Objection handling on your website

Why a website is harder than a sales call

On a sales call, you hear the doubt. You can ask about it and answer it on the spot.

Your website has nobody on the line. A visitor thinks "that's a lot of money" and closes the tab. Your reports show a visit that lasted 14 seconds, which is a hard thing to reply to.

The same steps still work. Each one just has a different job:

Step 1: Find out what they're worried about

Your own guess at what's stopping people is only a starting point. These four sources will correct it, and the first takes under an hour.

• Your inbox. Go through the last 30 emails, DMs and call notes from people who hadn't bought yet. Every question in there is a doubt from someone polite enough to type it. Copy their exact words, because those words go on your page later.
• One question on the page. Ask people why they decided not to buy. An open text box gets honest answers, but typing on a phone is a chore. So I'd offer tappable answers plus a "something else" box, and read the "something else" replies first. Then open the page on your own phone to check the survey actually appears.
• Recordings. Microsoft Clarity is free and shows you recordings of real visits. Look for people who go back and forth between the price and the button, or who open your returns page and then leave.
• Your competitors' reviews. Read the two and three star reviews of whatever is closest to what you sell. That's your customers listing their fears for free.

If you can, also watch people try it. Five people is enough. Ask each of them to say what they're thinking while they decide. It's uncomfortable, and you'll hear things no report will tell you.

Stop when you have your top three. A page that tries to answer fourteen doubts reads like a nervous page.

Step 2: Sort them, then fix the real ones

A "no" comes in three kinds:

• An objection: they could buy but have a reason not to. You can answer this one.
• A stall: they haven't decided and would rather not. I'd treat "I'll think about it" as a different worry in a polite coat. Look for the one underneath.
• A condition: something really does prevent the sale. You don't serve their area, or their company only buys from approved suppliers. Say so early and save everyone the trouble.

Some doubts are simply correct. If your product is wrong for someone, step back politely. Pushing a bad fit only gets you an unhappy customer.

Then ask whether the worry has a point. If it does, fix the problem first and write about it second. If people keep asking about returns, a better returns policy comes before better words about your returns policy. Zappos is a good example. It took on the fear of shoes not fitting with generous returns. Its policy page today opens by promising free shipping and free returns, with 60 days to send things back. Good writing can't rescue a policy people are right to dislike.

Step 3: Write the answer, objection by objection

Most doubts come down to price, timing, who gets to decide, need, or risk. Those same worries are behind the wider list of sales objections that salespeople hear every day. On a website, they tend to turn up as these six.

The wording below is there to adapt. Use a line only if it's true of your business.

"It's too expensive"

Start with the surprises. Baymard surveyed US shoppers about why they left a cart. Of the ones who weren't just browsing, 40% left over extra costs, and 12% because they couldn't see the total up front. A fee that appears at checkout is an objection you created yourself.

Then remember that price is the polite answer. Nobody can check your budget, so it's the easiest reason to give. "Too expensive" can mean they have another quote, they're bargaining or it's just more than they expected. So beside the price, say what it includes and what it replaces:

• "$480 for the full set-up. That's the whole price, with nothing added later."
• "Yes, we cost more than a template. You get a person who sets it up and answers your emails."
• "Or $40 a month for 12 months."

That last line splits up the price, and it only helps if the monthly option is real. Try not to cut the price first. A discount doesn't help someone who doesn't believe you yet. Knowing how to handle price objections is a bigger subject than one section can hold. So start with these lines and see what your inbox says next.

"I'm not sure this is right for me"

Owners miss this one, because they're trying to appeal to everyone. Say who it's for, and say who it isn't for. Saying who it's wrong for makes the rest of the page easier to believe.

• "Built for cleaning businesses with one to five staff. If you have 50, you'll outgrow it quickly."
• "Good for your first 10K run. If you're chasing a marathon time, you want our other plan."
• "Not sure which one? Tell me your budget and your deadline and I'll say which I'd pick."

"Can I trust you?"

In Baymard's survey, 19% left a cart because they didn't trust the site with their card details. A stranger has every reason to be careful with you, so show them proof.

Northwestern University researchers found people were almost four times as likely to buy a product with five reviews as one with none. The effect was stronger on higher-priced items. People were also usually most likely to buy at ratings of 4.0 to 4.7 stars. So a few honest grumbles won't sink you.

Pick reviews that name the doubt, and put them right where it comes up. "I thought this would be too complicated for me" is worth ten of "Great service!" Paying for glowing reviews or writing fake ones is out. US rules ban it, and it would rather defeat the point of a section about trust.

"What if it goes wrong?"

In Baymard's survey, 13% left a cart over a returns policy they didn't like. Service businesses face the same fear with a different name: what happens after I click this button? Answer both beside the button itself.

• "If the first session isn't useful, tell me within 7 days and I'll refund you."
• "Free returns for 30 days. We send the label."
• "After you book, you'll get a confirmation email and a short form. We talk on the date you picked."

Keep the terms short and keep your promise. A guarantee you argue about later costs more than the sale it won.

"Not right now"

Leave the browsers alone. In that Baymard survey, 42% of US shoppers had left a cart because they were just looking, and nothing you write fixes that. For everyone else, this is plain buyer hesitation more often than a firm no. A smaller next step helps more than extra pressure.

• "Not ready to book? Get the one-page price list by email."
• "Order by Tuesday and it arrives Friday." (20% of shoppers in that survey left over slow delivery, so they need the date.)
• "Booked out from March. Start in February if you want it done before summer." (Only if you are.)

Real limits are fine. Invented ones can land you in trouble. The US Federal Trade Commission lists countdown timers on offers that aren't really time-limited among the tricks it calls dark patterns. Good scarcity marketing depends on a limit that exists, and your regulars will notice when the timer resets.

"I need to ask someone else"

A good salesperson leaves the buyer something to pass on to whoever else gets a say. Your website can do that around the clock. Make it easy for a spouse, partner or boss to see what they're being asked to agree to.

• "Need to run this past someone? Here's a one-page summary with the price and terms."
• "Forward this page. Everything they'll ask is in the section below."

Step 4: Put each answer where the doubt comes up

Plenty of sites pile every answer into an FAQ at the bottom, where a worried visitor may never arrive. Spread the answers through the page instead, each one where that worry tends to come up:

Guest checkout is on that list because 18% in Baymard's survey left because a site wanted them to create an account.

For the wording itself, use three parts. Name the doubt in their words. Give the fact. Show the proof.

"Worried it's too technical? We set it up with you on a call. Here's what [client name] said about that."

Don't argue with them, though. "We're not expensive" tells the reader they're wrong. "Yes, it costs more than a template, and here's what that pays for" takes their side.

When someone says it to your face

Small businesses hear these by phone, chat and DM too. Here the classic sales advice works as written. Hear them out, ask one question, and only then answer. The question is the part people skip.

Then close the loop. Any answer you give twice belongs on your website.

When a page isn't enough

A page gives everyone the same answers in the same order. The person worried about price and the person worried about fit scroll the same page, and each has to hunt for their part. A conversation can ask first.

That's what we built Possible to do, so take this with the obvious pinch of salt. Possible is an AI built on real sales psychology. It asks each visitor the right question at the right moment, remembers the answers and guides them to a sale, sign-up or booking. It's free to start. If you sell your time, here's how it works as an AI sales assistant for coaches and consultants. Do the steps above first either way, because you need to know your answers before anything can give them.

How to tell if it worked

If you have lots of visitors, you can test two versions of an answer against each other. Most small sites don't, so use a simpler test:

1. Note how many people reach your next step this month.
2. Change one answer in one place.
3. Keep your survey running and keep reading your inbox.

The best sign is that the doubt stops turning up. If "how much does it cost in total?" was your most common email and it vanishes, the page is doing that job for you. If sales don't move and the same worry keeps arriving, people didn't believe your answer. That usually means it needs proof more than it needs better words.

Do this today

1. Read your last 30 emails and DMs from people who hadn't bought yet. Write down the three worries that come up most.
2. Open your best page on your phone and find where each worry comes up.
3. Write one honest answer for each, using the doubt, the fact and the proof.
4. Put one review beside your button, choosing one that names a doubt.
5. Add the one-question survey, and come back to it in two weeks.

Questions about objection handling