An objection happens after you've presented your services and asked the prospect to buy. Anything they push back on before that point is an obstacle, like "I don't want to get into a contract" or "We're just exploring our options." Handle both with A.I.R.: Acknowledge and address it (don't ignore it), Investigate by asking questions or using labels to understand why they're saying it, and Resolve it, then resume the sale if it makes sense. The biggest mistake is jumping on an obstacle with a response before you've asked any questions. If you can't resolve it, bow out.
Think about this: If a prospect had zero objections, you'd close every sale, effortlessly, at your asking price. Of course, that's not how it works in the real world, which means you need to have a process for working through your prospects' objections, stalls, delays and misconceptions to get the deal closed.
Obstacles Vs. Objections: What's The Difference?
When we talk about "objection handling," we're actually talking about closing: the part of the sales process where you've presented a solution and have asked them to buy. So technically, an objection is something that happens AFTER you've presented (pitched) your services. If they "object" to anything before that point, it's an obstacle.
For example, let's say you're meeting with a new prospect for the first time and they say, "I don't want to get into a contract," before you've even had a serious discussion about what they need and have proposed a solution.
Obviously, that's an obstacle if you require a one-year+ contract. Some other obstacles a prospect might present are:
- "We're just exploring our options and don't plan to make a decision anytime soon."
- "I'm already in a contract."
- "We don't want to spend a lot of money." (Price pushback after you pitch is its own topic: how to overcome price objections.)
- "I just want a quote. I don't need to meet with you."
- "I don't want you to do any kind of assessment."
- "Just meet with my office manager. I don't want to be in the meeting."
These are ALL examples of obstacles that will cause an issue later when you're attempting to close the deal. So, what do you do? You A.I.R. it out.
The A.I.R. Method In 3 Steps
A. Acknowledge and Address it (don't ignore it).
I. Investigate by asking questions or using labels for clarification.
R. Resolve it, and if it makes sense, resume the sale.
"Resolving it" doesn't mean you start selling and try to convince them to agree with you and buy right then. Remember, you're NOT closing at this point because you haven't proposed anything yet and may not have done full discovery to know if you can even help them. What you want to do is see WHY they are saying what they're saying (investigate), talking through it in a nonjudgmental and nonemotional way to understand why that's an issue for them. Let me give you an example.
Example 1: "I'm NOT Signing A Contract"
Let's suppose that early on in the discovery call a prospect says to you, "I'm NOT signing a contract," and you only sell your services on one- to three-year agreements.
Instead of jumping the gun and trying to "sell" them on why they should want a longer-term agreement OR simply dismissing their statement and saying, "We can't work with you unless we have a contract in place," start by investigating why.
Use A Label To Investigate
In this particular case, you might use a label. A label is a statement you make about the prospect and their situation as an observation that may or may not be true. A label in this scenario would be "It sounds like you've been burned before with long-term agreements." Using that label will trigger them to explain their position, which is why labels work so well in a negotiation. Maybe they HAVE been burned by someone who locked them into a contract that was not delivering the service they were paying for, and that's why they're not willing to sign a contract. Or maybe it's something else.
By using a label, you get the prospect to correct you OR verify if you have it right. This is a more elegant way of getting information without ASKING them directly, which can be confrontational. Let's suppose they confirm that their reason for saying this is that their previous IT company required a three-year agreement and wasn't delivering the service they wanted, which frustrated them and made them feel taken advantage of.
Resolve It
In this case, you could say, "So, it sounds like your concern is not over signing an agreement but getting stuck in one where you're not getting what you're paying for." If they say, "That's right," then you could respond with something like this:
"In our agreement, you'll see we have a clearly defined SLA, or service level agreement, that details exactly what we're going to do, our response times and resolution process. That's for YOUR protection. If we fail to hit that SLA, we've GOT to make it right or you CAN get out of the contract because we're not holding up our end of the agreement. Does that seem fair?"
If They Still Won't Sign
If they say that won't change their mind and they're still not signing a contract (and you require one, which I would recommend), then you'll need to bow out of the running to be their IT company, but make sure you explain why you require agreements and why it's not the boogeyman they're afraid of. For example, you might say:
"I understand your concern. Truly I do. We've all been burned by a less than ethical company. However, not everyone requiring a contract is a bad provider or attempting to lock you into bad service. For example, we require one-year agreements from our clients because when we take you on as a client, there are costs associated with providing that service, such as software we need to purchase and staff we need to hire and maintain to ensure you get the support you want. If we do our part and make that investment on your behalf and you decide you want to cancel after a couple of months, we're left carrying the burden of those costs. THAT SAID, in our agreement we've clearly outlined the response times and services we're going to provide. IF WE FAIL to deliver that level of service, you can cancel the contract without any consequences because we're failing to provide the service we've agreed to deliver. So, the contract also protects you. It protects you from us simply bailing on you, leaving you in the lurch without IT support or arbitrarily raising our prices, again leaving you to scramble to find an IT company on short notice or pay our fees. Does that alleviate your concern over the agreement?"
If you explain this in a confident, rational way, most people will say they understand and will be open to signing an agreement. However, some will say they're STILL NOT open to signing an agreement. In that case, you'll need to walk away. It could be a sign that there's a "black swan" they're not telling you about, such as they're planning to sell the company and therefore don't want any long-term contract screwing with their valuation, OR they plan on firing you at any moment in case the money gets tight (no fault of your own). It may also be a sign that they're going to be a difficult, unreasonable client who you DO NOT want to take on. Prospects who are difficult in the sales process rarely get better.
What's key to all of this is to INVESTIGATE why they're saying what they're saying (or asking for) so you can properly resolve it and resume the sale or bow out. The biggest mistake I see is salespeople jumping on an obstacle too quickly with a response before they've asked any questions.
Example 2: "We're Just Exploring Our Options"
You cannot address an obstacle (objection) you don't understand. Let me give you another example. Let's suppose you're talking to a new prospect and they say, "We're not planning on making any decisions right now. We're just exploring our options."
Obviously this is not a prospect you want to put the time and effort into to generate a quote, at least not yet. If they are refusing to make a decision within the next month, you might still meet with them, discuss options, float your price/fees and sell them on your company, but I suggest you wait to do an official proposal until they are ready to make a decision. (A proposal sent too early is how you end up with a prospect who goes dark.) After all, situations and costs can change, so you don't want to produce a quote today for something that will close in six months. YOUR costs could be different at that time and THEIR environment and needs might be different as well.
So, how would you address this? For starters, I would acknowledge the statement, then investigate some more about their situation, needs, etc. Here's how:
"Okay, great. Would you be opposed to me asking you a few questions?"
- Who are you using for IT right now?
- What are they doing for you specifically?
- Are they doing ____ for you? What about ____?
- When was the last time you had someone conduct a third-party assessment on their work and the strength of your cyber security?
- What's causing you to start looking at alternative IT companies? Where are they screwing up? (DIG for problems and unhappiness.)
- When are you looking to make a change? (Example response: "Six months.")
- Why (six months)?
- How are you hoping I can help you today?
Based on what they say, you may or may not want to move forward with a formal assessment and proposal at this time. Asking these questions, and having this conversation, may change their timeline and decision to wait six months. Perhaps your questions reveal big gaps in their security, and in doing so, change their urgency from six months to now.
Alternatively, your line of questions may reveal that they are unable or unwilling to change right now. At that point, you might offer to do a quick security assessment just to provide some value in advance and create more engagement. Or you might suggest you revisit the conversation in four months.
The point of this is to 1) make sure you acknowledge the obstacle, and 2) qualify whether you should move forward with the assessment and proposal.
Don't Assume "No" Means No
I don't want to suggest that through the above line of questioning you can turn a lump of coal into a diamond via sales pressure. However, you also don't want to instantly ASSUME they won't make a decision right away or ASSUME you cannot sell them something NOW that will get you in the door today. Prospects make all kinds of statements in the sales process that they later back off of or change; that's because some statements are made out of ignorance or misconceptions.
The first house I bought was in a neighborhood I was NOT looking in and that I refused to consider, but my Realtor urged me to at least take a look. After seeing it, I bought it immediately. This has likely happened to you before as well: you've ended up buying something that at first you were totally, completely against (like the armored vehicle now sitting in our driveway).
If you CAN resolve it, meaning they are at least open to changing their mind and the suggested path forward you provide, then RESUME to the sale.
Your Homework: Build Your Own A.I.R. Scripts
- Make a list of every sales OBSTACLE you run into. Earlier in this section I outlined what some are. There may be others, so make a list.
- Create a line of questioning to INVESTIGATE the obstacle when expressed by your prospect. "You're not making a decision now; may I ask why?" I've provided one example for when a prospect says they aren't making any decisions right now. Whatever the obstacle, create a series of questions and labels to better understand what they're truly objecting to.
- Create a response to RESOLVE their concerns. Remember, there may be some cases where you cannot resolve their concerns and you may need to bow out of the running for their business. That's okay. You don't want to waste time with prospects who won't buy, can't buy or who want you to change your way of doing business just for them because they're a special snowflake.
The Bottom Line
Let me finish by saying this: If you want to truly maximize the opportunities coming your way and close more sales at a higher price point, you NEED to be SERIOUS about mapping your sales strategy, process and scripts. If you are unwilling to do this, it will significantly suppress your ability to close sales and grow your MSP profitably.
Your choice.
Investigating well starts with listening to understand, not to respond, and it fits inside every one of the seven steps to close an MSP sale. If you want help mapping your obstacles, questions and scripts, that is exactly what my MSP sales training is built for.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you handle sales objections?
Use A.I.R. Acknowledge and address the objection instead of ignoring it, investigate by asking questions or using labels to understand why the prospect is saying it, then resolve it and resume the sale if it makes sense. The biggest mistake is jumping on an objection with a response before you've asked any questions. If you can't resolve it, bow out.
What is the difference between a sales objection and a sales obstacle?
Timing. An objection happens after you've presented a solution and asked the prospect to buy, which makes objection handling part of closing. Anything a prospect pushes back on before you've pitched, such as "I don't want to get into a contract" or "I just want a quote," is an obstacle. Obstacles left unaddressed will cause problems later when you try to close.
What is the A.I.R. method for handling objections?
A.I.R. stands for Acknowledge and Address it (don't ignore it), Investigate by asking questions or using labels for clarification, and Resolve it, then resume the sale if it makes sense. Resolving doesn't mean selling hard right then. It means understanding why the prospect is saying what they're saying and talking through it in a nonjudgmental, nonemotional way.
What do you say when a prospect won't sign an IT contract?
Investigate first. A label like "It sounds like you've been burned before with long-term agreements" gets them to explain. If their concern is getting stuck in a bad agreement, show them the SLA: it defines what you'll do and your response times, and if you fail to deliver, they can get out. If they still refuse and you require contracts, explain why agreements protect both sides, then walk away.
What is a label in sales?
A label is a statement you make about the prospect and their situation as an observation that may or may not be true, such as "It sounds like you've been burned before." It triggers the prospect to explain their position, either correcting you or confirming you have it right. It's a more elegant way of getting information than asking directly, which can feel confrontational.
What should I do when a prospect says they're just exploring their options?
Acknowledge it, then ask permission to ask a few questions: who handles their IT now, what that provider does, where they're falling short, when they want to make a change and why that timing. The answers may raise their urgency. If they truly aren't ready, hold off on a formal proposal, offer a quick security assessment to add value, or revisit in a few months.
Should I send a quote to a prospect who isn't ready to decide?
Not yet. If they won't make a decision within the next month, you can still meet, discuss options, float your fees and sell them on your company, but wait on an official proposal until they're ready. Costs and needs change, so a quote produced today for a deal that closes in six months may not fit either side by then.
When should you walk away from a prospect?
When you can't resolve the obstacle. A prospect who still refuses reasonable terms may have a "black swan" they aren't telling you about, such as plans to sell the company, or may turn out to be a difficult, unreasonable client. Prospects who are difficult in the sales process rarely get better, and you don't want to waste time with prospects who won't buy or can't buy.