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Objection handling addresses your prospect’s concerns about your product or service to create technical, organizational, and personal buy-in.

You are still selling at this stage in the process. You are breaking down barriers, pushing the prospect closer to the point where they convince themselves of the sale because they can’t think of a reason not to.

Objection handling is often thought of as just a part of the sales process, but in reality, it is the crux of the sale.

The most important thing to realize is that objections are not necessarily a bad thing. When your prospects are voicing objections, it can be a great sign that they want the sale.

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Negotiation is about working out the terms of the deal once the sale has been made to reach a mutually beneficial arrangement where both parties feel they are gaining value.

Don’t negotiate before the prospect is sold, and don’t revert to “selling” when you’re in negotiations. Once you enter negotiations you should already be selected as the vendor of choice.

If you continue to try to sell your client on your product, you may end up losing the sale because you come off as over-eager.

Negotiation is what most people think of when they think of salespeople making a deal. Negotiations can take anywhere from days to months, and will determine how big of a win your sale actually was.

Bottom line, objection handling is about getting the sale. Negotiating is about working out the details once the sale is made.

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