What is LAER in sales?
Listen, Acknowledge, Explore, Respond: a way to answer a concern without steamrolling it.
What it means
LAER is a way to handle a buyer's concern or objection. The letters stand for Listen, Acknowledge, Explore, and Respond. The point is to understand the concern before you answer it.
- Listen: use their words for the concern.
- Acknowledge: show the concern is fair before you answer it.
- Explore: ask one question about the concern.
- Respond: answer the concern they actually raised.
LAER is a sales method: a framework for how to think and write. It is not a study result, and this page does not attach a win rate or reply rate to it. This site is not affiliated with its authors or with any company that teaches it.
What it means for a sales email
LAER fits a reply to an email where the buyer pushed back. Echo their concern in their words, say why it is a fair point, ask one question, then give your answer. Leave room for them to say the concern still stands.
What it avoids: opening with a rebuttal, jumping to a discount, or pitching over their point. A nod followed by but is a weak acknowledgment.
Writing practice and method guidance, not a study result.
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