Stop Overcoming Objections - Start Resolving Concerns!

Mike Kunkle
Host of Sales Transformation Straight Talk™
VP, Sales Transformation Services, Digital Transformation Inc.
Founder, Transforming Sales Results, LLC

What
• Sales Transformation Straight Talk webinar series
Why
• Provide you with the latest thinking and actionable ideas to transform
sales results
How
• Solo webinars, guest speakers, panels, Q&A, always taking requests
When & Where
• Usually mid-month, usually mid-week, usually 2 pm Eastern, usually
every month, right here on SMM Connect
- Always check www.smmconnect.com for details
Sales Transformation Straight Talk Series
on
2

mike.kunkle@fastlaneus.com
mike@mikekunkle.com
Mike Kunkle is a highly-respected sales transformation architect and
internationally-recognized sales training and sales enablement leader.
He’s spent 24 years as a corporate leader or consultant, helping companies drive
dramatic revenue growth through best-in-class learning strategies and his proven-
effective sales transformation methodologies. Today, Mike is the VP of Sales
Transformation Services for Digital Transformation Inc. (a division of Fast Lane
Consulting & Education Services) and founder of Transforming Sales Results, LLC.
He consults, advises, writes, speaks, leads webinars, designs sales learning systems
that get results, and guides clients through all aspects of their sales transformation.
Mike Kunkle
VP, Sales Transformation Services
Founder
Your Host
3
Connect with Mike & Follow His Content
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Free!

Our Plan for Today
AGENDA:
• Mind-Shift Precedes Skill-Shift
• The Model for Resolving Concerns
• Advice on Implementing
• Your Take-Aways | Q&A.
4

Mind-Shift Precedes Skill-Shift
5

Mike Kunkle 6
Thoughts and Words Influence Actions
A. My job is to sell things. I need to
make quota.
B. My job is help buyers solve problems
and achieve desired outcomes.
Compare and contrast…

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A. Selling = Always Be Closing. B. Selling = Always Be Serving.

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A. Buyers are liars. B. Buyers may not trust me until I earn it.

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A. “Challenging” buyers is a better way
to sell.
B. Understanding buyers better than
others provides real differentiation.

Mike Kunkle 10
A. I need to be persistent, take control,
and influence buyers to do things.
B. I need to build trust and collaborate to
gain consensus and commitments.

Mike Kunkle 11
A. It’s not “pushy” if I’m right and trying
to make the buyer see it.
B. I need to lead and guide buyers to do
the right thing.

Mike Kunkle 12
A. Buyers have objections. I need to
overcome them.
Compare and contrast… Last one…
B. Buyers will naturally have concerns. I
need to understand them and
respectfully resolve them as best I can.
Combative? Collaborative?

Mike Kunkle 13
A. Buyers have objections. I need to
overcome them.
Compare and contrast… Last one…
B. Buyers will naturally have concerns. I
need to understand them and
respectfully resolve them as best I can.
Combative? Collaborative!

Mike Kunkle 14
Why This Exercise?
• When B2B enterprise buyers are involved in a complex purchase to solve business
problems, they’re seeking partnerships with people they can trust.
• Your mindset, thoughts, and word choices influence your attitude and behaviors.
• Buyers will “pick up what you’re putting down.”
• “Intention matters more than technique.” ~ Mahan Khalsa
• It’s time for a different approach – especially with resolving concerns. We must
continue to elevate our sales profession.
Recommended reading:
• https://www.amazon.com/Charles-H.-Green/e/B001IGJS62/
• https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Selling-Start-Leading-Extraordinary/dp/1119446287
• https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Get-Real-Not-Play/dp/1591842263/

The Model for Resolving Concerns
15

• Acknowledge the concern with empathy
• Clarify to understand, weigh, and isolate the
concern
• Categorize the concern:
- Disinterest
- Distortion
- Disbelief
- Disadvantage
• Develop the best response based on category
• Deliver the response
• Confirm your response resolved the concern.
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Mike Kunkle 16

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Mike Kunkle 17
External Focus:
• Considers their feelings, logic, facts, and
perspective.
• This is customer-facing communication.
“The deepest principle of human nature is a craving
to be appreciated.” ~ William James
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
~ Stephen R. Covey
“Being understood is one of the deepest-seated
human needs.” ~ Mike Kunkle

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Mike Kunkle 18
Internal Focus:
• This is mental work involving judgment and
decision-making (occurs behind the scenes).*
• Uses inputs from previous steps to formulate
the best possible response.
* Often happens in real-time, but may include internal or
customer-facing brainstorming, ideation, problem-solving, or
design thinking sessions.

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Mike Kunkle 19
External Focus:
• Delivering your response, based on your
understanding of their concern and its
category.
• This is customer-facing communication.

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Mike Kunkle 20
How, Where, and When
• Synchronous or Asynchronous
• Face-to-Face (best), voice-to-voice (good) or in
writing (possible)
• Flexes to adapt to the level of concern
- From top-to-bottom in seconds, minutes, hours
- Occurring over days (research or follow-through)

Mike Kunkle 21
The Model: Acknowledge
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Acknowledge the concern with empathy
• Acknowledge means to recognize their concern and
demonstrate that they’ve been heard. Acknowledging doesn’t
mean you agree with them.
• Empathy: It’s about them, not you. Avoid “I” statements.
Examples
• Speed of implementation is very important to you and your
leadership team.
• You’re concerned that our implementation will take too long.
• You’re feeling pressure to get this going and deliver results
and are worried our approach will take too much time.

Mike Kunkle 22
The Model: Clarify
Clarify to understand, weigh, and isolate the concern
• Question to understand (make no assumptions).
• Try to assess how big of a concern it is.
• Use this as an opportunity to uncover other concerns.
Examples
• Other than the fact that time-to-value is always an important
consideration, what’s the source of the pressure you’re feeling
about this?
• In a best-case scenario, what’s the timeline you were hoping for?
• In your mind, what’s the balance between speed and quality?
• Help me understand how critical this concern is, compared to
your other success factors?
• In addition to this, is there anything else you’re concerned
about? (Collect, set aside, and address individually.)
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 23
The Model: Categorize
Categorize the concern
• Disinterest is when your customer is “not interested” in
speaking with you, or indifferent toward your solution or a
particular aspect of it.
• Distortion is when the prospect has incorrect or incomplete
information which is creating a false concern.
• Disbelief is when a customer doubts, distrusts, or otherwise
expresses skepticism.
• Disadvantage is when the customer has a valid concern due
to the presence of something they dislike or absence of
something they want.
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 24
The Model: Categorize
Categorize the concern
Examples
• Disinterest: That’s not something I’m interested in right now
or We’re fine with our current supplier.
• Distortion: This won’t work for us. I read on XYZ Review Site
that your implementations take 3 months. We need something
in place within 60 days or we can’t do it. (Fact: You routinely
implement in 6-8 weeks.)
• Disbelief: 6-8 weeks?? I find that really hard to believe.
• Disadvantage: This just won’t work. We need something in
place in the next 3 weeks. (Fact: There is no way you can do it
3 weeks.)
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 25
The Model: Develop
Develop the best response based on the category
• This is where you need to use judgment and experience to
respond to the concern based on your deep understanding of
it and the topic, or request time to do the necessary research
or fact-gathering to respond appropriately.
Models for Each Category
• Disinterest: Acknowledge their position | Share possible
value prop | Offer next step
• Distortion: Acknowledge/Confirm their need | Share facts
• Disbelief: Acknowledge/Confirm their need | Share or offer to
provide relevant proof
• Disadvantage: Acknowledge/Confirm their need | Weigh their
concern against other needs or possible outcomes.
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 26
The Model: Deliver
Deliver the response, following the models
Disinterest Concern: That’s not something I’m interested in right
now.
Disinterest Example:
• Acknowledge their position: You’re not seeing the value of
[XYZ]. I respect that you don’t want to waste your time.
• Share possible value prop: When we speak with other
operations leaders, we find that many are looking for ways to
reduce costs of production while also improving output and
reducing scrap rates. We’ve recently helped 3 other firms like
yours reduce costs by an average of 11% while improving output
by 5%, with reduced scrap rates of 3%. Would results like these
be meaningful for you?
• Offer next step: Excellent. I’d like to share the details of these
case studies and learn more about your situation, to see if we
can do the same for you. What does your schedule…
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 27
The Model: Deliver
Distortion Concern: I read on XYZ Review Site that you’re
implementations take 3 months. We need something in place
within 60 days or we can’t do it. (Fact: You routinely implement in
6-8 weeks.)
Distortion Example:
• Acknowledge/Confirm their need: You’ve done your
homework, [Name], and are concerned about moving quickly
to address a pressing issue. That makes complete sense.
• Share facts: I’m pleased to share that while implementations
can take longer under certain conditions, our average
implementation time is only 7 weeks, and with strong
partnership and joint commitment to project management,
we’ve done many 6-week implementations. If we work
together, it’s completely possible to make your timeline.
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 28
The Model: Deliver
Disbelief Concern: 6 weeks?? I find that really hard to believe.
Disbelief Example:
• Acknowledge/Confirm their need: You’re surprised, and I
get that, [Name.] If you haven’t seen it yourself, it does seem
hard to believe.
• Share or offer to provide relevant proof: Fortunately, I do
have multiple written case studies that I can share with you,
and have 3 clients who are willing to offer a reference on the
timeline we achieved together and how we did it. Would it help
to see the details and have those discussions?
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 29
The Model: Deliver
Disadvantage Concern: We’re in an urgent situation and need
to address it in the next 3 weeks, max. (Fact: There is no way
you can do it in 3 weeks.)
Disadvantage Example:
• Acknowledge/Confirm their need: You’re feeling the
pressure to address this quickly, before month-end. That’s an
understandable reaction, [Name.]
• Weigh their concern against other needs & outcomes:
When you consider the other factors we discussed [list] and
the outcomes we can help you achieve [list], but it would take
6 weeks to fully address the issue with a quality solution that
delivers those outcomes, would that be a viable option?
Note: The next step might be to negotiate, if options are available. This could
include partial solutions as a quick temporary fix while a fuller solution is
implemented, or other creative options.
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 30
The Model: Confirm
Confirm your response resolved the concern
• If Confirm was not part of the model already for the Category,
simply summarize and ask:
- Given [summarize discussion], does that resolve your
concern about [state concern]?
Example
• So [Name], given our ability to implement within 6 weeks,
supported by the references from ABD and XYZ companies
confirming how pleased they were with the process, and more
importantly, the outcomes we delivered, does that ease your
concern about our implementation timeline?
Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm

Mike Kunkle 32
Advice on Implementing
How, Where, and When
• Synchronous or Asynchronous
• Face-to-Face (best), voice-to-voice (good) or in writing (possible)
• Flexes to adapt to the level of concern
- From top-to-bottom in seconds, minutes, hours
- Occurring over days (research or follow-through)

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
• Acknowledging and making “You” statements vs. “I”
statements will be difficult for many. Be ready to coach.
• The urge to skip clarifying to jump to a response is strong. A
rush to respond and “overcome” the concern will derail many.
• This is new to most and will require examples and practice.
• Responses to common concerns can be developed in advance.
Don’t use them outside the process. Use when they fit.
• Focus on good communication. Summarize, explain patiently,
connect dots, watch for non-verbal cues, be calm.
• For complex concerns, a full summary and a check for
acceptance works better than just a quick confirmation.
Mike Kunkle 33

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Patience is an overlooked
superpower of selling.
Foster it.
Mike Kunkle 34

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Judgment is another
superpower of selling.
Foster it.
Mike Kunkle 35

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
Do both through
scenario-based
simulations &
coaching.
Mike Kunkle 36

Mike Kunkle 37
Use a Systems Approach to Sales Enablement

Mike Kunkle 38
5 Stages of Sales Mastery & Behavior Change
Stage 1:
Knowledge
Acquisition
Acquire the knowledge
behind the skill with
examples and
assessments/tests to
validate learning.
eLearning, Classroom
Instruction (FTF or
Virtual), Assessments
Stage 2:
Knowledge
Sustainment
Sustain the knowledge;
reverse the “forgetting
curve.”
Q&A, Check-Ins,
Assessments, Learning
Reinforcement
Systems
Stage 3:
Skill
Development
Develop and practice
skills. Convert
knowledge into
behavior.
Flipped Classrooms,
Role Playing, Live
Simulations, Virtual
Coaching Tools
Stage 4:
Skill
Transfer
Apply the newly-
acquired and practiced
skills in the workplace.
Mentoring and
Preparation to Use
Skills, Forms/Job
Aids/Performance
Support
Stage 5:
Skill
Mastery
Guide and coach reps
to skill mastery and
performance outcomes,
over time.
Sales Analytics, Field
Training and Coaching,
Coaching Forms and
Tools
Learn something new.
Known to work.
What, Why, & How.
Don’t forget. Just
because they learned
something new, doesn’t
mean they’ll retain it.
Just because they know
and remember, doesn’t
mean they can do it.
Just because they can
do it, doesn’t mean they
will. (Skill/Will Matrix)
Just because they tried
it, doesn’t mean they
did it well or will
continue to do it.
STAGE
WHAT
HOW
WHY
Webinar on the 5 Stages: https://www.smmconnect.com/events/1254

Acknowledge
Clarify
Categorize
Develop
Deliver
Confirm
• Make it part of your formal onboarding and on-going
training
• Role plays and simulations reign
• Not just during training… SKOs, weekly meetings,
QBRs, “lightning rounds,” coaching, virtual coaching
challenges
• Foster the sharing of examples / best practices
• Make it part of your culture (“the way we do things
around here”).
Mike Kunkle 39

Reading on the Four Sales Systems
• Part 1, Four Systems Overview: http://bit.ly/4SalesSystems-Overview
• Part 2, Sales Selection System: http://bit.ly/4SalesSystems-Selection
• Part 3, Sales Support System: http://bit.ly/4SalesSystems-SalesSupport
• Part 4, Sales Learning System: http://bit.ly/4SalesSystems-SalesLearning
• Part 5, Sales Management System: http://bit.ly/4SalesSystems-SalesManagement
• SlideShare Presentation: http://bit.ly/SystemsApproachST-Docebo2017
Mike Kunkle
A Systems Approach to Sales Transformation
41
Sales Selection Sales Support Sales Learning Sales Management

Complimentary White Paper
Realizing the Growth Potential of the Internet of Things:
The Convergence of Market Opportunity, Design Thinking,
Technical Enablement and Sales Enablement
http://bit.ly/DTI-IoTPotential

Complimentary eBook!
http://bit.ly/SalesCoachingeBook-DTI

www.linkedin.com/in/mikekunkle
www.mikekunkle.com/connect
www.smmconnect.com/
www.smmconnect.com/recordings
THANKS for your time and attention!
For more information
Contact Mike:
Upcoming SMM Connect Webinars:
Archived SMM Connect Webinars:

Stop Overcoming Objections - Start Resolving Concerns!

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