Do you find yourself hearing the same objections over and over from your potential customers?  For example, maybe you constantly hear: It’s out of my budget or it’s too expensive right now….but you KNOW they can afford to buy from you, because you see the same people who are telling you you’re too expensive are buying $5 Starbucks everyday?

Ughhh, it can feel so frustrating, and let’s be honest…no one likes rejection!  Especially when you KNOW that your product or service can really help someone. If you struggle with handling objections in your business, buckle up, because today we’re starting a mini series where we’ll share some big truths with you about why people buy in the first place, and why your customers have objections and how to overcome those objections.  Let’s do this!

 

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INTRO

 

AIMEE: Whew, we’ve made it to episode 5, and you guys, we have been blown away by all the support we’ve gotten from our listeners and how much this podcast has already grown, thank you so much for being here with us today!  

ANNA:  We are really looking forward to diving into this topic, and to hopefully just get your mind turning in new ways when it comes to handling objections from your customers.  

AIMEE: Yep!  I feel like this is really important information we’ve put together for this mini series!  So, today we’re going to talk about WHY customers DO buy, what objections are, why your potential customers have them, and start discussing how you can actually overcome almost all objections before they ever come up in a sales conversation. In the second episode of this mini series we’ll talk about how to create a plan to best react when you do encounter them.  This mini series is going to be really packed full of specific ideas and info, we hope you love it as much as we’ve loved creating it for you. So, let’s dive in! Aimee, why don’t you kick us off and just explain, first of all, before we even get into talking about objections, what compels people to buy something in the first place.

 

MAIN CONTENT:

Why do people BUY THINGS? have objections?

ANNA: We’re all skeptical, right?  We don’t like to be sold to, I don’t like to be sold to.  

Everyone has some level of resistance against being sold to, right?.  

And you know, there have been many studies on why people buy things on top of their basic necessities like food/water/shelter those things.  So many sales and marketing books discuss this, but the one I’m thinking of right now is “Expert Secrets” by Russell Brunson, and as much as I hate to use this word in this podcast, the truth is that people only buy extra things because they feel that what they’re buying will somehow elevate their status.  People buy extra things when they feel those things will elevate their status.

And so, before we buy, we ask ourselves a few questions, but the first question is:

–Will this object/service/opportunity make me (or make me appear) smarter, happier, more stylish, more wealthy , more healthy, more powerful, or more attractive?  So, what that means is that the first and main thing that people care about is how you or your product will make them feel.  Ugh – this is so freaking important to understand!

AIMEE: Yes!  And once they’ve decided that what you’re selling will make them or make them appear smarter, happier, more stylist, more wealthy, more powerful, or more attractive, there are a couple more questions they are going to work through before they decide to buy:

The next question they’re going to ask themselves, is will this solution actually work for me, especially if other solutions haven’t worked for them in the past?

And then then the final question they’re going to ask themselves is, it worth it?

 

ANNA:  People spend money on the things that they value and see the value in.  If someone isn’t buying whatever it is you’re selling, it’s simply because they don’t see the value in it.  Now, I’m not saying that what you’re offering isn’t valuable, not at all, but what I am saying is that if you are constantly facing objections and losing sales over them, you are somehow failing in your sales process to demonstrate the value of your product or service.  That is the truth, and that is why people will continue to come to you with the same objections over and over.

So, how do we better tap into that emotion in our marketing and sales process?  So often we, as business owners ask ourselves, “If my product is so great, why can’t I sell it?”  

AIMEE:  We get so excited about our product or our service, you know, about what it is that we’re selling, because we believe in it.  We’ve poured our hearts into our businesses. We’re just so dang excited for people to buy it, because we know it will help them!  

And the BIG mistake that so many of us fall into, is that we don’t start by asking our clients what they’re looking for.  And we, too often, don’t lead with how whatever it is we’re selling will solve THEIR specific problem and make them FEEL. We don’t think to focus on how it will increase their status, like we talked about a couple of minutes ago.

Instead, we’re like oh goody, someone is interested, you know, let me now overwhelm you with all these details and technical aspects of what you’ll get, we get all excited, and we suddenly forget how to have a normal conversation

ANNA: yeah, we forget how to talk like a human being haha

AIMEE: Yeah, and we start trying to explain to people all of the specifications of what we’re selling, what they’re going to get, maybe the science behind it, or how great our company is, or the ingredients, or how long it takes us to create, or whatever would apply to your business.  We start spouting off a bunch of what we call technobabble – but that is a mistake, because buying is emotional. People are emotional buyers, they make their purchase decision first based on emotion, based on how our product or service will make them feel, and THEN they are going to use those facts and specifications and logic to justify their purchase decision, but it’s the emotion that rules everything.  

ANNA:  You know what’s cool?  If a customer has enough emotions in the game they will override their own objections.  

For example, let’s say you purchased a new really expensive pair of shoes or something.  I don’t even know why I’m using this as an example because I’m not that into shoes, but we’ll go with it haha!  When it comes down to it, you buy expensive shoes because of how you’ll feel when you’re wearing them, right? It goes back to the status thing.  There’s an emotional attachment that happens, and that’s what makes you want them. Once you’ve decided you want them, you have to logically justify the purchase to yourself and to your partner or your friends or whatever- why your shoes were worth the price you paid for them.  And so you tell yourself, these are going to last way longer than cheaper shoes, they are made of more high quality materials, they were on sale, whatever. And so you use logic to justify the emotional attachment that you’re already made to them.

AIMEE: Yeah, so do you guys see where we’re going with this?  Logic doesn’t sell. The amazing vegan ingredients in your products don’t sell.  The size of your digital files if you’re a photographer isn’t what sells. Emotions sell. So when we are creating our marketing strategies we need to really hone in on this!

 

ANNA: OK, this is so much info, I hope you’re hanging with us.  So let’s talk specifically about how you can emotionally sell and address your customer’s objections before they ever come up.  Now, obviously this mini series is about handling objections, but what we want you to do to take you through an exercise for your own business, so this is going to be your first action step for this series. Take a few minutes to sit down and make a list of pain points that your potential customers may have that make them WANT OR NEED TO BUY FROM YOU.  

We’ve created a free worksheet you can also use to go through this process for your own business, and you can go download it by clicking the image below:

 

 

AIMEE: So, when you’re thinking through pain points, it might help you to start with things that are personal to YOU. Why would you want or need your product, and think about this from the emotional perspective, not just physical need:

Once you’ve thought about what’s emotional and personal to YOU and why YOU would want to buy what you’re selling, you always want to think about this from your ideal customer’s perspective, based on their pain points that you’ve listed.

–Photography: Their kids are growing up and they need to document this time before it’s passed.  

 

ANNA: OK, we hope all of that makes sense and you have a better understand of why people buy things, and how you are solving your customer’s pain points.  This is such a good place to start when you’re analyzing your marketing and sales process.

OK, now that we’ve talked through why people DO buy, let’s switch gears and talk about why people don’t buy!  Let’s talk about objections!

 

What are objections?

AIMEE: Just in case this term is new to you, let’s explain what an ‘objection’ is. It’s the basically the act of saying no or thinking about saying no because of certain reasons. So if someone doesn’t book you because they can’t afford you. That is their objection. It’s too expensive. That’s the reason the DON’T BUY.

AIMEE: If you are anything like me…you avoid objections or rejection at all costs.

ANNA: Yeah, I’m like you, I avoid confrontation haha!

AIMEE: Every market or type of business has common objections. For a traditional business, this may include:

-I don’t know if this is within our budget

-I need to talk to my partner first

-I’m too busy right now to decide

-I already have/use (whatever you offer) from another company/business

 

ANNA: For network marketing this may include:

-I don’t have the money

-I don’t have the time

-I don’t want to sell to people

-I don’t think I’m qualified

 

AIMEE: You know what’s really cool?  When someone has an objections, what they are really saying is one of three things:

1. Either they do not have enough information, so they don’t see the proper value in what you’re selling
2. You haven’t built enough trust
3. Or that they aren’t sure that you can solve their problem with your product/service.

 

ANNA: No one likes rejection

-feels bad, it’s easy to take it personally especially as an entrepreneur because we put so much of ourselves into our businesses

-They can be upsetting/ make us feel defensive

 

BUT, oh my gosh you guys, I have grown to love objections – because they actually give you totally clear insight on what your potential customers are thinking – they are so valuable.  Helps you understand their struggles. Objections are GOLD. Take note of them over time, keep a list. You need and want to know your customers hesitations or objections so that you can solve those issues.

In fact, when I was a photographer, during wedding consultations, we’d always ask at the end of the meeting, are you ready to move forward with working booking us, or are there any hesitations that you have that we can address while we’re all here together?  So, you know, don’t be afraid to ask those hard questions and open up that conversation if you’re sensing that your customer is hesitant to hire you or buy from you.

AIMEE: Yes!  Objections are actually normally just a request for more information, they show interest – they are so good for you to face head on!

And what’s really cool, is that most of your customers/clients will have similar objections, there are definitely objections that are common in every industry.  Like for us in network marketing, we know that there are certain standard objections that we tend to face from people who are looking at buying our products or joining our business, and they really don’t change.

ANNA: Yeah, and my last note on this, is that I have definitely noticed both as a photographer and then in my network marketing business –  if I’m talking to someone and I walk them through the details of what I’m offering, and then they’re quiet, and they have zero questions throughout the conversation or objections at the end, most of the time, I know that they aren’t going to buy from me, they aren’t really interested.  

AIMEE:  Yes, so getting objections is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, knowing your customers objections is one of the most empowering things you can do for your business, if you haven’t already.  

ANNA: The next thing we want you to do is we want each of you to take the time to sit down and make a list of common objections for your own business, objections that you often hear, or that you think you may hear.  When you are brainstorming, another way to think about this is what ‘excuses’ do people use to not purchase your product or service?

AIMEE: And remember –  knowing your customers objections is GOLD, so when they come up, take notes on this, always.  A list of your customer’s objections is one of the most valuable things you can compile, and obviously these will probably be different for everyone who’s listening!

 

ANNA: Examples of Common objections:

–Wedding Planner: That’s a lot of money. Can’t we just do it ourselves?

–Business opportunity through a network marketing company: I love the products and they’ve made such a difference in my life, but I don’t think I have time to sell them.

And other common one for any industry, obviously, is a price objection, right?

So take some time to sit down and list out the objections that you encounter, and again you can download our worksheet for this at businessandmotherhood.co/objections.

 

AIMEE: Example Emotionally selling from your pain points OR objections:

Pick a topic from your brainstorming sessions and create a post that targets that topic. If we go back up to the personal fitness coach. One of the pain points is being able to hit your next goal and make it fun. I bet one of the objections for people hiring a coach is “Well when I try to work out I’m never consistent. We can combine those into a personalized and emotional post.

Going back up to the Personal Trainer:

“One of the hardest things for me in my working out career is keeping it fun and consistent, because when I get bored I get complacent and stop pushing myself. I LOVE being able to do the same thing for my clients! One of my recent clients came to me because she struggled with being consistent and desperately needed to lower her dangerously high cholesterol. So, with the workout plans, and built in accountability coach, she’s managed to make it to the gym for at least three times a week in the past 6 months and will now be able to fly to her daughter’s wedding in Australia, instead of having to choose between not going and traveling against doctor’s orders. I hope you take a lot of pictures Jeannie! You deserve all the fun this journey will bring you!

 

ANNA:  OK, I think we have time for one more example, so let’s do one more:  Network Marketer that sells haircare: A common pain point when it comes to hair would be hair loss, which is obviously very emotional, right?  So, if you have a shampoo that can help someone to slow or stop their hair loss, and encourage their hair to grow back, you can now solve an emotional pain point for them.  A couple of common objections you may come across are: 1. It’s too expensive. And 2. Maybe they just have tried lots of things and don’t really believe that your products will help them, since others haven’t.

 

So, in your marketing, you could share a real customer testimonial and say something like:

“My customer, Susie, has struggled with hair loss for the last 10 years.  She’s spent all of those years feeling self conscious and lacking confidence and wearing a hair piece to cover her bald spots, and it’s actually kept her from enjoying a lot of normal activities, like swimming with her grandkids, because she didn’t want people to see her balding head.  Susie had tried all of these other, really expensive remedies in the past, including medications and treatments that cost her thousands of dollars, but nothing has really helped her, until she started using this naturally based shampoo 6 months ago. Not only has she been able to stop wasting money on things that weren’t working, and stop using other treatments that had harmful side effects, but her hair has regrown to the point that as you can see in this picture, she got in the pool with her grandkids this weekend and spent hours playing and splashing with them.  I’m so happy that Susie has regained her confidence and her hair no longer holds her back from doing what she truly wants in her life.”

 

AIMEE: So – what we want you guys to do today, is to look at the pain points and objections you’ve written down, and start thinking through examples of stories you can share in your marketing or during your sales process for your own business.  Write them out, read them out loud, practice saying them, and start incorporating those things into your marketing.

 

CLOSING:

 

ANNA: OK, so this is where we are actually going to break and end this episode and this first episode in the mini series!  We have so much more to share about this, but we want to break it up into bite sized chunks for you.

AIMEE: Yes, so, next time we’re going to pick right back up and we are going to talk about how you can actually overcome almost ALL of your customer’s objections in advance, before they ever come up, as well as how to handle the objections that do come up during your sales process in an effective way.  And one of the strategies we’re going to share with you at the beginning of the next episode is actually something that has COMPLETELY changed our businesses this year, we’re really excited to share it with you.

ANNA: But for now, we’d love to know:  Did you like this episode? Was it helpful to you?  Please leave us a review if you haven’t already and let us know, or connect with us in our free Business & Motherhood community over on Facebook.  

AIMEE: Yep! And one more time – you can find the free download and notes for this specific episode at businessandmotherhood.co/objections.  Thanks again for joining us today, and we’ll see ya next time!