Reframing Objections: A Better Way To Sell
When people give you an objection don’t throw your hands up in frustration. Reframe the objection to fit the person’s point of view.
Business leaders deal with objections every day.
A common objection leaders face occurs when a company implements a change in process.
As you know, people don’t like change. We like to feel in control and part of feeling in control is being comfortable in our surroundings including our day-to-day work routine.
The objection for each employee is they aren’t comfortable learning a new process. They feel they don’t have time to learn the new process and maybe they feel they’ve worked too hard to learn what they already know. The objection maybe as simple as they don’t see any need for the change.
Business leaders need to overcome objection to change when implementing new process. They need to sell employees on the process to ensure the company will thrive in the future.
The method salespeople use for this situation is called overcoming objections.
In the case of the new company process the leader needs to overcome the employee objections.
The leader may say that if the business keeps doing things with the current process the business will fail within five years. Everybody will be out of a job.
The new process will ensure success into the future. It may take time in the short-term to learn the new process, but the company will be successful and each employee will have updated skills and more knowledge.
Overcoming objections is a key component of selling. The method works whether you’re selling an idea to your staff or if you’re selling debt-refinancing packages (more on this later).
The Traditional Way of Overcoming Objections
Salespeople and anyone that needs to convince and persuade have traditionally take the approach of answering every objection.
For example, the business leader in the above situation would say that the company is using this new approach because it will keep costs down and the executive team made the decision.
The objection has been answered with an apparently sufficient answer.
There are entire books written about overcoming objections. Most of the time the theory is to have an answer for every possible objection in every situation.
Salespeople have traditionally practiced and practiced overcoming objections by beating the other person over the head with answer after answer.
The process has seemingly worked and it’s why the traditional method has been used and continues to be used today.
But in the long run the traditional method doesn’t yield results.
You can believe you’re giving the person a good deal, but if they go into the process with the wrong mindset they may never get fully on board leading to unhappy customers or unproductive employees. As bad as these techniques are, we still see them today.
The Art of Reframing Objections to Create Positive Situations
Today, the preferred method is reframing objections.
Objection reframing is the process of taking the objection and turning the situation into a positive in the mind of the other person. When people feel positive about a situation they are more open to making a change or making a purchase.
When we discussed consultative selling we reviewed the concept of motivation. When selling, focus needs to remain on the motivations of the person you’re speaking with rather than on yourself or on your company.
You want to understand the motivations of the person and find a way to reframe their objection so they see the situation in a positive frame instead of their current negative frame where they only see questions without answers.
In the example from earlier the employee listening to the boss talk about change in process is thinking about how they have to change their routine. They’re worried they may not have what it takes to make the change and continue doing a great job.
Additional concerns are what they would do if they lost their job. They don’t know how they would support themselves or their family.
Knowing this, the leader can reframe the objection and create a positive situation.
The leader can assure sufficient training for everyone on the team. The change will position the business and the team for expanded success in the future, which have the potential to lead to higher bonuses and better working conditions.
Reframing to overcome objections isn’t always easy, but when you do it well, it works a treat.
Example: The Most Difficult and Uncomfortable Objections
I’ve had a lot of stressful jobs.
I worked as a telephone debt collector. It was a very difficult job. The people I would call owed money and often were dealing with a situation where they’ve lost their job and potentially have lost their home.
To reframe these objections I would ask people if they received a payout from their job or if they had insurance that was covering them for a certain period of time.
By working with them to figure out a solution the situation would be turned into a positive. The sooner they could pay off their debt the sooner they could regroup and start over with a new, debt-free life.
The Solution In The Cause
Finding the solution within the cause of the problem was the key to reframing the objection.
The cause of the problem for many people with debt was they had lost their jobs. We would work to see if there was a payout of some kind of alternative solution as a result of the cause. If they were injured, was there a payout coming that they could tap into.
When you approach objections in this way and reframe the situation people are open to finding a solution. The people I worked with wanted to get out of debt. They often didn’t know what they could do and as a result would remain idle and let the problem compound.
After talking through the situation with them and reframing the objection the people would work with me to find a solution that was mutually beneficial and both parties could move forward.
Whether you’re finding solutions to debt problems or selling your staff on changes in the workplace there are always positive ways to reframe objections.
Focus on the motivations of the people you’re speaking with and figure out what would make the situation positive for them.
Keep your motivation and the positive outcome for your company in mind as well.
Reframing objections is not negotiation. You’re simply taking the situation and reframing it so the other person can accept it.
In other words, you’re finding the win-win situation for both you and the other person.
With this concept you’ll find it easier to make change at your business and instead of meeting resistance you’ll be able to move your business forward allowing you to find ongoing success.
