What are sales objections?
A sales objection is a reason your prospect might have for not buying your product or investing in your service.
For example, they don’t have the budget, or it’s not a priority for them right now. Or, you’re standing too close, Tony, and your breath smells like last night’s takeaway.
Sometimes these reasons are valid. Sometimes they’re excuses. And, in my case, they’re often to get rid of a pushy salesperson. Because I never part with my hard-earned under duress — capiche, Tony?
Salespeople, like Tony, are used to handling objections. They even have training for these kinds of situations. They can sense when a prospect is sitting on the fence and might be susceptible to pressure — I mean, persuasion.
This is all well and good if you’re talking about in-person or telephone sales. But what happens when you don’t have that two-way interaction? Like, on your website, in your brochure, or in your email marketing.
Well, in these situations, you have to rely on written words alone — aka copy.
Copy is the opposite of high-pressure selling
When your prospects are reading your copy, there’s no Tony standing over them. Nobody’s waiting to change their minds when they start finding reasons not to buy from you. They’re free to browse — and free to leave, whenever they want.
What your copy needs to do is anticipate when these sales objections will arise and counter them before they have a chance to take hold. Like cauterising a wound before it starts to bleed. Now there’s a lovely image for you.
Copy isn’t a magic bullet
Let’s be real for a moment. Copy isn’t going to pull sales out of a hat.
Copy can be persuasive, but it’s never going to sell sand in the Sahara. The people you’re talking to must want or need what you’re selling on some level. You need to understand who these people are, so your copy can speak directly to them.
Copy can highlight your strengths, but it can’t erase fundamental weaknesses. Even the best sales copy won’t sell a bad product or convince someone to buy from a company with a questionable reputation.
For your copy to work, you need to make sure everything else is working.
Then we can talk about sales objections handling that focuses solely on your prospect.
Sales objections handling in your copy
Okay, so let’s go through some of the most common sales objections and how your copy can handle them.
Lack of budget
This is the most common sales objection. Prospects might be thinking what you’re offering is too expensive, that their allocated budget won’t stretch, or that it isn’t in their financial plan.
If a lack of budget is the issue, it’s usually because your prospects don’t see enough value to justify the price.
We need to counter these perceptions.
If they think it’s too expensive, why do they think that and what are they comparing it with?
If they’ve under-budgeted, what were they expecting to pay — and where did that number come from?
If it isn’t in their current financial plan, there must be a reason why they’re looking at it now. It might be that they’re considering it for the future. But if it could benefit them now, they might not want to wait.
How we can handle a lack of budget
Here are some ways your copy can help them see the value:
- Reframe the cost as an investment that will give them something back
- Describe how the benefits will outweigh the costs
- Compare the cost of inaction, or taking the wrong action, to your solution
- Show how the results will help them meet their goals
- Give social proof from those who’ve already bought and benefitted.
Lack of need
Prospects might not see the need for what you’re offering. They might feel they’re satisfied with their current solution and not see a reason to change it or upgrade to something better.
If this is the case, they’re probably not feeling the pain or desire strongly enough, so there’s no motivation to do anything about it.
To quash this objection, we need to make them feel it.
How we can handle a lack of need
Here are some ways your copy can help them feel the need:
- Push on the pain points and show how they could get worse if no action is taken
- If they’re not feeling the pain now, show how they may do in the future
- Help your prospects to imagine the difference, before and after they buy
- Show them what they’re missing — they may not even realise
- Use testimonials to show how others have experienced transformative outcomes.
Lack of authority
Your prospect may be the end-user, but they’re not necessarily the decision-maker. They may have to defer to their boss, manager, spouse or parent and convince them to buy.
So how can we help them do that?
How we can handle a lack of authority
Here’s how your copy can help prospects to convince the decision-maker:
- Focus on tangible benefits, such as ROI, time-savings or energy efficiency
- Provide powerful and easily consumable content, like summaries, graphs and charts
- Mention tools that will help them calculate the benefits, specific to them
- Address likely decision-maker concerns with answers and evidence (FAQs)
- Use testimonials and case studies to show real-life results and satisfaction.
Lack of urgency
Maybe your prospect doesn’t feel ready to make a decision about your product or service. Maybe they’re thinking, now isn’t the right time to buy and it’s not a priority for them. Or maybe they just want to lay back and chill on their hammock — and I can’t say I blame them.
If they’re looking at what you’re offering, but don’t have an urgency to buy, it’s because they’re not feeling any pressure and don’t see any issue with waiting.
And maybe this is okay, because not every purchase is urgent, Tony.
But if there’s a genuine reason why your prospects should buy sooner than later — and an ethical reason to get them up off their hammock — your copy can persuade them.
How we can handle a lack of urgency — ethically
Here are some legitimate ways to apply some pressure:
- Explain how waiting or sitting on the fence could be costing them
- Help them to imagine a start today vs. wait 6 months scenario
- Offer them an early bird price or bonus to make it worth their while
- Tell them if you have limited stock/slots or imminent price increases
- Show how their rivals/friends/peers who already have it are gaining an advantage
- Use positive testimonials from adopters who wish they hadn’t waited.
Lack of trust
Your prospects may not be familiar with your brand. They may not feel sure what you’re offering will work for them. Or a previous bad experience might be making them feel hesitant.
When a prospect feels this way, it’s because you haven’t sufficiently proved your credibility or authority to them.
This is an easy sales objection to handle.
How we can handle a lack of trust
If you want your prospect to trust you, here’s how your copy can help:
- Prove you’re a genuine company, with a postal address and several ways to contact you
- Be transparent by introducing your team and detailing your processes
- Give proof of your credentials, such as qualifications, accreditations and certifications
- Demonstrate your products/services and the results they’ve achieved
- Use testimonials/reviews and case studies to show social proof.
Product objections
Your prospects might have objections about your product and whether it’s right for them. Maybe they’re worried it doesn’t have the right features. Maybe they’re worried it won’t work with their existing systems. Or maybe they just think it seems too damn complicated.
In your copy, we can acknowledge these concerns and address them.
How we can handle product objections
Here’s how your copy can get your prospects on board with your product:
- Talk about features and capabilities in terms of their benefits and outcomes
- Educate them on the features they really need to achieve the results they want
- Explain how the product can be flexible or customisable for their specific needs
- Show how the product works with other systems and will stay compatible with updates
- Demonstrate how easy the product is to set up, use and maintain
- Use testimonials, ideally from people who had similar concerns and have been won over.
Service objections
If you’re offering a service, you have a different set of objections than if you’re selling a product.
Your prospects will be looking at you or your company.
They might be concerned about your reliability and whether you’ll deliver on time — or at all. Whether you’ll be available to give them support when they need it. Whether you’re the right fit for their brand. And whether what you’re offering will work for them.
And these fears could be compounded if they’ve already worked with service providers who didn’t deliver.
How we can handle service objections
Here are some ways your copy can convince your prospects you’re the right service provider for them:
- Make it clear who your ideal clients are and who you don’t work with
- Talk about how they can contact you and when they can expect a response
- Give proof of your credentials, such as qualifications, accreditations and certifications
- Use testimonials and case studies to show how your service worked for other clients
- Offer a guarantee or assurance to give prospects more confidence.
Scepticism objections
Your prospects might be sceptical about what you’re offering because it sounds too good to be true. They might be wondering how it will work for them or be thinking there must be a catch.
If your prospects are sceptical, it may be because they’ve been burned before. Maybe a brand promised a lot then never delivered. Or maybe they signed up for something that sounded good, but came with a lot of conditions or disclaimers.
How we can handle scepticism objections
Here are some ways we can use your copy to reassure sceptical prospects:
- Anticipate, acknowledge and address potential scepticisms openly
- Be transparent about what you’re selling, what it does and how it works
- Set your prospects’ expectations so it feels real and tangible
- Show proof with demonstrations, genuine results and outcomes
- Integrate social proof, like testimonials to prove it works.
Competition objections
Maybe your prospect is shopping around. And maybe they’re feeling your competitor is offering something better, or they prefer your competitor’s brand.
Or maybe your prospect is already using one of your competitors, but they’re considering switching to you. They’re familiar with their current brand/package, so they already know what they’re getting. Maybe they don’t see a big enough difference to make switching worth it. Or maybe they think switching will be too much hassle.
How we can handle competition objections
Here’s how your copy can get them off the fence and help them make the switch:
- Be clear about your USPs and what makes you fresh and different
- Offer a side-by-side comparison of your offering vs. your competitors’
- Walk them through the process of switching to show how easy it will be
- Use value-led copy that aligns with what they’re looking for
- Use testimonials from customers who’ve already made the switch.
Change objections
Your prospects may be considering what you’re offering, but have concerns about making the change. Maybe they feel it would require too much adjustment. Maybe they’re worried the team or family won’t like it. Or perhaps it all just seems too disruptive.
For your prospects, change might feel risky. What if it doesn’t work out and they regret it? What if it’s too complicated or they think they won’t have time to learn?
How we can handle change objections
Your copy can make change feel positive and possible. Here’s how:
- Be clear about the benefits of making the change
- Break the change down to make it feel more manageable
- Use step-by-step guides to show how it will work
- Make the idea of not changing seem much less appealing
- Acknowledge and address their concerns about change openly
- Use positive testimonials from people who’ve already made the change.
Looking for a copywriter who can overrule your prospects’ objections?
Allow me to introduce myself!
I’m Jenny Lucas, a freelance copywriter and content writer based in Leicester, UK.
When I write copy, I’m always thinking ahead and considering how your prospects might be feeling. Whether they’re needing more information or thinking of reasons not to part with their cash.
You can find out more about me and how I work on my main website >>
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