Episode# 032: How to Overcome Objections to Grow Your Business
I still remember the first time someone told me “NO” when I presented what I had to offer…
It was a blow that I wouldn’t forget. I thought that was it. I thought it would be an ongoing trend in my business… I’d put my products and services out into the world and they’d be met with a barrage of “nos” and “not right nows” and I would feel the wrath of a world that didn’t need me.
Isn’t it so tough when people start to hit us with all their excuses of why they can’t, won’t or shouldn’t when we KNOW we can help them? (And possibly change their lives!)
But what if I told you there was a way to overcome their objections in a way that ended in them ultimately saying ‘YES’?
I’ve spent years on the receiving end of rejection, and I’ve learned a lot about it. So, I decided that since I didn’t exactly like it, I’d figure out a way to MASTER it.
I put this episode together just for you - so that you can use this system to not only overcome objection, but to master it so that you aren’t afraid of it and know how to turn a no into an opportunity
We are just facing this thing head on completely fearlessly because this is the safe place where we can talk about it and break down both tactically and emotionally, mentally, how we can overcome objections because they are par for the course.
We tiptoe around the fear of objection. We have this overwhelming sense of, “Oh my gosh, what's going to happen to me if…” I put my products, my services, my ideas, my story, my pictures out into the world, and it's met with some level of objection.
Maybe it's people not liking what we're doing.
Maybe it's people opposing what we're doing, saying I don't agree with you and here's why. Maybe it's a product or service that we're putting out there and people are saying, yeah, that sounds really great, but I don't really have the time to do that, or I don't have the money to invest in that.
BE CONFIDENT
The first thing we have to talk about before we can go into the tactics as usual is mindset and it's not the mindset of the consumer. It's not the mindset of the viewer, the reader, the person on the receiving end of our incredible content or our services or our products.
It's our own mindset.
What level of fear are you putting your stuff out there with? It's okay to be nervous, but do you have this feeling of already anticipating what are ‘people gonna think of me’? What are the objections I'm going to face? What obstacles am I going to have to overcome this so hard? Should I do it? Is it worth it? Do people really want this product and services? Should I even go through with it?
As soon as we start allowing those negative narratives to creep back in and tell us all the reasons why whatever it is we're doing isn't worth our while, that nobody's gonna want it, that other people have already done it and nobody needs our stuff. That's where the problem is festering from. When you have undeniable confidence in who you are, in what you believe in, what your mission is and what you're bringing into the world, you can put anything out there and it doesn't mean that you're not nervous. It doesn't mean that there's no doubt or fear, but what it means is you have so much confidence that it's going to serve somebody that it's so worth it.
Bring on the objections. I know that every time I put something out there, there is an opportunity for me to get pushed back.
For people to say NO and give me their reasons why they can't do it, shouldn't do it, won't do it, I also know there's an opportunity for someone, even if it's just one person for their life to be transformed through my products, through my services, through my guidance, through my story, that it's always worth putting it out there. And that level of confidence is what allows me to not fear the objection. Just to know that it's part of running a business. It's part of being someone who does things more publicly, putting things on social media and it's okay if not everybody loves it.
IT’S NOT ME…IT’S YOU
Also understanding that just because someone's saying NO, it doesn't mean the world is crumbling. It doesn't mean that you have failed and it doesn't even mean that that person is a hard no forever. And objection is less about a fear that we should have and it's more representative of the fear that the person receiving the information is having.
Let me give you an example. If you're launching this online course fitness course. You have two weeks of fitness modules that are going to help them tone and strengthen their core and you put it out to the world or you put it out to your list. Let's say you put out your email list and you receive an email back and someone says…
oh, I'm really interested in that, but I can't do it right now because I just can't afford it or…
I just don't have the time to put that into my schedule or…
I'm not strong enough to start a program like that. That looks a little advanced.
You might be downloading that information and receiving it as a, those are all NO’s.
They're not NO’s…Those are their fears coming through.
It could just mean that when they say, I don't have the money, they're really thinking, even if it's subconsciously, I don't know if I actually believe that if I make this investment in myself that I will complete it or that I am going to get the results I want or that I'm going to get this and someone's not going to make fun of me.
So you have to be sensitive to the fact that it's, it's really one of those situations. It's like it's not you. It's me. Well, in this case it's not me, it's you. It's likely the person receiving it and their own fears bubbling through. So once you kind of wrap your head around and get the confidence in whatever it is you're giving to the world, you have to remember you are doing the world a massive disservice.
If you sit back and you say, because of my own fears, because of the limitations that I've created for myself because of what I'm anticipating possibly happening, that might not actually even happen.
BRING YOUR GIFT(S) INTO THE WORLD!
…because if you don’t you aren’t going to potentially touch lives. You won’t serve people and help people to their next level in their lives through your products and services because of your own fear. That is a disservice to the world. That is definitely a disservice to yourself, but it most certainly is a disservice to the people that you could be serving. So there are two options here. If you have a product to service a whatever, and you're going to put it out there and you have that emotion creep up, one of two options, either your product or service actually sucks. And this is a great opportunity to look at square in the eye and say, how can I improve you so that I can put this out into the world with confidence?
I am obligated to put this out into the world. No one can do this, but me because this is mine. I have created it and it is for the world and I'm not keeping it for myself.
CONNECT WITH YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
There are always at least questions. They want to peel back the layers. They want to delay the process. They want to know a little bit more. They want to see how they can save money no matter what the product is, no matter how bad they want their end result. So this is where you have to relate to them, connect with them, help them understand that you've been exactly where they are, and you're not just sitting in your ivory tower telling them about something that's gonna change their lives, but you really have no connection to it. They want to feel understood. Yeah, I totally get it. I totally understand where you're coming from. It does sound like a big investment. And I remember feeling that way the first time that I was on the fence about buying this type of course. And I remember waiting and hemming and hawing and running numbers and being so fearful of it.
You walk them through that progression of Yep, I've been there too. I totally know how you feel. It is scary, isn't it? Make them feel related to, I know exactly how you feel. I went through that same thing. You know what? I spent five years of my life feeling that way. And then finally I said no more, so you walk them through this progression where you finally say, Yep, I went through that. (check out episode 015: How to Sell Anything).
I relate to you. I'm here with you, I'm beside you. I get it, but then you guide them into what you did about it because now all of a sudden they're in your shoes and they can see that progression.
DON’T ‘SELL’ INSTEAD PROVIDE CLARITY
You're not trying to sell to everybody. Let me remind you (check out episode 9: Repel Marketing),that you're trying to connect and convert your ideal client. Not everyone, because if you're trying to get everyone, you're not going to get everyone. You're not going to get anyone. So think about those objections you might get. List them out on paper for every product service thing that you're gonna be putting out there and then just start talking about them and bust the myths. Walk them through the process and you debunk the myth.
That is your job. When you're selling something, when you're putting something out there, you're not trying to convince anyone of anything but you are providing clarity because they might not fully understand what you're offering. They might not fully understand what it is because they haven't gone through it yet. They haven't utilized it yet. They haven't experienced the value of it yet, so you have to paint that picture for them so that they can see that maybe those preconceived notions and all those ideas that they created based on just perception of what, what's out there, what previous experiences or anything like that.
IGNORE THE ONE ‘NO’ OR TOUGH EXPERIENCE
Brendon Burchard has this great example that he shared at a conference I went two years back and he talks about when we're driving down the highway, we do this all the time, headed to work and we pass maybe in our hour long commute, a thousand cars and everything goes fine.
999 of those cars that we pass don't run into us, don't flick us off, don't cause any problem at all, but one somewhere in that journey cuts us off and now everybody's an asshole and everybody on this road is out to get me and they're all terrible drivers and I'm a terrible driver and everything's gone to hell in a hand basket. And we forget that 999 of those cars that passed did not hit us, did not cause any problem at all. We're just fine.
Do not let that one really tough experience take away from all the good experiences you have already had and have yet to have and most certainly do not take away the potential for all of those incredible life changing experiences of all the lives you will touch when you find the courage and the confidence to put your vision, your things, yourself out into the world.