As a Kitchen Designer, you are, of course also a salesperson. You could design the best space imaginable, but if you can’t sell it, you won’t make any money, and you might as well close up shop.

Part of being a salesperson is and always has been learning how to handle objections. This is one of the foundations in sales and if you are studying how to become better in sales, you will encounter a ton of advice on handling and overcoming objections. Practically every book about sales has a section on it and one very excellent book is even simply called “Objections”, by Jeb Blount.

It has been my experience in handling objections that they can seem very confrontational and this can be uncomfortable, especially for a person that has an artistic mindset like most Kitchen Designers. 

ob.jec.tion /əbˈjekSH(ə)n/n. 1 a reason or argument presented in opposition

The Merriam-Webster definition of objection is “a reason or argument presented in opposition”. It really doesn’t get much more confrontational than that.

I don’t know anyone in sales that wants to be in an adversarial position when trying to sell something to a client. This is a very uncomfortable environment and you can easily come across to your client as being defensive.

Look, your client is not going to lash out as though they were in a courtroom and say, “I object!” What they may do though is say something along the lines of “Your competitor is offering a better price”, or “I am just not sure that this is what we are looking for”. Then, of course, there is also the dreaded “I want to go home and think about it.” response.

Rather than being argumentative, “our price is fair” or “I thought I gave you everything you wanted, what am I missing?”, you could accomplish more by opening it up for discussion. 

Change your perspective and think about it this way. Your client does not have objections, rather they have concerns.

If you look at it from this, your client’s perspective, you are showing empathy and also validating what is most likely going on in their mind.

Some of the best phrases to use might be something like,

“I understand that sometimes there is better pricing out there, what are your concerns about what I have presented?”

or

“I think we have reviewed everything that I think is important in this project, but you seem hesitant. What are some of your concerns?”

One all-important piece to asking these questions is to not say anything after you ask the question. That couple of seconds of uncomfortable silence will eventually be filled by your client answering you.

I know if I were on the cusp of making a decision to buy a large project, I would have some concerns, wouldn’t you? Get those concerns out in the open and have a conversation about them so that you can be aware of your client’s thoughts and move closer to a sale!