During a sales presentation one often encounters consistent objections or road blocks at particular points in the process. In fact, after delivering a presentation over and over, one can often predict the exact timing and wording of the objection. Once the trend has been noticed the sales person is left with two options. They can either prepare a defensive response to the objection, or they can preemptively address the issue.

The defensive response tends to come across as . . . well . . . defensive. The prospect can see even the most articulate answer to their objection as  scrambling for an explanation. Even if the objection is completely ungrounded, merely giving the prospect an opportunity to spit it out can derail a sales presentation because after expressing their concern the prospect is now aligned against the salesperson.

The preemptive strike, on the other hand, can remove the objection before the prospect even has a chance to consider it. Even better, this tactic can spin the objection to a positive. Since these concerns always seem to rise at the same point in the presentation, it is easy to time your "strike" when the prospect is most open to the concept. They are just forming the idea that will become the objection when you grab the reins and steer them in the direction you want to go.

Stan is a pocket knife salesman that sells a slimmed down version of the traditional Swiss Army Knife. To create a smaller, easier to carry knife, Stan's company has removed some of the less utilized tools. Now, during his sales presentation, right after he demonstrates each tool, Stan keeps getting the same objection . . . "Where's the toothpick?"

After the prospect asks about the toothpick, Stan explains that it was a seldom used piece of the original Swiss Army Knife and was actually, if one thought about it, somewhat unsanitary. However, now the prospect is thinking about the toothpick, remembering how he used to clean his nails with it, wondering what other uses it might have. Despite the truth of Stan's argument, the prospect is now on the other side of the toothpick/no toothpick debate. The sale is now hindered by an irrelevant objection.

Stan, being an excellent knife salesman, realizes that this objection is costing him money and decides to preempt the objection in his presentation. As he draws to the end of the tools section of his pitch Stan says, "You probably noticed we removed a few of the less useful tools like the toothpick from our design making the knife easier to carry and easier to use. Believe it or not, some guy last week actually thought the toothpick was a necessity. The toothpick. I mean, we both no nobody in their right mind ever used it. The only thing it was even remotely good for was cleaning your nails. Can you believe that guy actually thought we should have kept the thing?"

Almost all of Stan's prospects found themselves laughing with Stan at this poor fool who thought the toothpick was a necessary part of the Swiss Army Knife. "That guys an idiot," they agreed. Despite the fact that these same prospects would have probably expressed regret over the missing toothpick without Stan's preemption, they now all agreed with him. The toothpick was a silly, unnecessaryextravagance and the objection was dismissed before it appeared. 

Preempting objections requires attentive sales people who will document both the objections and the points at which they occur. Once identified you then need to provide the prospect reason to side with you against the unthinking masses. Give them a chance to feel in on the joke and they will defend your side as rabidly as they might once have attacked it. Obviously some objections will be more complicated to preempt than Stan's toothpick, but addressing them yourself is better than letting the prospect discover and gain ownership over a troubling objection.

What success have you had in preempting objections? Share your stories in the comments.