New and experienced advisors alike lose confidence in the face of objections. Why do you think prospects object? The reason is quite simple: No one likes being sold; everyone wants to feel like they have bought!
When prospects object, it is their way of telling you that you have not convinced them of why they should do business with you. To have them accept your product or service as their own, you must become an “assistant buyer” and learn to love objections.
All objections are not genuine. Most are simply smoke screens. Here are three steps for determining the difference:
- The first time that an objection is raised, you should ignore it. Most often it won’t come up again.
- If it comes up a second time, you simply acknowledge it and politely defer it. Most likely it’ll never come up again.
- Now, if it comes up a third time, it’s a genuine concern. This time, you must acknowledge it, restate it for clarity, and dispense of it.
Objections come in many variations. However, all of them can be separated into five distinct categories. You can’t possibly learn a response to every objection that a prospect throws at you. If you learn just two effective responses for each of the five categories, you can feel confident when faced with objections.
So what are those five categories of objections?
- No need
- No money
- No hurry
- No confidence
- No love
Now, let’s do a little exercise. I will state some common objections that we hear every day, and you’ll identify which category each one fits into.
- “With all of my property and savings, my family is secure!”
- No need
- “My budget can’t accommodate it right now.”
- No money
- “Let me sleep on this and get back to you.”
- No hurry
- “I think I can do better with stocks or real estate.”
- No confidence
- “My wife will likely remarry someday. I don’t want to make her new husband rich.”
- No love
Now, imagine having two powerful responses to fit each of these categories. Once you practice them, you will gain increased confidence, and you will learn to love objections!
An objection is just their way of saying, “Tell me more; convince me of why I should buy your product or service.” People do not buy based on logic; they buy on emotions. Sell to their emotions!
When you’ve matched the right product to the right need at the right price and in the right way, the sale is won!
The MDRT Store and MDRT Resource Zone have wonderful material that will add to what I’ve shared today. If you practice these simple strategies and tactics, you’ll begin to anticipate objections, you’ll improve your closing average, and you will learn to love objections!
Anthony "Tiger" Longley, LUTCF, is a 30-year MDRT member and Gold Knight of the MDRT Foundation from Nassau, Bahamas. During his 36-year career, Longley has been recognized locally and internationally for sales achievement and conservation. He has served on MCC as Area Chair, Zone Chair and Divisional Vice President. He spoke at the 2004 MDRT Annual Meeting.
