When customers don’t buy from you, they have a reason. Price too high, doubts about your company, weak support policies, product fall short.

Of course, customers don’t always tell you the real reason they’re not ready to buy. That’s why marketing needs to know every possible customer objection in advance and develop messaging and tools that help your sales team overcome each one.

This isn’t the same thing as putting forth your value propositions, which tend to reside on a higher, more strategic plane. This is more tactical. It’s more a “fight fire with fire” mentality.

• Your potential customer objects: “We don’t really know your company that well.” You overcome: “Some of our other customers felt that way before they purchased from us. Here, check out these testimonials and case studies from them.”
• Your potential customer objects: “Your product will be too hard to implement.” You overcome: “Did you see this brochure on our five-step plan we use to get all our customers up an running within 30 days?”
• Your potential customer objects: “Your price is too high.” You overcome: “Let’s use this ROI calculator to demonstrate the true value and return on investment our product will deliver over the next five years.”
• Your potential customer objects: “I hate change. I like doing things the same way I’ve always done them.” Okay, this can be the immovable object. Still, you must overcome: “Let me share with you these industry statistics that show the increasing rate of adoption of this technology. Within a year, most of your competitors will be moving in this direction. Without it, you may lose your competitive advantage and even market share.”

When planning your marketing content and sales tools, ask: What objections do your potential customers raise? How will you overcome them?