Most objections to your offer are driven by fear.
Let's say you're selling an AI tree cutting solution. It comes with huge benefits for the average forester. Their output will be increased by half while the cost goes down over two thirds.
The only barrier is the deep integration into the business processes. If you promises don't hold up, they might go under.
You'll quickly find that selling this thing is not that easy. No one wants to mess with a solution that has the power to destroy them. In your interaction with them, it will manifest as disinterest, stalling, and mistrust. Their brain is firing out ideas to battle their fear of going bust.
It comes out as a string of objections directed at your offer, often properly underlined with a good dose of anger.
Basic Instincts
Like all of us, your customers are afraid. Afraid to make the wrong decision. Afraid to be screwed over. Afraid to lose money. Afraid to be shamed and ridiculed.
Even if you have a great offer, you will rarely see someone make a backflip of joy. They might feel it bubbling up in them but they'll do their best to hide it. A healthy fear, or call it skepticism, will crouch up and put up a fight.
"It's too expensive."
"I'm too busy."
"I tried that before and it doesn't work."
It's nothing personal. Your prospect only tries to deal with their fear. They could just admit it but people don't do that. Instead, they are trying to find a reason to justify their fear and move on.
Unfortunately, they won't make the effort of digging deeper into the topic to understand the intricacies of your solutions. They're already justified and they reason for themselves and not for you. It's only them who have to be satisfied.
The answers at the top often fit great. They categorize your solution, make it generic and put a checkmark behind it. Done, I don't want it.
And so fear claimed another victim. You both lost a great opportunity.
Anticipating objections online
Fighting objections is easier when you're talking to your customers face to face. You can feel what's bothering them. You can ask questions and hone in on the different pain points.
On the web, you don't have that luxury. You can't sense their fears and you won't be able to direct the conversation. All your cost reduction/profit-maximizing marketing lingo will sound great. But your foresters will still prefer the old way. No flashy diagram will convince them of your solution.
You'll fail not because of your benefits but because of the risks you didn't address. They see what it can do to their business and they feel they're doing just fine. The potential benefits aren't worth the risk.
What you're faced with isn't logic. You don't have to fight arguments with logic but have to fight fear with trust.
You can only do that by relying on others.
Testimonials
Other customers are in a great position to build trust with your prospects. After all, they used to have similar issues until you came along.
Their statement makes your claims appear in a different light. It allows you to ride along on the stream of trust that flows between members of the same industry.
Do you see a trend in what people tend to mention first? Take that objection first and dismantle it. Don't hide from it or think it won't pop into people's minds.
Testimonials are great for that. Use what customers said about you in the past. Have them repeat their specific fear and explain how your solution operates within that.
For example, don't take a testimony that says how marvelous your tree cutting software is. No, tell them about Fred from Mijidor, Inc. who was worried about the deep integration between the software and his business.
What gave him peace of mind was the process restoration feature. "Within 12 hours I could have restored my old ways of doing things. Luckily", he says, "We never had to use it. But it's good to know it's there".
Make it official
Let's say you're a butcher in a neighborhood with many Jews or Muslims. You're not even on their map because they are afraid of breaking their religious code. But adjusting your processes and getting a seal promising kosher or halal food would destroy their fear of breaking their religious dietary rules.
You might not share their faith but purpose can unite you nonetheless. Seals of approval make you trustworthy because trusted sources looked at you and deemed you worthy of their approval.
So why not showcase that on your website?
Knowledge is power
Your customers build some of their reasoning on fear. They got a bad haircut, bought rotten food or got overcharged by their contractors. They learned to be very careful regarding our promises.
As protection, they will come up with a list of objections for your offer. Their fears are different depending on the industry and their experience within your industry. But the bottom line is that you have to have answers to questions they might never ask you directly.
It's your job to fight their fear.