Some Classic Sales Objections That Are Hard to Overcome. And Some You Can Get Over If You Put In The Work.

"SaaS sales is seen as way, way too transactional. "

What are some objections that salespeople can’t overcome?

A few objections reps think they can overcome … that they can’t:

• We literally do not need this product now. There’s the classic rule that only about 10% of prospects are truly in-market at any given time, and that’s about right in my experience.  Too many reps do too many lame cadences and break things.  Sometimes, checking back in next quarter or later really is the best way to go.

• I’m already stuck in another long-term contract. This can be overcome with a buy-out deal, but many don’t do them. They should.  More here.

• I don’t have time right now. Too many reps try to force it, when really, the prospect may have more time next month or quarter.  It’s not just about the deal to the customer.  It’s about all the time and soft costs and training it will take to deploy your app, too.

• It’s not a priority anymore. The reality is most enterprises can only bring in a few new critical vendors a year per department or org. Priorities do change.

• I need to start with a pilot. Oftentimes they just do. Trying to “overcome” this can lead to a lost deal.

• You’re not secure enough. A lot of customers really do need SOC-2, HIPAA and other compliances. Just do them.

Now, some objections that seem hard to overcome … but can be:

• I don’t have budget. This often literally is true, but everyone has some extra discretionary budget. The deal may have to be much smaller to start, however.

• Yes but not this quarter.  Sometimes, it’s true.  But sometimes, a 15 month deal for price of 12, or an agreement to not start billing until the product is rolled out can really help get a deal signed now vs. later.  Would you want to start paying today for an app you can’t start using for a few months?  Think about it from the customer’s perspective, and try to craft something that takes this objection off the table for them.

• The rest of the team’s not sure. Then help them see the value. Pitch all the stakeholders, not just the ones that reached out.

• Your competitor seems the safer bet. You really have to show them the 10x feature that you crush that the bigger competitor doesn’t.

• I don’t have the resources to get going. If you do the work for them, you’d be surprised how much faster some deals can kick off.

• It’s too expensive. This one can seem tough to overcome, and sometimes is just a polite No. But sometimes just help them start smaller, on a simpler edition, etc. Too many reps give up on the $100k deal when you still could close a $10k deal to start. And earn that $100k+ later.

Here’s the fundamental flaw in SaaS sales, that as founders and executives you need to try to address:  SaaS sales is seen as way, way too transactional.  SaaS sales reps see everything as a “deal”.  It’s not to customers.  It’s much more than the money and the contract.  It’s about putting in a ton of time and effort to change the way they do business, so that they can do business materially better.  Spend less time on transactional games, and more time helping them test and deploy successfully.  That’s the big win.  The best reps know this.  The rest?  I’m not so sure.

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And a great deep dive the other day on How to Grow Revenue Faster in the back half of the year with Founders Fund Sam Blond here: