"We're just not doing anything until this virus situation is settled... "

Sound familiar? It should. You probably get this objection, or some version of it, every day now.

And for good reason. We're all in unchartered territory now. Some of you reading this are working from home-a whole new challenge-some stores and companies are closing for now, and freeways as clear as they were in 1965 (see, it isn't all doom and gloom.)

Anyway, how do you handle this objection when you're prospecting? Here are some practical tips and a word-for-word way to handle this current objection:

First: Take your "salesman hat" off. Nobody wants to be pitched hard right now. Instead, what they want is to be listened to.

I always teach reps that one of the most important soft skills they can learn is to just talk to & listen to someone. Sales reps have a hard time with this, but now is the perfect time to practice this skill.

Second: It's important to stress to prospects and clients that what we're going through now is temporary. This will pass.

Third: This is the perfect time to evaluate (your product or service) and to be ready to make the move ahead of their competition. In other words, what they do now will either position them to be ahead of or behind the other companies in their market space.

And you can help them do that...

Here is your script to use while prospecting and setting demos:

Prospect: "We're just not doing anything until this virus situation is settled... "

You: "I completely understand. We've never seen anything like this before, tell me, how are you dealing with it?"

[Hit MUTE. Let your prospect or client vent. They want to be heard right now-not pitched-and you will separate yourself from all the other desperate salespeople out there if you act as a trusted advisor right now. Share how you're dealing with it as well.]

After they have gotten it all out:

"You know _________, we all know one thing for certain: While this is scary, and while we may have several weeks before things calm down, ultimately, it's temporary. And that's at least comforting-you know?"

[Get their buy in on this.]

"In the meantime, let me tell you what other companies I'm speaking with are doing. They are using this downtime to evaluate and compare services like ours so when the time comes to make a buying decision, they won't lose any time to their competitors.

"What I'd suggest is that we schedule some time so I can show you what your options are and what other companies are leaning towards-are you at least open to that?"

NOTE: If you want to use a stronger tie down than, "are you at least open to that?" you can use any of the following:

"Let's schedule something for later this week so I can show you... do you have your calendar open?"

OR

"In fact, if you have a few minutes right now, let me take you to our website... "

OR

"What time and day might be good for you later this week... ?"

OR

"By the way, are you the right person to speak to about this?"

Regardless of which tie down you choose, now start qualifying and set an appointment for a demo.

As always, the best way to overcome any objection or stall is to be prepared for it in advance. Use/adapt/personalize this script so it works for you and your industry.