Most businesses get sales objections wrong. Here’s how to get them right!
In this post, you’ll discover:
How most people get sales objections wrong and how to get them right in your copy
How to show up for your ideal prospect at the EXACT moment they need you
How addressing sales objections effectively does the heavy lifting of converting more sales for you
Sales objections.
I do think most people get them wrong.
I'm here to tell you why.
If you’re a coach, course creator, or expert looking to transform your website into a sales engine, bookmark this blog post and read every sentence.
This is a lesson that could land you more clients or sales TODAY.
But first, in true Smarter Customer Research fashion, I'm starting with a story to get our wheels turning.
(Smarter Customer Research is my newsletter where I share examples of effective conversion copy—
So if you'll indulge me…
Effective sales objections see your customer coming a mile away
Picture this:
Your bloating has gotten really bad lately.
You're careful about what you eat but it seems like no matter what foods you eliminate, your symptoms don't go away.
Then, one evening, your bloating persists late into the night.
Which is how you find yourself looking at a nutritionist's website the next morning.
You found this nutritionist's site in a FB group of people with gut and digestive issues, and you've actually looked at it once before.
That time, you were there because you suspected the diet your last doctor hurriedly shoved in your hands was one he gave everyone, and he swooshed out of the room before you could ask your questions.
But you had some hope then that your symptoms would get better on their own, somehow.
Spoiler alert: They didn't.
The critical moment when your sales objections give your ideal prospect renewed hope
As you sit there looking at the website this time, you know you need to do something.
To be honest, you'd do anything—anything—for a little bit of relief.
–But what if this nutritionist also just talks to you for 15 minutes and leaves you a stack of papers with no further explanation?
–What if she's just another medical professional in the long string of medical professionals you've visited who makes you feel like you're a hopeless case?
Like you have the one thing modern medicine can't solve?
And then you see it.
A question on the nutritionist's FAQs page says, "What if I've tried diets from other doctors for my condition and they didn't work?"
You eagerly read her answer:
"Many of my clients come to me after trying diets from other doctors.
While I can't speak for what they did, I can say that I will take my time to get to know you and what's going on in your body.
Our first appointment is an intake of 90 minutes where we discuss your health holistically to make sure we address all factors that affect your condition.
Then we make a detailed, individual plan for you.
Previous clients have appreciated my attention to detail and individualization, and found that what we did together worked even if they'd tried plans from other doctors before."
As you take in this answer, hope swirls in your body.
You click the "Contact" button and sign up to chat with the nutritionist the next day.
Here’s what this story gets right about sales objections... that most people get wrong
When it comes to experienced prospects, the two most common objections--time and money--are knocked out by the time they're reaching out on discovery calls.
That's because this prospect has experienced trigger events, or painful moments along the buyer's journey that nudge them towards purchasing a solution to that pain.
In the case above, the trigger events are moments of unbearable bloating caused by an underlying gut issue.
(I talk more about trigger events in this blog post. The example here about shoes, so it's lighter!)
By the time a very warm prospect is looking at your website, they know they have a problem and they're 100% in search of the solution you provide.
You are also looking for this person because you want to provide said solution to their problem.
You are not looking for the person they were two trigger events ago, when they weren't even aware they had a problem.
Stop guessing what your
ideal clients will pay you for
I talk more about trigger events and other topics related to customer research in my newsletter, Smarter Customer Research.
Sign up to understand how to do smart customer research and translate it into conversion copy!
Most businesses talk to the wrong prospect at the wrong time
This is the glaring mistake I see in the way sales are taught online.
It's not about convincing anyone they need your product or service. It's about landing in front of warm prospects who already know you're the solution to a pain point they already have.
That's not to say you don't need to grow your audience and nurture... unless you have a huge, warm audience, you do.
But there's a huge difference between copy that nurtures someone who isn't aware of their problem...
and copy that closes the sale with someone who knows they have a problem they need a solution to.
Get clients more easily by meeting problem-aware prospects where they are
Here’s the difference between unaware prospects and problem-aware prospects:
People who aren't aware of their problem might find a post like "This is why pilates is so expensive" interesting.
Maybe it helps them imagine exploring pilates.
Maybe not.
But that's not what someone in the position of "I gave birth earlier this year and I want to regain ab strength so my body is as strong as it was pre-pregnancy" needs to see.
This person knows how much pilates costs, they know the problem they have, and they also know the result they want.
This person just needs to find the right class and instructor for their schedule.
See the difference?
Your job in your web copy is to meet your ideal prospect—who is already aware of their problem—where they are.
It's less about convincing people to spend time or money with you...
and more about knowing what problem they're ready to spend the time and money to solve when they're on your website.
Some people call this “most aware” and like this post from ActiveCampaign, they’ll say that at this stage of awareness, you should “just show them your offer.”
But understanding where objections fit into your offer is essential to landing the client at this stage. If your competition nails it and you don’t, the prospect is more likely to choose your competition.
Stop guessing what your
ideal clients will pay you for
Outsmart your competition by reading Smarter Customer Research—
my newsletter where I show you how to do effective customer research and turn it into conversion copy!
It’s easier to overcome a lingering hesitation than a sales objection
When you meet your ideal prospect where they are, any objections you might need to talk through are more like lingering hesitations as to why you are the right person for the job.
(In the example at the start of this post, the hesitation is that this nutritionist will give you yet another cookie-cutter diet that won't work for your bloating, which is directly addressed on her FAQs page.)
You might be wondering: "But Mimi...how do I find out what these lingering hesitations around buying from me are?"
Don't worry, I've got you. ;)
How to address sales objections from warm prospects in your copy to seal the deal
To address sales objections warm prospects have, you first need to find out what they are.
I've found discovery calls useful for this!
When someone's on your discovery call, they're interested in buying so it makes sense you're going to get those last hesitations on their minds.
In fact, I like to proactively ask questions to uncover what they are with questions like:
“How does what we've discussed sound to you?”
“What are your thoughts about it?”
This is a great exercise because I've uncovered hesitations I would never think of.
For example, a recent client told me on our discovery call:
"My copy is my middle-of-the-night problem and I love what I've seen from you... The only reason I'm hesitant to buy is, what if I show my new copy to my friends and family and they don't get it? What if they don't like it?"
Now, this is a valid concern.
We survived as a species by being liked and accepted by our tribe so I get it.
Here's how I responded:
"When I write copy, I write to your ideal client. I'm always thinking about this person, the person who's looking for your services. The truth is your copy won't please everyone, but the way I see it, that's not its job.
Its job is to speak to the person who wants to pay you.
And I know what to say because of the customer research I do. That tells me how they see their pains and what they want so I know what to put on your pages."
Now, I didn't make changes to my copy following this but it confirms that what I have about my customer research process on my website is the way to go for me.
By having it up all over my materials, I'm able to confirm I walk my talk in a conversation like this.
(Shout out to Darren Moore of Between the Ears health coaching for letting me share this part of our convo! You can check out the results we achieved by updating his website copy here. You can also see what’s involved to achieve these results with my Small Start, Big Win™ packages here.)
Another example of digging up hesitations you can use in your copy
A while ago, I was talking with for a sleep consultant for help my toddler.
On her discovery call, I asked, "What if the two weeks of support this package includes isn't enough?"
To which she quoted me something like 95% of families she helps are able to train their kid to sleep through the night with two weeks of support.
Oh, I thought.
In that case, sign me up for more sleep!
The point here being: That 95% is a statistic I'd definitely put on my website if I were on the other side of that discovery call.
(And before you ask... I didn't mention this to the sleep consultant because I wasn't being asked for my opinion here. But Angela Ellsworth is fantastic and I wrote her a stellar testimonial. :)
“But Mimi, what if I don’t do discovery calls?”
If you don't do calls, you can do interviews to find out last-minute hesitations to purchasing:
I once worked on emails for a home goods company (comparable to Wayfair).
I discovered via customer interviews that one reason people would almost check out only to abandon their carts at the last minute...
was because they worried the item they wanted wouldn't look in person the way it does online.
The solution?
Featuring testimonials in their abandoned cart emails where customers say, "This rug/candle/poster looks exactly the way it does online. No sinking feeling of disappointment when you open the package, just excitement!"
(Btw, the average rate of carts abandoned by consumers is 70.19% according Baymard Institute, which collected data on just shy of fifty abandoned cart studies. That’s a lot of lost sales that could be saved by addressing a few sales objections in your copy!)
Addressing lesser-known hesitations can transform you into the exact right choice for your ideal prospects
We know that time and money are the most common sales objections but...
when it comes to ideal prospects, my hypothesis is that they're not as relevant.
Why?
Because trigger events have proven to them that their pains won't disappear without some sort of investment on their end.
Your job is to do the research to understand what those trigger events are so you can write to your ideal person in your copy--the one who's looking for your solution and willing to pay for it.
And then to engage with them to discover what lesser-known hesitations they have before buying so that you can also address those in your copy, on your discovery call, or both.
Want to work with me?
Hi, I’m Mimi!
I’m a conversion copywriter for coaches and course creators. I give you the words to connect with your audience without the guesswork of what they need to hear to become clients.
Here are a few ways we can work together:
💥 The Small Start, Big Win™ Copy Polish, where I optimize your webpages for sales
💥 The Quick Clicks Email Polish, where I optimize your emails for opens and engagements
💥 The Messaging Playbook, where I hone in on messaging that attracts the right clients
Questions? Want to chat?
