Ten Ways to Overcome Client Objections

Is an objection always negative?

The trick is to be proactive in your approach towards the objection, seeing it as a challenge rather than an issue. In partnership with Andrew Carr, Training Manager at Orion Group, we recently put together an IRP Professional Guide exploring this.

Here are ten ways to overcome objections from clients:

1. Know why you are calling and keep focused on this Being focused and driven on what you want to achieve will help you get to your end goal. Make sure that your call structure focuses on the goals you want to achieve.

2. Do your research Question and uncover the client’s recruitment issues. This will help you to push back and continue the dialogue. Once you find the pain of the client, you can develop realistic solutions which satisfy needs and exceed expectations.

3. Don’t be put off by an objection See it as an opportunity – your attitude and behaviours can help this. Remain positive throughout your call, sit up or stand up and smile – this will help you psychologically by sounding more positive than defensive.

4. Challenge the client Why are they saying what they are saying? Have they had a bad experience? What would it take to reverse that experience? How do they know that you will not be able to reverse their expectations unless they open up to you?

5. Be creative Look at creative ways of working round the objection. For example challenge them with, “When your PSL does not deliver, how do you manage recruitment then?”

6. Remember your objective at the end of any conversation Agree a next step and plan of action. Be clear what you want to achieve, when you want to achieve it and when you will communicate back to the client. Be clear in your expectations and manage theirs proactively too.

7. Be resilient The objection is not personal – they do not have an issue with you, just their own experiences. Remember the age old adage in recruitment – ‘people buy from people.’ If you can build a rapport with your client then there is no objection that you cannot overcome.

8. Develop a long-term relationship plan It takes a long time to build relationships. Objections are a natural stage of selling, so make sure you have the mind-set that this is a long-term relationship that is only at the beginning of it’s life cycle.

9. Keep in touch Even if you don’t think they will buy, each call gives you a chance to talk about something different, so make sure you’re loaded up with plenty of things to talk about and plenty of ways in which you can demonstrate that you are a recruitment expert.

10. Keep your name out there Get social, engage with your clients through multiple channels online, offline and build a relationship that embraces their interests. Find out what they like to do away from work, talk to them about their lives and help to be that person that is always on the tip of their tongues when the need arises.

Build yourself a list of common objections you've faced and identify how you typically faced them. Ask your colleagues about their most common objections. Write them down and be prepared for when you make that call or go on that visit.

The most important thing to remember is to build that relationship.

Read our full IRP Professional Guide here.