Mastering Objection Handling: Roleplays, Techniques, and Tools

Handling objections is an inevitable part of cold calling. Sales reps will be all too familiar with phrases like “I’m too busy to talk right now” or “I’m not interested,” but any seller worth their salt will know this isn’t a sign to give up.

Although objections can be discouraging, customers who raise concerns are actually much closer to the end of the sales pipeline. That’s why sellers who successfully defend their product against buyers’ objections can have a close rate as high as 64%¹.

The trick is to know how to respond to objections confidently, lead with empathy, and ask the right questions to convert leads into sales.

In this article, we’ll outline what a sales objection is and the role of objection handling within the sales process. We’ll also share some roleplay scenarios for common objections, techniques for effectively handling objections, and tips for developing a strong objection handling culture.

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What is a sales objection?

In sales, an objection is a concern that prevents a prospective buyer from committing to a purchase. It doesn’t necessarily mean that a sale isn’t going to happen. However, it does indicate your reps still need to warm up the lead to get it over the line.

That’s the goal of objection handling—to address the prospect’s concerns and eliminate their doubts about your products or services.

The role of objection handling in the sales process

Objections are a natural part of sales conversations. Almost every prospect you speak to will have questions and hesitancies about the sale, especially if you’re contacting them via cold call. Otherwise, they would’ve already bought whatever you’re selling!

At this stage, the customer will be at the very top of the sales funnel, meaning they have limited awareness of your business and the solutions you offer. So, it’s crucial to ensure your sales reps are handling objections in a way that results in stronger relationships instead of rejections.

Here’s where objection handling comes in. Objection handling plays a vital role in the sales process, as it helps remove the obstacles preventing a deal from going ahead.

By addressing the prospect’s concerns directly and offering solutions to put their mind at ease, your reps can demonstrate your company’s value and drive conversations toward a positive outcome.

The most common sales objections

Every call and customer are different. However, there are some common objections that most salespeople hear every day.

Sales objections are typically related to products, services, or the company. Most come down to these three things:

1. Lack of trust

“How did you get my number?”

If you’ve cold called a prospect, they’re (understandably) unlikely to trust you, your company, or your product straight away, So, you need to start building trust by being friendly, transparent, and helpful, as well as providing examples of previous experience and customer reviews to demonstrate your credibility.

2. Lack of budget

“We can’t afford new software right now”

More often than not, it’s not personal — it’s business. Either the prospect doesn’t see the value in your solutions, or they genuinely lack the budget to invest. Understanding their money worries will help you address them and reach a compromise that benefits everyone.

3. Lack of need

“I’m not interested”

There are two main scenarios here: the prospect isn’t aware that they have a problem and, therefore, isn’t looking for a solution, or they simply don’t believe they need what you’re offering at that time. Either way, it’s important to explain the benefits of your products and services, backing up your claims with specific, relevant evidence.

Roleplay scenarios for effective objection handling

Now you understand what objection handling is and why it’s crucial to your sales process, you need to know what to say (or ask) when faced with a similar situation.

Every industry and client will have specific pain points and requirements, so it’s important to customize your call scripts and templates to deliver relevant, genuine responses. However, there are some common objections that are well worth preparing for.

Here are three scenarios that crop up regularly during cold calls, with tips on how to respond to them effectively.

Scenario 1: Handling budget objections

Price objections are extremely common, especially in the current economic environment. Buyers often lead with this excuse as soon as they hear why you’re calling, so you should always be prepared with a response.

Here’s an example reply to a customer who claims “It’s too expensive”:

“I hear you, [insert name]! The reality is that budgets are constantly moving targets. What I was hoping to do is figure out if we’re a technical fit and assess if there are any positive outcomes we could potentially achieve for you. Can I borrow another 30 seconds of your time to explain a little bit more about what we do and then you can let me know if you want to carry on the conversation?”

In this script, we respectfully point out that although they don’t have the budget right now, they may do so soon. We’ve made the buyer feel understood while also encouraging them to reconsider our sales pitch and providing them with a way out should they want it.

You may also want to focus on:

• Return on investment (ROI): How can your solution offer short- and long-term savings?
• Customization: Are you prepared to offer different pricing tiers or flexible payment options to help make the sale viable?
• Credibility: Can you share examples of other customers with similar financial concerns you overcame together?

Scenario 2: Addressing timing concerns

Dealing with a case of “right place, wrong time?” Perhaps the prospect has told you they’re in the middle of an important project and can’t commit to any new tech right now. Maybe they’re locked into another contract until next year.

Either way, acknowledge the timing issue but still create an open dialogue that invites future opportunities.

Here’s how this might sound:

“Thank you for letting me know, [insert name]. I can totally understand that timing might be a concern for you. However, many of our customers who felt the same way initially have been grateful later on that they started the ball rolling on this before their needs became urgent. Shall I briefly run through the service options with you now, and we can revisit them again when your project is coming to a close?”

This works well because you recognize that now might not be the best time but emphasize that you’d still value their custom at a later date.

If you ever find yourself in a similar scenario, make sure you focus on:

• Problem-solving: Could your solutions help streamline an existing or future project?
• Next steps: Have you provided a clear follow-up plan to keep the conversation going?
• Information-gathering: Can you find out more about their organization and how it might change over the coming months?

Scenario 3: Overcoming competition-related objections

This scenario would fall into the “lack of need” category we mentioned earlier. Usually, this prospect already pays for a solution from one of your competitors and, therefore, isn’t immediately interested in what you’re selling.

That’s because they believe their problem has already been solved, making this one of the trickier scenarios to manage. But for an ambitious sales rep, mentioning competition presents another great opportunity to open up a conversation about what their current solution looks like — and why yours is better.

Here’s how you might respond to a lead who says something like, “We already have a provider for that”:

“That’s really great to hear. I realize I caught you cold here, but would you mind if I explained a little bit about how we’re different from the [insert competitor’s name] solution, and then you can let me know if you want to continue the conversation?”

This rebuttal shows empathy by acknowledging that you’ve called them out of the blue and your excitement that they’ve already invested in your category. Then, crucially, you’ve offered to make direct comparisons between the competitor’s solution and your own, implying that you’re confident in your offering and knowledgeable about what else is on the market.

To increase your chances of success in this challenging scenario, try to focus on:

• Booking demos: Can you get your prospect to agree to run through your solution in a demo to showcase its most desirable features?
• Value propositions: What sets your product or service apart from your competitors’?
• Case studies: Have your clients experienced performance improvements since switching to your platform from another?

💡 Want to learn more about the most common cold calling objections? Check out our video series with Aaron Melamed, Enterprise Account Executive at Orum

Techniques for objection handling in sales

Are you among the 63%² of sellers who say cold calling is the worst part of their job?

You can ease a lot of the frustration surrounding these interactions by anticipating obstacles and tackling them using tried-and-tested objection handling techniques.

Practice active listening

About three-quarters (74%) of consumers say feeling valued and understood is the key to their loyalty³. With that in mind, it’s important to let the prospect do most of the talking and demonstrate that you’re actively listening to what they have to say — not just reading off a script.

When you do speak up, you should aim to ask open-ended questions (questions that don’t have a yes or no answer). These allow potential customers to elaborate on their thoughts, building relationships and helping you understand the root cause of prospects’ objections.

For example, if you worked on a SaaS sales team and a customer raised that they were already considering a competitor’s solution, you might ask:

“What features does that product have that particularly captured your interest?”

Show empathy and understanding

When you’re making dozens or even hundreds of cold calls a day, it can be easy to forget that a real human is on the other end of the phone. But to keep your prospects talking, you need to lead with empathy. This means listening to and acknowledging their concerns instead of immediately trying to contradict them.

Let’s say a prospect has expressed a concern that they don’t have any budget left for the quarter. By responding with something like “I completely understand; you want to make sure you’re making the right investments,”you can make the customer feel heard and convey that you’re there to offer a solution, not just to make a sale.

Establish value

Defining your value proposition can go a long way in objection handling. Many customer objections stem from a lack of confidence in the credibility or necessity of the product. So, clarifying your unique selling points (USPs) early on in the call may help change the prospect’s mind.

For instance, if your lead tells you they don’t have time to speak, you only have seconds to get your value proposition across. This is where you’d highlight benefits, social proof, and success stories you think will keep the lead’s attention.

For example:

“I know that you’re very busy and that I’ve caught you cold today. Do you mind if I very briefly explain how we’re helping [insert relevant industry] companies like yours [insert result, e.g. reduce their payroll spending by X%], and then you can let me know if you’d rather talk another time?”

Avoid sounding pushy

Nobody likes an overeager sales rep. When you make unsolicited contact with a lead, you need to build trust before trying to push for a purchase immediately.

Objection handling should be your priority. After all, you won’t convince your lead to book a meeting or demo if they still have concerns surrounding the sale. Plus, if the prospect genuinely isn’t interested in your solution, it’s better to know that and move on to the next.

Aim for a response that validates the prospect’s concern and provides options without pressure for immediate commitment. Here’s how this interaction might go:

Prospect: “I don’t think we need your help, we’re using other tools at the moment.”

Seller: “That’s great to hear! Many of our customers started out in the same position but found that our tool was better suited to their needs. Would you be open to chatting about your current setup and how our platform could help you make further improvements?”

How to build a culture of strong objection handling

Effective calling cultures are built from the top down.

If you want to turn cold calling into a tactic that leads to meaningful prospect conversations and generates more sales pipeline, you need to cultivate a positive calling culture that:

• Motivates your sales reps
• Prevents burnout
• Drives more business to your organizatio

Discover our five top tips for fostering a transformative calling culture.

📞 Establish an effective calling culture

We created a step-by-step guide full of insights from Orum's sales leaders.

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1. Stick to a specific framework

Find a structured method that helps your sales team consistently anticipate and overcome objections during calls.

For example, you might use the LAER model, which stands for:

• Listen: Allow the prospect to voice their concerns
• Acknowledge: Use empathetic language to recognize the objection
• Explore: Find the root cause of the objection by asking open-ended questions
• Respond: Offer a solution that’s personalized to the prospect’s needs

2. Offer training and development

Successful objection handling takes practice. So, providing ongoing, goal-oriented training is crucial for equipping your sales reps with the skills and resources they need.

This training might include:

• Practicing roleplay scenarios
• Reviewing real-world success stories and failures
• Participating in emotional intelligence training
• Receiving sales coaching from experienced reps
• Analyzing previous calls to find areas for improvement

Using tools like Orum’s Call Library feature will help you record and store calls for future reference. These recordings can be used for training, quality assurance, and reviewing past interactions to refine sales approaches.

Teams willing to invest in technology for sales training and development are typically more effective than their rivals that have no intention of making such investments. With that in mind, these solutions can offer significant ROI.

3. Use peer learning to help reps refine their approach

Encouraging peer learning can help keep your sales reps accountable. By conducting knowledge-sharing sessions, you’ll support a culture of continuous learning and help your sellers learn from each other’s mistakes.

To this end, Orum’s Salesfloor allows managers and reps to host call blitzes and collaborate in real-time, helping to create a sense of community and friendly competition.

This approach worked well for customers like Planhat, which was looking for a virtual Salesfloor that would enable remote reps to make calls together, build camaraderie, and learn from one another.

Orum and Nooks offered this platform, but Orum came out on top — helping the company triple its number of meetings booked over the phone.

“We tried both platforms' virtual experiences and liked Orum’s better.”

-Thomas Smeallie, Regional Director at Planhat

4. Implement CRM systems

Integrating objection handling features with your customer relationship management (CRM) system can help unlock more detailed insights into caller performance.

These software tools can track objections and responses in real time, providing your sellers a bank of call data to learn from. Maintaining an up-to-date, centralized source of truth will inform accurate customer profiles, support sales training, and highlight key performance metrics and KPIs. The result? A proactive, positive calling culture and more streamlined calls.

Levelup Leads introduced Orum’s virtual Salesfloor to establish a calling culture and make real-time upskilling and coaching possible. Orum's ability to easily and efficiently integrate with Salesforce while allowing uploads of contact lists via CSV has been pivotal to optimizing time spent dialing prospects for this client.

5. Make the most of analytics

You need to build analytics into your objection handling framework to anticipate every possible objection. Using the latest AI-backed technology, you can identify trends and predict similar objections to ensure your call scripts and email templates are ready to address them.

Orum has tools for this, too. Our easy-to-use Analytics platform helps reps break down rejections and conversations, highlighting patterns and potential areas for ongoing improvement.

You can view the most common objections your sellers face in one dashboard, enabling you to see:

• How often each objection crops up
• The likelihood of your team booking a meeting after encountering an objection
• Specific insights on how well your reps are performing on specific objection types

Modernize your approach to objection handling

Over half (54%) of sales professionals⁴ said selling was harder in 2023 than before due to inflation, stiff competition, a lack of high-quality leads, challenges reaching decision-makers, and longer sales cycles.

However, as inflation begins to slow and companies start loosening their budgets a little, now’s not the time to give up. On the contrary, it’s the perfect opportunity to refine your cold calling scripts and ensure you’re ready to deal with any question or objection that comes your way.

Orum is here to help your sales teams optimize objection handling — and more. With a range of easy-to-navigate tools and product features designed specifically for sales reps and managers, you can harness automation to eliminate time-consuming tasks and get instant feedback to improve call performance.

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Frequently asked questions about objection handling

What are common objection handling skills?

The closing techniques sales reps use to handle sales objections vary between clients and industries. However, some skills are valuable in most common objection handling scenarios:

• Active listening shows prospects you care about their opinion, which helps build rapport and trust
• Emotional intelligence is pivotal in demonstrating empathy, which can help resolve objections faster
• Value proposition articulation helps sellers clearly communicate their USPs and, hopefully, stand out from the competition
• Data analysis (with the help of platforms like Orum) enables reps to anticipate objections and offer evidence-based solutions

Is there an objection handling framework in sales?

There are many! Establishing an objection handling framework can help sellers standardize their approach and reach positive outcomes.

The framework you choose should be tailored to the needs and restrictions of your industry and customer base. In this article, we’ve suggested using the LAER model:

• Listen — Give the prospect an opportunity to voice their concerns
• Acknowledge —Use empathetic language to recognize the objection
• Explore — Find the root cause of the objection by asking open-ended questions
• Respond — Offer a solution that’s personalized to the prospect’s needs

Sources

1. Objection Handling: 44 Common Sales Objections & How to Respond, HubSpot, 2022
2. Cold Calling Tips & Techniques, LinkedIn
3. Brand Loyalty is About Feeling Understood and Valued, RedPoint Global, 2022
4. Sales Trends Report, HubSpot, 2024