Every salesperson — whether selling a product or an idea — must deal with “objections.” Most sales training focuses on how to overcome them. In
first in a series of articles, Contributing Editor Richard Brooke, one of Network Marketing’s true masters, shows us a whole new way to look at and work with objections. Rather than seeking to overcome them, Richard reveals a way to turn them into win2 opportunities for everyone by “listening through them.” Here’s what it’s all about. The key to having distributors stay in your organization is to get them to benchmark of a $300 commission check as quickly as possible — ideally within three to six months. Your training, goal-setting and strategy should be focused on that first all-important benchmark. "Listening Through Objections” means that instead of overcoming objections by defending against them, you eliminate them by being open to them. You embrace them. You encourage other person to bring them out in open. And you do this by listening.
In a very real sense, you — as salesperson — champion objection. This is an active process. More than being merely receptive to objection, you actively help it to be expressed fully with all emotion that gives it its charge.
In traditional sales, we’re trained to deflect objections, to turn them back against person, to prove with ration and reason that objection is false.
And we may defeat objection successfully — but this leaves in place feelings associated with it. In fact, it increases emotional charge. We “overcome” it with logic — and we’ve made other person wrong. We invalidate him or her and end up, in effect, calling person a liar!
Hardly way to “win friends and influence people.”
Objections Are Emotional
When you use reason and logic to deal with an objection, you’ll fail nine out of 10 times. Why? Because 90 percent of all objections are emotional in nature.
The argumentative approach of “overcoming objections” brings out a person’s defenses. The emotional component isn’t being honored. Its “life” is threatened. It fights back. When your logic overpowers it, it lies down and plays dead. And watch out! — later, when you are gone and threat is removed, it will spring back to life, more determined than ever!
This phenomenon is known as “buyer’s remorse,” or “having second thoughts,” and it’s responsible for anxiety and doubt people experience after making a decision.
And all simply because they were not heard.
What is it that wants to be heard? The emotion — anger, frustration, disappointment, or fear. Until it is purged, there is no chance for other person to make a complete choice about your offer. They simply cannot hear you. The emotional voice inside their head is too loud.
How To Lose By Winning
You may win “battle of words” when you overcome an objection, but you will never change other person’s point of view. So another objection pops up — and then another, and another. “I don’t have time,” becomes, “I don’t have money,” then, “I’m no good at selling,” and on it goes. The emotion simply takes a new form — and it will keep doing so until it is heard and allowed to express itself.
You may even successfully “get” somebody to buy your product or sign distributor application. But it won’t last.
Merchandise will be returned...the product won’t work as they expected...or they’ll quit business — they’ll find a good reason Network Marketing “doesn’t work” for them. There’s no commitment, because they haven’t truly been heard.
Says author Robert Fritz, “Any relationship built on manipulation is doomed to fail.” It may take time, but you can count on it. Look at number of talented, capable people who fail at MLM for no apparent reason.
Only when emotion has exhausted itself by your listening through objection will it dissolve and be eliminated.
Only when objection — whole objection, not just its words — is expressed will opportunity occur for your prospect to arrive at making a committed choice.
Only when objection — whole objection, not just its words — is expressed will opportunity occur for your customer or prospect to arrive at making a committed choice.
Rule #1: Don’t Buy The Objection
The truth about objections is — they’re not true.
“I don’t have time to do this, I’m too busy...” — it’s not true! Yet most salespeople make mistake of buying into those words. And if you believe that speaker believes that he or she doesn’t have any time, you have to go to work changing their belief.
