What to do when you’re faced with objections?
And the word is ‘when’ and not ‘if’. Because along your business build, objections are going to come up. To have success, we need to know how to handle them, how to overcome them and how to learn from them.
What we need to understand right from the start is objections are NORMAL.
A lot of us get crushed by objections. We stop talking to people because one person made a negative comment, one person asked us a question and we froze. It takes us completely out of the game, and we quit.
Objections are a normal part of the process; they are part of people’s reflexes. And getting an objection is far better than a nasty NO or being ghosted. With objections – at least they’ve responded. And now you have the opportunity to ask more questions. Understand more of what people are thinking and understanding from what you’re saying.
There are essentially three types of objections.
Firstly, the person doesn’t have enough Info.
Secondly, there’s something in their History, a past experience they’re still clinging to.
Thirdly, your own Belief (or lack of belief) is getting in the way and they’re picking up on that. This is where we learn and we get better and we get stronger.
Handling the First 2 Types.
These first two objections are very simple to overcome and to handle. It’s just a matter of getting more information.
When someone doesn’t have enough Info – their objection will sound like ‘OK so I have to give up food for the rest of my life?’, ‘Isn’t this one of those things?’, ‘I can get the same thing cheaper at the shops’.
The History objection will sound ‘My brother tried one of those things. It didn’t work.’
All we need to do from here is start asking more questions. Say, ‘Okay. Thanks for that. Just for my own understanding, what is it about the price that makes you think you can’t afford it?’
If they say, ‘It’s $500 a month’, you say, ‘It’s not actually $500 every month. That’s just our top starter pack. And look, we’ve got other basic packs as well. We’ve got all these other options that are more budget friendly. Will this make it more affordable for you? Does that fit your budget better?’
You are growing your own information along the way. You’re handling their objections by giving them that next bit of information.
Now from there, they might come to you with the History. “Oh, yes. My brother did it and it didn’t work.” “OK. Thanks for letting me know. That really helps with my own understanding. Now, do you mind if I ask, did your brother actually do it? Or just try it? Was he coached properly? How long did he try it for?”
These first two objections are an opportunity for you to grow your own understanding and knowledge and show that you can help this person more. You can help them overcome this lack of information and disarm that old history that they’re holding on to. That objection was part of learning process. And then next time, you can adjust what you say or send out, giving out information and start beating those same objections before they even come up!
When you’re disarming their objection before it even comes up, that shows that you believe. And that takes us straight into our third one – Belief.
Handling the (Lack of) Belief Objection
Some of the biggest objections you will get, you have actually created yourself. It’s not always easy because it’s going to come down to our own belief. As humans, we know we have this innate little BS meter in our brain. When someone’s trying to BS us, when someone’s telling us something that we don’t quite believe, we pick up on that energy. So, to beat this objection you need to look at your own energy and belief.
When you deliver the price tag and you don’t have that belief and certainty in your voice, then they’re going to pick that up. If you don’t truly believe that your product is unique and special, they will tell you there’s the same thing but cheaper on the shelf. If you’re constantly being told that Network Marketing is a scam, maybe you don’t believe in the Network Marketing business model enough – yet.
Disarm this objection before it even comes up by working on your own belief. Go out and read great books, surround yourself with great people, go to your company events, use your products properly, look at results that other people are getting, talk to other great leaders, watch great YouTube videos, listen to podcasts. Do what you can to build your own belief. That will help you deliver more certainty in what you’re saying. If you want to be believable, you have to believe first.
If you’re still struggling and you don’t know exactly what to say when the objections come up, there’s a simple little thing called Feel, Felt, Found.
Feel Felt Found.
You may have heard of it before – but that’s because it works, so we’ve never had to come up with anything else. In the medical system, there’s a saying – if there’s one cure for something, it works. We found the one thing that works, so we give it to everyone – because it works. When there’s 27 different cures, none of them work. Think of the hiccups. Everyone’s got that family remedy. Drink water upside down, hold your breath, have someone frighten you. None of them work. But the Feel, Felt, Found, it works – so everyone uses it.
What we’re going to do is we’re first going to acknowledge the person’s objection – don’t fight against them. Don’t try and win power. Acknowledge and thank them for being honest and giving you the feedback and information you need.
If someone provides a Network Marketing objection, you can respond with; ‘Thanks for letting me know. I know how you feel because I felt the same way. But what I found was that it’s actually a great business model. It is the side hustle of the 21st century. It is the best way to grow a business from home from social media. It is the best way to take the first step towards financial freedom.”
We just put that formula into any objection.
‘I don’t want to sell to my friends’.
‘Thanks for letting me know. I know how you feel because I felt the same way. I’ve found most people are like that and are happy to be customers. I started with the products and got such great results that I decided to do this as a way to generate a second income. But that’s just me. There’s no obligation to sell’.
‘I don’t want to live off smoothies’.
‘Totally understand, thanks for being honest. I know how you feel because I felt exactly the same. But I’ve found over the past few years that it’s such a simple way to eat between meals. If I’m being social I cut back on smoothies, if I’ve blown out I tighten things up’.
Objections will come along. Objections will hurt at times as well – because they can come from those who are closest to you. But if we work on our own belief, we understand that it’s part of our learning process and we use this simple Feel, Felt, Found template, you’ll be able to overcome any objection.
Andrew Logan is a Network Marketing Author, Coach and Mentor.
You can access more free training on his YouTube channel here and his Podcast here.
For your Free 7 Step Guide to Financial Freedom Through Network Marketing, click here.