The short answer
How do you know if you handled an objection well?
Check your first sentence after the objection: changing the subject, discounting straight away or talking over the silence are signs of avoidance. Then try to restate the concern in one sentence in the buyer’s terms. If you can, and your answer addressed it, you responded.
Foreword
Why it matters
Under pressure, it is easy to change the subject, offer a discount or keep talking, and feel afterwards as if you handled the objection. Honest review against a clear test gives you something to change1, and repeating the moment aloud builds the direct response2.
Retrieval
61%
of a passage recalled a week later after three practice tests, against 40% after four readings2
What we’ll cover in this guide
- Part 01: Look for the signs of avoidance
- Part 02: Use the restating test
- Your practice task: a short exercise to try with Selly
- Conclusion and what to practise next
Part 01: Look for the signs of avoidance
Avoidance often feels like progress in the moment.
Common sidesteps
Changing the subject
The buyer raised a concern and your next sentence was about a feature.
Discounting straight away
Offering a lower price before understanding the objection answers a question they may not have asked.
Talking over the silence
You kept explaining after the objection instead of asking about it.
Reflection questions and how to get started
- What was your first sentence after the objection? Was it about their concern?
- Did you offer something before asking? Ask first next time.
Part 02: Use the restating test
You responded to a concern if you could state it in the buyer’s terms.
Checking your understanding
Restate it in one sentence
“Your concern is that the team will not take time to practise.” If you cannot write that sentence, you did not find the concern.
Check your answer addressed that sentence
Read your response against it. Did it answer that concern, or a different one?
Reflection questions and how to get started
- Could you restate the concern? If not, you need a clarifying question.
- Did your answer match it? Rewrite it so it does.
Your practice task
- Pick an objection from a recent practice call with Selly.
- Write down the first sentence you said after it and check it against the signs of avoidance.
- Restate the concern in one sentence in the buyer’s terms.
- Run the moment again: ask, restate aloud, then respond to that concern only.
Conclusion
You responded to an objection when you can say what it was and your answer addressed exactly that. If not, the fix is usually one clarifying question.
