Don’t confuse resistance to having a conversation with a prospect objecting to doing business with you… They are probably not even related!
Conversational Resistance
The resistance to a prospecting / cold call conversation is NOT (necessarily) an objection to doing business together.
Rather it’s resistance to have a conversation, with an unknown salesperson, who might waste valuable time. They can’t object to doing business with you if they haven’t even had a conversation about what you could do for them!
If you hear “we have a vendor” or “I’ve got nothing going on” or perhaps “no thank you” in the first 10 to 60 seconds of a call, you need to ask yourself:
- do I hear ______ all the time?
If you do… it may be your opening statement. - what did I HEAR?
In their tone, inflection, the background; perhaps it really was a bad time.
NOW as your objective is to get into an actual conversation with the prospect – let go of your desire to get them to change their mind!
Instead focus on earning their trust to have the initial conversation!
Acknowledge you’ve heard them & ask an open ended question about their resistance to get them talking.
Objections
Objections to doing business with you come up later…
- once you’re in a conversation
- when you’re talking about what they need vs. what you do
- when there is an actual opportunity to do business
for more on what to do when you hear an ACTUAL objection check out Objections aren’t questions – STOP answering them