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Most presales professionals view objections with some level of dread. The room goes tense when a prospect challenges your approach or questions a feature.
But what if we've been thinking about objections all wrong?
Here’s a perspective shift that can transform your presales approach: objections aren't obstacles to overcome. They are golden opportunities for the most valuable discovery you'll conduct with an account.
The Hidden Value of Objections
When a prospect raises an objection during a meeting or demonstration, they're doing something remarkable: they're revealing what matters most to them.
They’re showing their hand about priorities, concerns, and decision criteria that might otherwise remain hidden beneath polite nodding and vague feedback.
Consider the alternative: a prospect who stays silent, nods agreeably throughout your presentation, and then disappears into the void. This is far more common than vocal objections because most people naturally avoid confrontation.
When someone actually speaks up to object, they’re demonstrating genuine engagement and signaling that the topic is important enough to warrant pushback.
That’s why objections deserve celebration rather than concern.
The Reflexive Response Trap
The natural instinct when hearing an objection is to immediately address it, especially if the prospect has misunderstood something. Resist that urge.
When you rush to correct or counter an objection, you’re closing a door that just opened. You’ve been handed a signal about what your prospect cares deeply about and responding with a correction squanders that opportunity.
Instead of learning why this matters to them, you’ve simply told them they’re mistaken and moved on.
Turning Objections into Discovery
The key to leveraging objections effectively lies in asking questions rather than providing answers.
When a prospect raises an objection, your first move should be to dig deeper into the underlying concern. Depending on the situation, you might ask:
- “Can you explain what you mean by that?”
- “Give me an example of that situation.”
- “What would that be preventing for you?”
- “Help me understand why that’s a concern.”
These questions transform a moment of potential conflict into a consultative conversation.
They demonstrate that you care about understanding their perspective rather than just defending your solution. Most importantly, they uncover the root causes behind the objection which are the real issues that determine whether the deal moves forward.
Preparing for Common Objections
Here’s an encouraging truth: you’ve likely already encountered most objections you’ll ever face.
The language may vary, but the underlying concerns repeat across prospects and industries.
This predictability is your advantage. Rather than being caught off guard, prepare proactively. Not with scripts, but with discovery questions.
Consider creating an Objection Playbook with your team. Document the objections you hear regularly, and develop thoughtful discovery questions for each. This preparation doesn’t make you robotic, it makes you intentional and strategic.
When Objections Aren’t Actually Discovery
Not every objection represents genuine discovery. Sometimes an objection is a deflection, test, or negotiation tactic. The difference usually becomes apparent in how the conversation unfolds after your discovery questions.
- Genuine objections open into deeper discussions about needs and constraints.
- Surface-level objections fade or shift when probed further.
Learning to recognize the difference comes with experience but curiosity will serve you well in both cases.
The Mindset Shift
Embracing objections as discovery requires a fundamental mindset shift. This mean:
- Reframing moments of pushback as opportunities
- Viewing resistance as engagement, not rejection.
- Recognizing that a prospect who objects is a prospect who cares.
This perspective makes objections valuable, and each one becomes a chance to understand what truly matters, to demonstrate consultative expertise, and to build trust.
The next time you face an objection, resist the urge to counter it. Instead, lean in with curiosity. Ask questions. Discover what’s behind the pushback.
You might just find that objections are exactly what your discovery process has been missing.
Jack Cochran is a leader in the presales community, driven by a unique perspective gained from nearly a decade as a customer before entering the field in 2013. This experience fuels his commitment to empowering presales professionals, which is evident in his role as General Manager of Presales Collective.
