [print this page] Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. Samuel Jackson
There will always be objectionsto your price, to your delivery, to your product or service, or maybe even to you. How you handle these objections will determine the success of your business negotiation
The first step in handling objections is to try understand the other party's viewpoing. You dont have to agree with the objection, but you must understand how the other party is thinking. Convey your understanding to the other party by re-phrasing the objection as a question. You can say something like You think our delivery time is too slow?
Handling objections also involves pre-negotiation preparation. For instance, if you are a seller, make a list of your product or services attributes, benefits and disadvantages. Do the same for your competitors product or service. Then, write down every conceivable objection to your product or service. Brainstorm with a group if possible. Come up with a list to counter these objections.
You will notice some objections are hard to handle and others are easy to handle. Easy-to-handle objections can always be refuted with available evidence (competitive pricing for example).
Other objections are harder to deal with. Karrass Negotiation Seminars suggests dealing with these by turning the objection into a yes-or-no question, and trying to elicit a yes answer. For instance, you can say something like I see you are concerned with the price of this product. If you check our competition, you will notice that they dont use the same material in producing the product, and you want this material if you want the product to have a 25-year life span, right?
Karrass counsels that you should NEVER agree with the other partys objection. In the example above, you would never agree point-black that the price is too high, instead you would only note that the other party thinks the price is too high.
The thing to remember is that objections aren't personal. The other party is trying to get the best deal they can for themselves, and you are trying to do the same. So this means that you while you don't want to discount objections, you do want to understand that they are part of the "dance" of negotiation.
Your aim should be to think about possible objections to your product or service and to come up with examples, facts, and other information to address the objection thoroughly and pleasantly.
When you become skilled at managing objections, you are that much closer to yes.
