Part 4: Handling Objections With Grace

OUR CURRICULUM

• Module #1: Meet, Greet, And Instant Rapport

• Module #2: Determine what your prospect truly desires

• Module #3: Prescribe and Close

• Module #4: Handling Objections With Grace

Today’s Agenda• Important stuff to understand about objections.

• Objections vs. conditions.

• The agreement frame.

• Feel, felt, found.

• Frameworks.

• The big secret: Answering objections in advance.

Important Stuff• Objections should not be view as a confrontation but rather as the

prospect asking for clarification or more details.

• You can’t “crush” an objection and maintain rapport.

• If you keep getting the same objection over and over, there is something amiss in your presentation.

• The best time to handle an objection is BEFORE it is raised.

• Remember: Neediness KILLS sales. You don’t NEED the sale.

Objections vs. Conditions• An objection is a request for more information, or a tactic used by your

prospect because they are not sold, but don’t want to give you a hard “no.”

• A condition is a legitimate reason why someone can’t buy.

• Example: “I can’t afford this” can be an objection or a condition.

• The truth is you shouldn’t get many “conditions” when you follow my complete system because the prospects you’re meeting with are highly qualified.

Steps For Handing Objections

1. Align: Maintain rapport

2. Affirm: Let the prospect know you hear them.

3. Isolate: Are there other objections?

4. Answer: Handle the objection.

Align: The Agreement Frame

• Remember that we want to maintain rapport.

• Rapport killer is the word “but” and it sets up a combative situation.

• I agree and…

• I can appreciate and…

• I understand and

Affirm

• I understand, Mr. Prospect, and many of my happiest clients felt the same way…

• I agree Mr Prospect, it isn’t cheap, and…

• I can appreciate you wanting to think about it, it is a big decision.

Isolate

• You want to avoid going back and forth with the prospect.

• When they raise a major objection, you want to make sure it is the only thing holding them back.

• “…Other than {objection} is there anything else holding you back from getting started today?

Feel, Felt, Found

• I understand how you feel and…

• Many of my happiest clients also felt that {objection}

• And they me share with you what they found.

• (Isolate) Other than {objection} is there anything else that would stop you from getting started today?

Action Step:

Start using the agreement frame immediately.

How To Answer Specific Objections

Easy but powerful frameworks

“The Replay” Framework

• When someone gives you a vague objection for not going ahead. Simply repeat his objection. This will get him to expand upon the objection and give you more information.

• Prospect: “I need to talk to my spouse first.”

• You: “You need to talk to your spouse first?”

• Prospect: “Yeah, this is a significant amount of money and I need her to be on the same page with me.”

• You: “Of course I understand, Joe. I have a wife too, and she has to be totally on board with this decision”. Other than that, is there anything else that would prevent you from getting started today.

• Prospect: “No. I like everything I’ve heard.”

• You: “Let me conference your wife in while I have your file open on my desk so we can all get on the same page.” (If the prospect says his wife is unreachable tell the prospect what is going to happen to his bank account and paycheck if he doesn’t act now and that you are going to do the paperwork so when his wife calls back you can go through everything with her.) Would that be ok?”

• Prospect: “Sure, that’s fine.”

• You: “Well, Joe, fortunately I can take care of all the details for you so were not wasting time when she calls back and you’ll be able to have the peace of mind and protection you said you wanted. So let’s go ahead and fill out the paperwork together.”

“Redirect & Lock” In Framework

• You take the prospect’s fluid thinking process and turn it into a one static one time event. Namely the decision to buy.

• Prospect: “My feeling is that I’m not ready to make this decision until I speak with my wife,”

• You: “When do you feel you’ll be speaking to your wife so we can go ahead and get your protected?”

“Redirect & Unlock” Framework

• You take the prospect’s decision not to do something and “unlock it” to continue the close.

• Prospect: “My wife and I have decided to hold off on making this decision.”

• You: “What were the most important considerations you talked about when you were deciding?”

“Curiosity” Framework

• This is a very subtle almost subliminal way to make prospect resistance melt away.

• Prospect: “I don’t think now is the right time to care of this problem.”

• You: “Really? It’s interesting that you say that. I’d be curious to know why you think that?”

“What Would It Take?” Framework

• Use this after you’ve tried closing a number of times and the prospect still won’t make the decision to buy.

• “Mr. Prospect, you seem to be a person who doesn’t make a decision without satisfactory proof. Is that true? I also sense that in the past you’ve had doubts about whether you’ve done the right thing or made the right decision. So, tell me; what would it take for you to convince yourself that this is a decision you NEED (should) to make now?”

“Make A Decision” Framework

• This should be used after you have attempted all the closing techniques in your arsenal and when you prospect will not make a decision to go ahead. This should be used as a last resort.

• Prospect: “We’re really not ready yet to make a decision. Why don’t you call me back in a couple of weeks after I’ve had some more time to think about it?”

• You: “I can appreciate how you feel and taking time to consider this before making a decision is important. Just to clarify my thinking; what has changed since the last few times we talked? Mr. Prospect, these are time-sensitive legal documents. I’m going to send these to you. I have my calendar open in from of me. Should I date the paperwork for today or for tomorrow? When can we have your wife on the phone?”

• It’s been my experience that when people hesitate when it comes to dealing with the IRS, especially, when they think you have their money it never turns out well. Procrastinating is what got you into this bind in the first place. You understand that protecting you and wife’s paychecks and bank accounts is our number one priority I want to be on the phone with the IRS today and make this happen for you so why don’t you grab the bull by the horns and decide now to do it?”

“Talk To Another Authority” Framework• Talk To Other Authority. This is a good technique to use when your prospects

stalls by saying that he needs to talk with someone else in an authority position like a CPA, or lawyer.

• “Hmm, you want to talk to your CPA/Accountant? I can appreciate that. What we do is highly specialized. If your CPA, or attorney has been doing your tax returns year after year, and if this professional knew how to navigate the IRS maze, why hasn’t he already helped you with this?

• “We specialize in this. This is all we do all day long. Our job is to protect you right now and make sure the IRS doesn’t garnish your paycheck or levy your bank account. Most of our business comes from referrals from other CPAs and Lawyers. If you are going to talk to your CPA, he’s going to want to know what we’re doing for you so let’s do the paperwork right now so you can either show him/her or we can all get on the phone together, ok?

“I Have To Talk To” Framework

• “I can appreciate that you want to talk to someone else and let me ask you; Since you are aware of all the potential enforcement action the IRS has against you and what we can do to prevent this from happening that whoever you’ll want to talk to won’t know this because he’s not here; I’d be curious to know what you could ask him about this customized proposal that you don’t already know?” Especially, since he couldn’t help you in the first place.

• I will often simply isolate this objection, and then say, “I’m curious, what will you be talking to your wife (CPA/Lawyer) about?”

Action Step:

Write answers to objections in your own words on index

cards and practice!

The Big SecretHandling Objections In Advance

You MUST answer as many objections during your presentation, before they are raised if you’re close more sales

with less pressure.

The Steps

• Write a list of all of the objections you can think of. (What objections do you get on a consistent basis?)

• Be sure to include all objections that are specific to your offer.

• Layer the answers into your presentation.

How To Layer In The Answers To Objections

• Testimonials (Ask for objection answering testimonials)

• “I was skeptical…” | “I tried everything in the past…” | “I thought this was going to suck…”

• Case studies from your clients.

• Stories that are either personal or about others.

• Use both moving towards and moving away from motivation stories.

Action Step:

Create YOUR list of objections and layer in answers in your

presentation.