How to Handle Holiday Sales Objections Over the Phone

“I’m starting to get the “CALL ME BACK AFTER THE HOLIDAYS” Stall. What should I do? Are these legitimate requests?”

OK, let’s start by me asking you a question or two…

Question 1: Have you ever called a prospect back after the holidays? I’m going to assume the answer is, “Yes.”

Question 2: What happened when you did call those prospects after the holidays as they asked? Did they make a purchase or sign up?

I’m willing to bet that around 90% still did not buy from you. Fair assumption?

Sure maybe a few bought. But the majority did not. Are you happy with those odds? If not, we need to look at the situation a little closer to improve our results.

How to Handle Holiday Sales Objections Over the Phone: Step #1

Here’s where we start:

There are two primary buckets that your prospects will fit into when you hear the “Call Me Back After the Holidays” response.

Bucket #1:

The prospect has a legitimate reason for needing to wait. They are going to buy from you after the holidays but are not able to do it now. You’ve sought first to understand their situation thoroughly, and you’ve concluded that the first quarter is when the deal will come in. Any further attempts to get them to move on “your time frame” would only jeopardize your relationship with them and the sale. Time to move on.

Bucket #2:

It’s a stall. A blow-off. Something to get you off the phone now. They will not buy from you after the holidays because you missed a step or two in your sales process. This is the one we need to fix if you want to have a better shot of hitting your end of year quota.

Why Did the Holiday Stall Objection Occur?

Two top reasons for getting the holiday stall:

1) You are speaking to the wrong person.

Sure, you may have them marked down as the “decision-maker,” but there’s a strong possibility you allowed an information gatherer, end-user, or an influencer to convince you that they have decision-making power when they don’t.

2) You haven’t gotten a commitment that they want the problem that your solution solves, to go away.

How to Handle Holiday Sales Objections Over the Phone: Step #2

So What Do I Do?

The ultimate answer is to fine-tune your sales process (what sales questions you ask, when you ask them, how you ask them, why you ask them, etc.) so that you don’t end up in this sales situation, to begin with.

But we all make mistakes so, one quick way to find out what bucket your prospect is in is to ask this question after they say “Call Me Back After the Holidays” and that is:

“Mr. Prospect, when I call you after the holidays, what happens next?”

Now, if they say something along the lines of “We move forward/place the order,” etc. this prospect is bucket #1.

But if they give you some bogus, non-committal, or non-affirmative answer then you know you have not got them committed to solving their problem with your solution, and or you are not speaking with the right person. You skipped critical steps in the qualifying and or presentation phase and need to go back.

It’s best to uncover and handle those issues now while you have them on the phone rather than waiting until after the holidays.