How To Respond To Your Prospects' "Objections" And Ask For The Sale

By Ilise Benun

RainToday Note: The following article is adapted for RainToday from Ilise Benun's book, Stop Pushing Me Around! A Workplace Guide for the Timid, Shy and Less Assertive, published in 2006 by Career Press.

Here's the ideal scenario: You give your sales presentation, your prospect poses questions you know all the answers to and, at the end of the conversation, she simply asks, "When can we start?"

This happens, but not very often. Most of the time, when you're marketing professional services (especially big ticket services), your prospect is interested, but has questions that need answers.

Some people call these "objections", and those same people believe you need to "overcome the objections." But that language implies a power struggle, and that's not what selling should be.

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