CHRISISMS
A fortnightly pearl of wisdom to fast track your success
CHRISISM #53 - The Psychology of Objections
31 October 2017
Do you ever wish you could close more business without having to handle any objections along the way? If so, be careful what you wish for! Most advisers I know would love to be able to make appointments and complete business without having to handle clients’ objections and overcome resistance. Understandable though this may be, it is important to embrace the mindset that objections are a positive sign and that handling them in your stride is just a necessary stepping stone on the way to doing business. What we need to remember is that it is human nature to resist commitment – especially commitment to time or money, which is a bit inconvenient for us, isn’t it, because when we are looking to make an appointment we are looking for a commitment to someone’s time and when we are looking to do business, we are looking for a commitment to someone’s money! So we really shouldn’t be surprised when we get objections. Indeed we should regard objections as a positive sign and therefore welcome them and regard them merely as obstacles that need to be removed on the way to getting a result. One distinction that we need to make is between objections and conditions. Understanding the difference is crucial to our mindset when tackling client resistance. The fundamental difference between the two is that conditions are reasons why business cannot be done (e.g. bankruptcy or impending death!) whereas objections are hurdles that need to be overcome on the way to doing business (i.e. everything else!). Typically there are 5 main reasons why clients raise objections and in turn 5 courses of action on our part depending on which of the 5 reasons the particular objection represents. The reasons and courses of action are as follows:-
The reality is that the smokescreen is the most common thing that an objection represents because 90% of all client resistance has to do with the premium or the cost, but it will be expressed as something else because the client is loath to make affordability the main problem. For this reason, handling objections is a little bit like eating an apple i.e. taking bites from the outside in order to get to the core i.e. the cost. There are only a finite number of objections either to making an appointment or doing business, so make sure that you have at least one way of handling all of the possible objections you may get, so that you can do so in a matter of fact way and with a smile on your face and remember:- once you have handled the objection, ask for the appointment or the business; otherwise you will probably get another objection! If you have got some value out of this Chrisism, then I strongly recommend you come along to my upcoming “Sales Skills for Financial Planners” Workshop in your capital city at which you are guaranteed to get a bucketful of simple, practical and usable client engagement tools that you can start using immediately to great effect in your business. Just click on the appropriate link below for the details and register now.
Brisbane - Wednesday, 15 November
Sydney - Wednesday, 29 November Melbourne - Friday, 1 December |
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The Risk Workshop by Chris UnwinAre you a financial adviser who would like all of your clients to have appropriate types and levels of personal protection? But perhaps you feel you need a more structured and client friendly engagement process? |