What to do when your prospect says “I’m too busy”

When making sales calls it's not uncommon to hear a prospect say “I’m too busy.” This seemingly simple objection can be tricky to respond to since it isn’t related to your product or service. But don’t be discouraged! The beauty of the “I’m too busy” objection is that you don’t want to talk to them now anyway. You want to set an appointment to talk at a time that’s convenient for them. If they’re too busy to talk, that’s the very reason to set an appointment–so you can talk when they’re less busy and actually have you scheduled in their calendar.

Too busy to schedule an appointment

What if they’re too busy at that moment to even schedule the appointment with you? You may hear your prospect ask you to call back another time to schedule an appointment. In cases like these, a great technique is to suggest a tentative appointment time now, and that you’ll call back to confirm instead.

Microsoft conducted a study that showed that there’s a 70% greater chance an activity will happen if it’s scheduled in the calendar. So in our scenario, there’s a 70% greater likelihood that the prospect will honor the appointment and meet with you if you can get him or her to put you in their calendar, even if it’s only tentative.

Script for handling the “Too Busy” objection

With multiple objections given on this particular call, it might go something like this:

Prospect: Andrea, you’ve caught me at a time when I’m just too busy to talk.

Sales Rep: Okay, well then rather than taking the time now, why don’t I just come by next Thursday at 11:15?

Prospect: Why don’t you just call me back to schedule an appointment?

Sales Rep: I’d be happy to, but why don’t we go ahead and tentatively get it on the calendar now, and I’ll call you back to confirm? 

Prospect: Okay, what did you say? Next Thursday at 1115? See you then.

Now that you know how to handle the I’m Too Busy objection, use this technique and go get meetings!

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