overcoming sales objections · part four: sleight of mouth reframing.....33 1. introduction

Overcoming Sales Objections

Greg Woodley 1www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com

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About the Author

Greg is a salesman. He has never been a SalesExecutive, an Account Manager, a Rep or a SeniorAccount Manager because he feels a salesperson shouldbe comfortable with the concept that they are aSalesperson.

Greg has been selling for 25 years. The first 23 years wasin Industrial sales of some form. He has sold into manyindustries including paint, plastics, furniture, tanning,agriculture, rubber, construction, adhesives, inks, food,cosmetics, vetinary and cables. He has also negotiatedsupply contracts to import goods from the USA, UK,

Canada, Germany, Netherlands and Japan.

Naturally, he has attended a number of sales training courses at home and overseasand is an avid reader of sales and management books. During his 25 years Gregwas trained in the Lee DeBois sales system, Consultative Selling, the SPIN Modeland Persuasion Engineering.

Being in sales is one thing but doing it well is another. Greg has had much successover the years. He has sold as much as $7million in a year. His worst result was 94%of budgeted sales and 99% of budgeted profit. He sold his way to a shareholding inthe last company he worked with and was semi-retired at the age of 46.

He is semi-retired because he will NEVER stop working and because he has a desireto help other salespeople live a good life, free themselves of money worries andretire early.

OK. Greg can sell but teaching and coaching is another matter.

Greg has a BSc in Chemistry from Sydney University. He is a Master Practitioner ofNeuro Linguistic Programming (an advanced communication model which helpsunderstand and modify human behaviour as well as modelling excellence). In 1998he trained in “The Mastery Skills of Group Dynamics” in Colorado, USA. He has heldqualifications in Workplace Training. More recently he has been trained in one-on-one coaching skills acquiring a “Professional Development Certificate in CoachingPractice” from the Psychology Department of the University of Sydney and is anAssociate Certified Meta-Coach (ACMC) with The Meta Coach Foundation.

Greg has always believed that there is a better way to do almost anything. This is theJapanese concept of Kaizen (continuous incremental improvements). His motivationduring his sales career was to help companies achieve their desires. If he couldn’thelp he got out of their way.

Over the years Greg has become more interested in helping people that helpingcompanies. His desire is to make the world a better, happier place one sales personat a time.



PART ONE: SALES OBJECTIONS? .......................................................................5

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................ ............................ 52. WHY DO WE GET OBJECTIONS?................................ .................................... 63. WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS OBJECTIONS?................................ .........74. WHAT TYPES OF OBJECTIONS ARE THERE?................................ ................... 85. NOW LET’S LOOK AT TRUE OBJECTIONS. ................................ .....................10

PART TWO: OBJECTION HANDLING BASICS................................................12

1. THINGS NOT TO DO WHEN OVERCOMING SALES OBJECTIONS ......................... 122. HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT OVERCOMING SALES OBJECTIONS? .......................15

PART THREE: OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS..................................................21

1. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – “YES…BUT”................................ .........212. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – AGREEMENT FRAME ............................ 223. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – “OR, NOT?”.......................................... 234. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – “FEEL, FELT, FOUND.” ..........................245. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – “SURE ENOUGH TO HAVE DOUBTS” ........256. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – “THE ONE QUESTION.” ..........................267. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – THE CONTRAST FRAME........................ 278. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – “COMPARED TO WHAT?” .......................289. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – “HOW WOULD YOU KNOW..?” ................ 2910. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – TREATED QUESTION ..........................2911. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – FUTURE PACING ................................2912. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – REOPEN A DECISION ..........................3013. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – PUT OBJECTION IN THE PAST ............. 3114. SPECIFIC TACTICS AND PATTERNS – “JUST SUPPOSE..” .............................31

PART FOUR: SLEIGHT OF MOUTH REFRAMING .........................................33

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................ ..........................332. SLEIGHT OF MOUTH ................................................................ ..................363. WHAT IS “THE MAGIC BOX?” ................................................................ ......364. HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS CAN WE LOOK AT SOMETHING TO REFRAME IT?..385. SPECIFIC EXAMPLE ................................ ................................................... 386. SPECIFIC EXAMPLE ................................ ................................................... 43

PART FIVE: MINIMISE OBJECTIONS OCCURRING.....................................49

1. “INOCULATE AGAINST OBJECTIONS”................................ .............................492. HOW TO HAVE FEWER OBJECTIONS COME UP. ............................................. 493. RAPPORT BEFORE CLOSING ................................................................ .......50



4. ATTITUDE TOWARDS SALES & OBJECTIONS ................................ ..................50

PART SIX: OVERCOMING YOUR OBJECTIONS ............................................52

1. WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIONS YOU HEAR MOST OFTEN? ................................ .522. FORMULATE RESPONSES TO YOUR OBJECTIONS .......................................... 553. REMEMBER TO USE “JUST SUPPOSE”........................................................... 565. COMMON OBJECTIONS (LINK TO ANSWERS TO ASKOBJECTIONS) .................57

PART SEVEN: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER .................................................58

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER................................................................. ............58THAT’S ALL THERE IS FOLKS – IT’S UP TO YOU NOW ................................ .........60

APPENDIX 1 ..............................................................................................................61

APPENDIX 2..............................................................................................................63

APPENDIX 3 – REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION............................................64

DISCLAIMER AND/ OR LEGAL NOTICES:

The information presented herein represents the view of the author as of the date ofpublication. Because of the rate with which conditions change, the author reservesthe right to alter and update his opinion based on the new conditions. While everyattempt has been made to verify the information provided in this report, neither theauthor nor his affiliates/ partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies oromissions. The author and his affiliates/ partners shall in no event be held liable forany loss or other damages, including but not limited to special, incidental,consequential, or other damages. Any slights of people or organizations areunintentional. Any reference to any person or business whether living or dead ispurely coincidental. If advice concerning legal or related matters is needed, theservices of a fully qualified professional should be sought. This report is not intendedfor use as a source of legal or accounting advice. You should be aware of any lawsthat govern business transactions or other business practices in your own countryand state.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: No part of this report can be changed, or reproducedin any form whatsoever, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying andrecording, or by any informational or retrieval system without the express written,dated and signed permission from the author.

Copyright © 2010 Gregory M Woodley




Part One: Sales Objections?

1. Introduction

Have you ever experienced the following?

You are in front of one of your biggest accounts. You've asked the rightquestions and gave a dynamic presentation. So much money hinges on thisclient's answer. Your heart is beating rapidly. Your hands feel clammy. Thetime has come to ask for the order.

You take a deep breath and say, "Let's do it!"

But, the client pauses and says,"I’m just not sure. I need to think about it. Call me in six months."

End of the road? No!Sale in six months? No!More than likely the client is ready to buy and is just afraid of making animmediate decision. If his fears were eliminated, he'd buy now!

So, why do so many salespeople leave with no sale?

They never learned the art of overcoming sales objections and hanging inthere to get the sale. That’s what this eBook is about.



Uncovering and overcoming sales objections challenges you intellectually andemotionally.

It requires that you know not only your product, but yourself and your prospectas well.

Product knowledge, creativity, sales tools, and confidence in yourself, yourproduct, and your company must all come together in overcoming salesobjections and closing the sale. You must combine technique with honestyand conviction to get the prospect to resolve any lingering doubt or conflict.

2. Why do we get Objections?

Whether you've been selling for a day, a week, or a number of years, youknow that whenever you make sales calls, there are objections.

Why do objections come up?

Well, if you were selling the perfect product and made the perfect sales callobjections would not come up. Since neither you nor your product are perfectthen it’s likely that you’ll encounter objections.

Objections are a natural part of the selling process.

If there are no objections, it could mean that the prospect is apathetic.

While Objections do not really help they do show that your prospect isinterested and enable you to give more information to the prospect.

The more information the prospect has, the easier it is to make the sale.Hence objections are part of the process that results in the prospect gettingthe information he needs to decide to buy.



3. What is your Attitude towards objections?

How do you feel about objections?

Do you fear them?Perhaps even dread them?Do you look forward to them?

What do some well know sales trainers think about objections?

"Champions have almost an affection for even the peskiest objection"(Tom Hopkins)

"There is no such thing as an 'objection,' and therefore there is nothingto 'overcome."' There are only questions. (Plotkin,).

I can stay resourceful and creative if I only ask myself, "What's greatabout this question?" (Robbins)

"Objections are the rungs on the ladder to sales success." (Hopkins)

So.

Aim to develop a positive attitude towards objections so that you trulywelcome them.

[Did you know that the best sales people in the USA close most of theirsales after the FIFTH NO!!!So, every time you get a NO! You are one NO closer to a Yes

Remember, every product has some problems."There's not a product or service. on the market that doesn't have somebuilt-in objections and at least a few minor problems." (Hopkins).

You will never sell anything that doesn't have some weaknesses that couldn'tbe improved.

So, study the weak points and turn them into advantages.

While it is almost guaranteed you will get objections if you’ve failed toestablished need, rapport, credibility or trust, objections are really youropportunity to sell. Objections give you insight into what the prospect is



thinking, a chance to focus on the major issues that concern your prospect,which allows you to plan the next step of the sales presentation and turnthose objections to your advantage in order to make the sale.

The best way to overcome an objection is by being prepared.

You must know how you plan to turn around each objection you face andsince objections are simply the manner in which prospects communicate theirstatus in the buying process they’re crucial to understand.

4. What Types of Objections are there?

Objections have three forms: conditions, stalls, and true objections.

Let’s look at them in turn.

Conditions

A Condition is: A valid and legitimate reasons for not going ahead with a sale,a reality condition that prevents the person from buying: can't afford it, doesn'tneed it, etc.

Sometimes a customer does not have the authority to make a decision.Perhaps the company needs to get permission from their overseas parentcompany to spend that amount of money. Or a decree from the CEO preventsthe Purchasing Manager from making a purchase at that time without referringto the CEO. These are conditions.

Often, nothing you do in these situations will result in a signed contract. Thekey is to ask questions that determine the nature of the condition, thenschedule the appointment for a time when the condition requirements havebeen met.

We simply need to identify true conditions, face the reality, swallow hard andboth quickly and courteously disconnect from trying to force a sale. If webecome too emotionally involved we will lose the objectivity to detect this. Bybecoming an expert qualifier, we don't dampen our enthusiasm by trying toovercome a condition that can't be overcome.

The real secret to handling conditions is to find out about them as soon as youcan. It's better to discover that Dad wants to approve the house before youput the buyers in the car. That way, Dad can come along and see that thehouse they choose is really the best one.

The benefit of handling a condition up front is that you don't waste timeworking with people who aren't in a position—or don't have the authority—tomake the decision.



Stalls

You'll recognize the most common form of a stall with these words:

"We want to think it over." Or“I’m too busy to make a decision right now.”

There are many variations. The key to dealing with these objections is torecognize the customer's statement is a stall, so you know what to say.

This is perhaps the most common objection. It stands to reason, then, that thestrategy you develop to counter The Stall is going to be a major factor in yoursuccess as a salesperson.

Whatever the cause for the stall, handling it isn't a science, it's an art.

The art is in helping the customer see that you truly accept and understandtheir hesitation.

Acknowledge that you heard them.Ask questions, start a conversation, draw them out.“I understand why you might want to think it over since it is a bigcommitment.”

Probe.Ask questions that might reveal what is really stopping them.

For example,"Are you concerned with the terms?"Maybe there is something that I was not clear about when I described whatthe job would entail. Maybe I can help by answering the question now. Whatwas it about my estimate that you wanted to think over?”

Your goal is to determine the underlying objection. Often, you'll get a replythat helps you uncover the real objection so that you can handle it.

It is always easier to try and answer the question now and overcome theobjection now rather than later because usually there is no later. This type ofapproach should enable you to start up the conversation again and help makethe prospect feel more comfortable about giving you an affirmative answernow.

When you listen beyond the prospect's words, you'll often realize they aretrying to camouflage their real concern. Perhaps a buyer or seller is afraid thatif they tell you the real reason they don't feel they should make a decision,you'll handle it. Or maybe they are trying to avoid confrontation. By telling youthe truth, they take a risk.It's much easier than saying, "We're not sure we trust you."



A couple of special types of the Stall are:

The Doubter's ManoeuvreWhen your prospect won't (or can't) answer the questions you put to them andis unwilling to suggest someone else who can.

It's a toughie, because a variety of factors can lie beneath this objection, fromlow self-esteem on the part of your prospect, to bad organization within thecompany.

What if you're dealing with a small business that really has no "purchasingagent" or "office manager"?

Let's face it, overstepping one's authority is not a key to success in business.If you're speaking with someone who traditionally has never made a decision,it will be very difficult to convince him to adopt an aggressive approach to hisbusiness problems.

The Reassurance RequestThe Reassurance Request is where the prospect asks for a sign of credibilityfrom your side.

It's still an objection, but it requires that you listen carefully to what theprospect is really saying, so that you can offer him the information he needs toproceed with confidence.

5. Now let’s look at True Objections.

There Are Only Six Real Objections:

"I don't have enough time,"

This objection can be turned around on itself.Often you can say that your product or system will save them time.

"I don't have enough money,"

This can be handled by using the Contrast frame and re-establishing Value.

"It won't work for me (it works for everyone else but it won't work for me),"

"I don't believe you."



“I have no need for your product”

These objections can best be handled by bringing on your witnesses.Linguistically you can use the “ feel-felt-found” approach.

If the client doesn’t believe you it could also be a good idea to concentrate onrebuilding rapport.

“I have no need for your product at the moment”This means there is no urgency.The client does see some utility in your offer but has other more pressingpriorities. In this instance you may need to go back and build the value of youroffer while accentuating the negative side of not acting now.

http://www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com/OSO-Rapport



Part Two: Objection Handling Basics.

1. Things not to do when overcoming sales objections

1) Never but never argue.

Arguing elicits a sense of embattlement in the other person and will onlyevoke defensiveness. Often you will be right, however, by winning theargument (and embarrassing the prospect) you'll probably lose the sale.

2) Never, but never attack the person.

Separate the person from the objection and deal with it as apart from them.This necessitates developing sensitivity for how the person feels when voicingthe objection. How attached are they to it? How identified are they with it? Ifyou strike out at the objection too bluntly, the person may feel that you'veattacked his or her intelligence, rationality, self-esteem, personhood, etc.

If you fight a person's feelings, more negative emotions will emerge and youwill lose!

3 ) Never assume you understand an unspecified word

If a prospect uses a word that is a nominalisation (see YSS issue #5 ) don’tstart answering until you first understand their meaning. (Briefly, anominalisation is a word you cannot place in a wheelbarrow; it’s a concept nota tangible thing.)

For example, if a prospect says: “I need versatility.” Don’t start talking aboutflexibility or the range of products you have or your payment options becausethat may not be what your client is talking about.

Better to ask:

http://www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com/OSO-sales-questions



'Could you explain to me what you mean by versatility?' or

How will they know when they are getting “versatility”? or

What will they see, hear & feel when they have versatility? or

If we were providing you with “versatility” what would we be doing differentlyto the other potential suppliers out there? or

What will happen if you have “versatility”?

4 ) Never Insult the Prospect

Let’s look at an example.Prospect: 'Your prices are too high.'

It would not be very smart to reply with,“Aren’t you interested in quality?”

You could reply with:“High prices compared to what?” or you could soften that with,“I understand your concern about pricing, we all need to ensure we’recompetitive in this modern world, and could you tell me who or what you arecomparing us to in making that comparison? ”

You can even say,“Too high (sounding surprised), how do you know that?”

Or even,“How would you know if our prices are not too high?”

5 ) Never Avoid the Issue

'Quite frankly, your service is useless.'

It would not be right to change the subject or talk in theory about what is goodservice because you are dealing with an emotion here. The client is obviouslyangry or frustrated when the use a word like “useless”. You need to help themvent their emotion.

Much better to stick with the issue,“Obviously something has happened to make you feel that way. Can you tellme about it?”

Finding the cause of the dissatisfaction gives you an opportunity to correct theproblem or future problems, it also makes you look interested and responsive.



6 ) Don’t Shift Responsibility

When there is a problem don’t try to blame it on your office staff or yourdelivery people. Think about how that is perceived by your customer. Yourcustomer will only understand that you are dodging the blame. What yourcustomer wants is for someone to accept responsibility and fix the problem.

You need to be responding with,“We….”, to show that you stand with your company then with,“I’ll fix it.”The “I” bit is important as you are the company in the eyes of your customerand if you have any sort of relationship with him / her they will feel morecomfortable knowing the person who is looking into it for them.

In the case where you have not started doing business with the person yetyou need to have the courage to dig further into the issue.

If your client says,“I can’t do business with you because your product comes from intestate andit will take too long to get to us when we need it.”

The easy reply (and the wrong one) is to say“I’m sorry it’s our company policy to supply from a central warehouse.”

Start asking why they need immediate delivery; what is immediate etc. Youmay find out that they’ve always had next day delivery and it’s just anunneeded expectation. You may find out your competitor can only order asmall quantity per delivery whereas you have no such restriction. The point isyou’ll never know until you ask the questions.

7) Never, but never make the person wrong.

Make a person wrong, and you will create an enemy.

8 ) Never Contradict the Prospect

Prospect: “You guys always seem to be having production problems.”

Mistake: 'No, that's not correct. We had some problems when we upgradedthe plant two years ago. Did you know we have not had any downtime in thelast 18 months?'

A better reply would be:“Yes, we had some production problems when we upgraded the plant andcurrently the plant is running flawlessly, in fact, it’s been running like that forthe past 18 months. Can you tell me if you have experienced any delays sothat I can investigate further?”



In the second reply, the sales rep acknowledges the prospect's perception ofa problem. Remember, first you meet them where they are and then movethem to where you want them to be. Notice also the use of the verbs in thatreply (sorry, this sounds like an English lesson). You put the problem in thepast tense “had some production problems…” rather than “were having..”since “were having” indicates more of an ongoing problem. Then make surethe improved situation is in the present active tense “is running flawlessly….”which talks about now and indicates ongoing “running”. Finally, the secondresponse seeks to investigate any recent issues.

Notice also the use of 'and' instead of 'but' this does not demean theprospect's evaluation. This is an example of the “Agreement Frame”.

9 ) Don’t dwell too long on an objection

Dwelling too long on an objection will amplify its importance in the mind ofyour customer. Better to answer briefly. Your answer should be just longenough to satisfy the prospect, and no longer.

10 ) Never guess an answer

Don't guess at an answer. Admit you don't know. Say:“I'm sorry, I don't have the answer to that question, but I promise to get theinformation to you.”

When you actually get back to them with a reply, this will show you have thecourage to admit what you don’t know and that you “walk your talk” and followthrough on your commitments. This can only improve the client’s perception ofyou.

2. How do you go about Overcoming Sales Objections?

Now you know what not to do, exactly how do you go about OvercomingSales Objections

Remember to have any chance of overcoming sales objections you must firsthave established rapport, mutual trust and confidence and let the prospectknow that you are there to be both an advocate and a consultant. If you canestablish the rapport to build a friendship, that’s certainly valuable, but notessential.

1) Hear the person out - Listen fully!

Don't interrupt listen patiently and intently. Interrupting a prospect will intensifythe objection and cause prospects to become preoccupied with it.




You must completely focus on the prospect to determine the real significanceof this objection. Let your genuine concern and sincere interest show on yourface. Nod your head. The client must not feel you're going to argue with thembut that you truly understand their position. Prospects are weary ofsalespeople who only pretend to listen, and are angered by salespeople whointerrupt their objections to refute them. These behaviours are disrespectfuland demonstrate weakness. Be confident, and show your concern for theirfeelings.

Don't anticipate what he/she is saying and finish the sentence for him/her, justbecause you've heard every objection under the sun doesn’t mean that youneedn't listen fully to your prospect's objection. He/she may have a uniquetwist.

If appropriate, close your order book to take the tension off him/her.

Avoid leaping on the objection before the person finishes - that will only elicitirritation and a sense of being discounted. Especially when you know how youplan to proceed, you may feel a tendency to say, “Yeah, but... .”Resist this temptation.Your prospect must understand that you accept his/her position.

Listen carefully to the objection being raised. Is it an objection or just adelaying tactic? A prospect often will repeat an objection if it's real. Touncover the truth, try asking,”Don't you really mean . . .” or”You're telling me. . . but I think you mean something else.”

As you listen, prospects will often expose the real reasons for not buying.

Prospects continually volunteer new information that will help you betterunderstand their needs and desires. Allow yourself to hear the completeobjection. Sometimes, after prospects hear themselves voicing the objection,they realize themselves there is no substance to it!

2) Feed the Objection back for confirmation.

By restating the objection, you show your concern for the prospect and getclarification in case you misunderstood his/her point. (Avoid paraphrasing theobjection at this time, build rapport by repeating the exact words yourprospect used. This is called Parrot Phrasing). Some prospects evenwithdraw their objections once they hear them spoken aloud.

While restating the objection you can begin to consider your initial strategy tominimize, ignore or handle the objection. There are times, especially whenhearing knee-jerk objections, you will want to ignore the objections and keepon selling. There are times when you will know that you cannot overcome theobjection, but can minimize its importance in the overall picture.



Hint : As you feed the objection back act a little bit surprised. If you'veestablished value, you are surprised that he/she would have an objection.

For example:

Your prospect might say something like,”well, gee, I don't have the time.”

“You don't have the time?” (Surprised tone)

Just like that. You feed the objection right back to him/her.

Remember, if you listen, totally, then you will hear things that are notverbalized.

3) Qualify it as the only true objection.

There are different ways you can proceed from here.

You may choose to say,”You mean that's the only reason you're not buying?”

Now your prospect can either say yes or no.This smokes out the real objection.If it’s a fake objection the prospect will say “No.”, then you can ask what arehis or her other concerns.If he says, “yes, that's the only reason why I'm not buying” you now know thereal objection and you can start to answer it.

Alternatively, you may like to try a method employed by Lee DuBois.

Lee would start closing with a trial close.

Something like,“How do you feel about our offer?”

Whenever, Lee encountered any objections he would say,”Obviously you…” followed by “just suppose”.

I’ll give you an example.

You start your close via a trial close.Customer raises objection.You respond with.”Obviously you have a good reason for saying that. Do you mind if I ask whatit is?”Then the customer gives his/her reasoning.Then you meet the prospect’s condition exactly with:



”Just suppose ..( meet condition )… then in your opinion do you feel you couldproceed… etc”.If the customer says “No.”, then you repeat the process.(i.e. you say “Obviously you” again.)

4) Gently question and explore the Objection.

Once you have the real objection. Invite the person to elaborate fully, askquestions to specify their objection. Is it comprised of fluff, non-specific andovergeneralized statements?

Your questioning should allow you to fully understand the objection. If you arelucky you may even hear the answer to the problem or, better still, theelaboration may enable the person to see through it himself or herself.

Nod to accept their answers (even if unreasonable) and continue withquestions. Frequently, it will take three to seven questions to truly explore theobstacle you face. Be careful that your questions are not accusatory, like,“What do you mean it's too expensive?”Instead, express your need to really understand what they mean. Often you’llfind that the prospect did not understand a specific point, or that you did notcommunicate it properly.

Explain the objection, as you understand it, for clarity.“I can appreciate that, so what you are saying is (objection).”Or“Do I understand you to mean that...”Isolate the objection and lock it down. You may be able to rephrase yourquestion in a way that incorporates the solution.“So if I were able to get you a longer warrantee, would that be enough for youto make a decision?”That also smokes it out if it is a false objection.

Restating ensures that the prospect will know that you have taken an interestin, and understand, the objection. It also gives you an opportunity to restatethe objection in a more favourable way. Prospects will be more inclined tolisten to you when they know you have listened to them.

5) Answer the objection:

Having completed the following 4 steps you are in a good position to answerthe objection.

Actually you can just choose to ignore some objections and go back toestablishing value. (See Step 7).

There are many ways to answer an objection:



You can answer by admitting the shortcoming of your product and shiftingquickly to a strong advantage.e.g. “Yes our matrix platform adjusts only forty degrees horizontally, but itprovides 50% more vertical adjustment than any other machine”.

You can submit a testimonial letter, a competitive comparison chart, or aspecial time-sensitive or price-related offer.

Rather than frame “objections” as a disagreement you can reframe every“objection” into a question that you welcome. Perhaps even reframe anobjection so that it becomes an advantage or seems trivial in the eyes of theprospect. (See Reframing & S.O.M.)

You can lead a person to answer his or her own objection by askingappropriate questions.

The most advanced methods for overcoming sales objections can be found inthe process of reframing.

This technique is based on the fact that all meaning is context dependent.

So, a cloudy, 70 degree day is great summer weather for Anchorage, Alaska(actually they celebrate that kind of weather in Anchorage) but in Hawaii ..?Not so good!

Consider that almost any meaning can be reframed by either a change incontent or context. (See Reframing & S.O.M.)

6) Check / test for satisfaction that the objection has been dealt with.

You need to confirm the answer has been received and understood. Don’treply to the objection and leave it hanging in the air.

Now that solves the problem, doesn’t it?

"When you think of it that way, how do you feel about this product satisfyingyour needs?"

“I guess we’ve made that clear?”

“Does that make sense now?”

“I'm glad you brought up that point, because our most informed customersalways become our most satisfied customers. Are you comfortable that wehave addressed that 100% to your satisfaction?”

"That clarifies the point, doesn't it?"

"With that question solved, we can go ahead, can’t we?"



If the client says yes, you can lead to a close. If the prospect doesn't feel thathis objection has been dispelled, you have some choices.

Now you must prove what you suggested to the prospect. This is the time todemonstrate value, list comparisons, and prove benefits. If you cannot answerthe prospect in a way that's different or sets you apart from others, you'llnever close this (or any) sale.

No one can predict the future but history often repeats itself, so statistics andfacts are valuable tools for changing minds. Bring them along. The proof youshow is limited only by your imagination and the ability to back it up. Whenyou believe it, they'll believe it. They can see it in your face and hear it in yourvoice. Then selling is easy.

Your other choice is to point out to the client that even given his objection, theother benefits of exhibiting in the show outweigh it.

7) Reorient the person to their criteria / values and lead into a close.

It's easy to let an objection disorient and confuse. Use questions that invitethe person to reorient to what's really important; to the major benefits of theproduct and what is important to his/her specific situation. These should makethe objection look small. Now that you have uncovered the prospect's needsand reinforced the value of your offering you can bridge to a close. By thistime closing the sale should be “fait accompli”, the natural outcome of all thathas come before.

At this point you can just ask for the order simply and directly or employ anynumber of trail closes or closing methods. It’s often good to describe similarsituations when you close; people like to know about others in the samesituation as themselves.



Part Three: Overcoming Objections

1. Specific Tactics and Patterns – “yes…but”

Early in my sales career I was told,“Don't use “yes……but”!”

No-one ever told me why.Later I learned it really is not a very good way to be talking to your customerbecause “but” negates everything that has been said before it. It works like amental eraser.

Imagine saying to your spouse,“You look beautiful in that but …”(look out !! Be very careful what your next words are!! )

How would you feel if your boss came up to you and said?“You have done a great job on that proposal but …”Perhaps, like the next words would be,“ ... I want you to do it all again ”.

So, if I can't use "yes ...but" what do I use?Well, I was taught to use The Agreement Frame.

OK, we're going to be the good guys and not use "yes ...but", but what do I dowhen my customer says "yes... but" to me?

You can turn "but" around when it's used on you.Remember "but" rubs out all that's come before it in an utterance.And one of the best ways to make sales is to keep YOUR product in the mindof your customer.

Here's a good example of how to do a “but flip” in a home situation.

“Darling, would you like to go out to dinner?”

“I'd love to go out for dinner but I'm very tired “,(now if you want to go out, you say)

“Oh, you're very tired but you'd love to go out to dinner”(and say the "love to go out for dinner" with feeling).

This leaves your spouse with going out as the last thing in their head.This gives you a much better chance of getting out to dinner.

How about a real live sales example?



Customer says,”I’d love to use your service but it’s too expensive”

You reply,”Oh I see, our product is expensive but you’d really love to use it.”

To make it even better you could add a “tag question””Oh I see, our product is expensive but you’d really love to use it, wouldn’tyou?”

2. Specific Tactics and Patterns – Agreement Frame

How to avoid using yes...but

When someone says “yes, but”, the “but” has the effect of negating all thatprecedes it

“You look beautiful in that but …”

“You have done a great job on that proposal but …”

If you change the “but” to an “and”, the sentence will sound lessconfrontational, and you are more likely to get your outcome.

So, in responding to people as a salesperson replace “but” with “and”.Precede the “and” with a softener.See the examples below.

· I understand … and

· I appreciate … and

· I agree …. and

· I respect …. and

· I recognise…..and

Then use the following softeners after the “and”

· ….I was just wondering

· ….I am curious to know

· ….I am interested to know

· ….I am fascinated to know



· ….I was thinking

· ….I was (found myself) asking myself

· ….you know I am interested in

· ….I’m just interested to know

How about some examples of this Agreement Frame in action.

Prospect says,”The car you are offering us in not roomy enough.”

Possible responses:”I appreciate that you think the car is not roomy enough AND I was justwondering how you determine what is roomy enough?”

“I understand that you think you need a lot of room for your family and I amcurious to know how will you know if a car is roomy enough?”

“I agree that a car has to have enough room for you and I am interested toknow how much room you actually need?”

3. Specific Tactics and Patterns – “or, not?”

Sooner or later in your sales career you’ll run across someone who alwaystakes a contrary point of view.

In psychological circles they call these people “polarity responders”.

If you say to one of these people,”It’s a nice day today.”They respond with,”It was nicer yesterday.”

How do you handle someone like that?

You use the “or not “ frame.

So, you would make comments like,“I’m not sure whether you’ll be interested in our service, or not”or“This product has outstanding durability, or not.”

Often they cannot offer a counter response or they say something like,“I’ll decide how much interest I have in your service.”(Notice where their attention is fixed in the last comment, interest in yourservice.)



4. Specific Tactics and Patterns – “Feel, felt, found.”

I’m sure that any of you that have been involved in sales for some time wouldhave heard of the “Feel-Felt-Found” approach to dealing with an objection.

This is quite an effective tack for dealing with many objections.

You should consider practicing the use of it because you could use it in anumber of situations.

Just for a review let’s go through an example.

Your prospect says something like,“I’d love to use your service but we just can’t afford it.” (Sound familiar?)

An example of your response, using “feel-felt-found”, would be something likethe following.

“Strange you should say that. I can certainly understand how you could feelthat way. Mr Jones over at Allied Inc felt the same way for a long time. Thenafter he started using our service he found that the added cost was minimaland was far outweighed by the benefits of our premium service.”

Another example.

Prospect says,”We’ve been with our current supplier for many years, I’m just not sure aboutmoving my business to your company.”

You reply,“ I appreciate you feel that way. I would hope you would feel the same way ifyou’d been doing business with us for many years. In fact, a number of othercompanies that have switched to us in the last 18 months have felt the sameway. That’s why it’s so gratifying that all of them have found the move to besuch a good one for their company.”

I repeat, this “feel, felt, found” pattern can be used in MANY situations andshould be part of your sales kit.

For an explanation of how it works and how to modify it so it won’t be “picked”by savvy buyers see Appendix 1.



5. Specific Tactics and Patterns – “Sure enough to havedoubts”

This is not a pattern that you can use every day.

This is a pattern reserved for those occasions for when you have a prospectentrenched in a belief that they will not let go of.

It is a form of “double bind”

Basically, you build up the intensity of your prospect’s opposing belief andthen drop the double bind on them.

It goes something like this.

Prospect,“The product I’m using is the best there is.”

You,“Are you sure of that?”

“Yes!”

You, “Very sure?” “I mean absolutely sure!”

Prospect, “Yes!”

You,“Are you sure enough to have doubts?”

Now watch their eyes spin.

If they say they’re not sure enough to have doubts.You can say, “So you’re not that sure.”

If they ay they are sure enough to have doubts.You can ask, “What are your doubts?”

Either way, you have shaken their belief in the product they currently use. Orthe deal they currently have. Or the service they currently use.



6. Specific Tactics and Patterns – “The one question.”

This is a wonderful last-ditch retort.

You’ve been consulting with your prospect or client for some time. Noresolution, no sale. You’ve run out of things to say.

Then you say,“What’s the one question you could ask to be totally convinced that this is theproduct for you?”

This is a beautiful question because of the presupposition that is inherent inthe question.

A presupposition is something, often not specifically stated in a sentence, thathas to be true in order to make sense of the sentence.

For example if your partner asks you to pick up the laundry on the way home.Certain things have to be true. There has to be laundry, there has to be aplace to pick it up from (laundromat) and you have to have a home to go to.

Now the presupposition in the question above is that there is a question thatwill cause your prospect to be totally sold on your offer.You don’t even have to answer the question!

Once your prospect asks a question his/her unconscious mind believes thatthis is the product for them.

It doesn’t make the sale but it’s a rung on the ladder because it starts themthinking about using your product.

Another example.

Prospect says.“I can’t see your service working here.”

You reply,“That’s right you can’t see our service working here….yet… because youhaven’t yet asked the one question that allow you to realise all the benefitsyou will have by using our service.”

This follows a pattern recommended earlier. That is, you agree with theobjection first and then try and redirect it. As a general rule meet them wherethey are and then take them where you want them to go.



7. Specific Tactics and Patterns – The Contrast Frame

On my website I have some pages relating to Robert Cialdini’s influencepatterns from his book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”.(A great book and a MUST read if you are serious about being a salesperson)

Cialdini discusses the Contrast Principle at some length in his book.

The contrast principle can be used when you are dealing with price objectionsto make the cost of your offer look smaller. The idea is to compare your priceto something larger so it doesn’t look so expensive. You may compare yourprice to the extra profit the client will make or to your competitors or to themuch larger costs inherent in the client’s business.

Let’s explain the contrast principle and see how it works.

The contrast principle affects the way we see the difference between twothings that are presented one after another.

Simply put, if the second item is fairly different from the first, we will tend tosee it as more different than it actually is.

So if we lift a light object first and then lift a heavy object, we will estimate thesecond to be heavier than if we had lifted it without first trying the light

If we talking to a beautiful woman at a cocktail party and are then joined by anunattractive one, the second woman will strike us as less attractive than sheactually is. .

The point is that the same thing can be made to seem very different,depending on the nature of the event that precedes it.

Examples of The Contrast Principle in action include:

Retail clothiers selling the expensive suit so it’s easier to seel you shirt andtie later.

Car sales people selling relatively cheap accessories after you’ve agreedto purchase the much more expensive car.

Real estate companies using "setup" properties where they take you to acouple of overpriced houses before they show you the house they thinkyou will want.

Warning your customers of an upcoming 10% price increase when youknow the increase will only be 5%.

The great advantage of this principle is not only that it works but also that it isvirtually undetectable. Those who employ it can cash in on its influence outany appearance of having structured the situation in their favour.

http://www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com/OSO-influence-summary

http://www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com/OSO-influence-summary



In relation to Objections the principle of contrast is often used when you runinto a price objection.

Client says to you,“Your premium service would cost me an extra $1000/year.”

Using “contrast” you could reply,“That’s right for about $2.50 a day you could have all the advantages of thepremium service.”

$2.50 a day seems much less than $1000, doesn’t it?

8. Specific Tactics and Patterns – “Compared to what?”

Often a prospect will say,“Your product is too…”Maybe it’s “too big” or “too slow” or “too expensive” or “too old” or “toocomplicated”

A good response to this sort of objection is,“ Compared to what?”

You see whenever we make a decision (like to buy product X or product Y, oreven not to buy anything at all) we have to first make an evaluation andevaluations are based on comparisons.

For example how much better will my life be with this new appliance versushow much more complicated will my life be with the addition of this newappliance.

So, because every comment like “it’s too big” is based on a comparison youneed to understand what the prospect is comparing your offer to so that youcan respond.

Once you understand the prospect’s comparison you can focus on what isimportant to them and either reposition your offer to be more like what theywant or point out the flaws in the other product or even the disadvantages ofnot buying anything at all.



9. Specific Tactics and Patterns – “How would you know..?”

Prospect says something like,“Your service is too restricted.”

You can reply,“How would you know if it’s not too restrictive?”

This gets your prospect thinking about how your offer is not what they thoughtit was. They actually have to try on using your product in their mind. The moreyour product is in their mind, the more chance you have of making a sale.

10. Specific Tactics and Patterns – Treated Question

This can be used for almost any objection. The purpose is to turn theobjection into a question in your customers mind so you can answer it. Youoften lead into this with the Agreement Frame.

It’s important to bridge into this “question”, use the format that follows theAgreement Frame wording below.

“I appreciate that our product is imported and you are concerned aboutavailability of spares and that brings up a question. The question is, “What isour guaranteed delivery time on spares?” “Is that the question?”(Note: It’s important that they acknowledge that it is the question)

11. Specific Tactics and Patterns – Future Pacing

Think about, how you make choices, and how your customers make theirchoices. When we make choices and decisions we look ahead into the futureand predict the consequences of our decision. As we do this we makepictures, hear words, and these create feelings about the decision we areabout to make.

The aim of this objection technique is to change the negative consequencesthe customer sees internally that cause sales objections. You will be workingwith the buyer's internal map of future reality, because that's where theobjection is formed. A prospect can raise a sales objection because theypredict certain consequences of buying. They imagine the future. They seewhat they think will happen and how they could feel if they buy your product,and they don't like it.

They can see something negative. They present this negative view of thefuture as an objection. What people see in their imagination can be real. It canalso be completely made up, a fantasy or a nightmare. But in both cases it willfeel real to them.



The mind struggles to differentiate between real and imagined. A good salesperson, coach, or therapist, makes this Future Pacing feel real.

Put this great selling technique into action

A buyer raises an objection and says, 'It's too expensive.'

You then lead them through the consequences of having that belief. You getthem to see, hear, and feel, what will happen if they buy a cheaper model.Guide them through the future consequences of trying to save a few pennies.Then you show them the positive future that will happen when they changethat belief and buy from you. You use benefits and make them feel how muchthey will gain. Lead their imagination and show them a future where they havemade a positive choice and bought your high value product. Sell them apicture of the future, not just the features of your product.

12. Specific Tactics and Patterns – Reopen a Decision

Sometimes you will be confronted with a prospect that has already made adecision.

At these times selling and overcoming objections turns into an exercise inreopening the prospects mind to recogniser their original decision, preferablyusing different evaluation criteria.

Now, you can often do this via a questioning process and I'd like to offer you alittle linguistic trick to help you along the way.

You see how we are processing things in our mind (and where we store themin our mind) is reflected in our language.

When a prospect tells you,"I have decided to use your competitor's product"That word "decided" is in some form of past tense (Oh, Oh !... primary schoolEnglish lesson ?) . What that means is that your prospect has moved thethough out of that part of their brain where they consider things to that partwhen the process is over.

If you modify that "decided" verb by adding the "…ing" ending it starts to movethat thought back into the part of the brain where the process of evaluationtakes place and makes it an ongoing action.

And it's simple.

You just ask the prospect,"How were you deciding that?"



To answer that question the prospect has to engage that part of the brainwhere the "deciding" takes place. It is no longer complete. It's a runningprocess again.

Now when your prospect starts telling you about their "deciding" yourquestions will have more impact because the prospect is actively in thedeciding process again.

13. Specific Tactics and Patterns – Put Objection in the Past

You can move an objection into the past.

Just like people store completed decisions and those that are in process indifferent parts of their brain so too they store the past, present and future indifferent parts of their brain. (Not really but it’s a good analogy.)

It can be useful to move an objection that the prospect has into the past.

This operates using verb tense in a similar way to the the "..ing" process weused in the previous section.

Let's say your prospect comments,"I think your X is too slow"

OK, acknowledge that objections and say you'll get back to it after you discussa couple of other items. These other items would be areas where your productexcels and meets the prospect's wants and needs.

Then, when you come back to discuss that objection you would start out with,"Oh, what was it we were to discuss. Oh that's right, you HAD THOUGHT thatour X was too slow'

Now using HAD THOUGHT pushes that belief back into the past and evenimplies that it may have since changed a little.

Once again, this on its own will not get you over an objection but it is one ofthose little tools that makes the process a bit easier.

14. Specific Tactics and Patterns – “Just Suppose..”

Part of selling is controlling the thoughts that your prospect has in his or hermind.

This is why asking questions is an important part of what you do in sales,because the minute you ask a question that prospect’s mind is focusing ontrying to find an answer.



So by asking certain questions you get the prospect to create internalrepresentations about using your product or service.

This is pretty easy to do and is a very powerful form of question, and you willfind it extremely useful in having your clients create positive internalrepresentations.

Your client might say, "I couldn't do that."

Using the agreement frame first (Tactic #2) , you say,"I APPRECIATE that you think you couldn't, and JUST SUPPOSE you did,BECAUSE I know that you want your business to be an even greatersuccess!"

"JUST SUPPOSE..” is quite innocuous. It just sort of sneaks into your client'sbrain, and causes him to make the internal representation that you want.

For example, "JUST SUPPOSE for a moment that you can have our service,now. How would you use it?"

Master these skills and you’ll have the world at your feet.



Part Four: Sleight Of Mouth Reframing

1. Introduction

Sleight of Mouth is a special tactic for dealing with sales objections. It canhelp you generate some of the most powerful reframing language you canimagine.

Let’s take a look at some of the concepts that are behind its effectiveness.

When someone raises an objection they are talking about something that ismeaningful to them. Something they have attached meaning to.

For example, if they say your product is too expensive they have in some wayconcluded that fact:

They are comparing your product or solution to another cheaper product orsolution

They are comparing your solution to just continuing to put up with theirexisting problem.

They have decided they only want to spend $X on the project. (they havea budget)

They may even have an unconscious belief about a “reasonable” amountto spend.

Notice the last possibility is an unconscious thought. They are not aware of it.The prospect just hears a magic number and is uncomfortable about spendingthat amount.

Meaning is all in the MIND.

Have you ever walked down the street and tripped over a meaning?

Can you put meaning into a wheelbarrow?

We create meaning by the Frames we put around things in our head.

Think of the word “fire”.If you had great experiences as you grew up roasting marshmallows around acampfire the word fire will have a certain meaning for you.If however, a friend of yours was killed in a fire you may have a very differentmeaning for the word fire.

Remember the movie, “Gremlins”The two young characters in the movie were discussing Christmas.The boy thought Christmas was a wonderful, joyous time of year.The girl, however, had her father tragically die at Christmas trying to come



down the chimney like Santa Clause. Christmas meant something totallydifferent to her because she put a different frame around it.

Since meaning occurs in our heads nothing means anything in and of itself.Things (events, objects, actions, prices etc) only mean something when wemake a linkage or, putting it another way, when we put a frame around it.

Experiences become references, and references then operate as our frame-of-references. We then use these to determine how to make meaning ofthings.

Whenever we change a frame-of-reference we change the meaning.

Killing thousands of animals sounds like a cruel and inhumane thing to do.What if we are killing thousands of cows to prevent the spread of mad cowsdisease?What if we are killing thousands of chickens to prevent the spread of bird flu?

Has the meaning changed?

Whenever we influence someone’s meaning by changing the frame they arelooking at we do a Reframe.

Reframing is one of the most valuable skills a persuader can have.

When you start an interaction with a prospect or client (or anybody for thatmatter) you have the opportunity to set the frame of the conversation, to Pre-Frame.

One of the best example of pre-framing I know is the letter below.

“Dear Mother and Dad:

Since I left for college I have been remiss in writing and I am sorryfor my thoughtlessness in not having written before.I will bring you up to date now, but before you read on,please sit down.

You are not to read any further unless you are sitting down.

Well, then I am getting along pretty well now.The skull fracture and the concussion I got when I jumped outthe window of my dormitory when it caught on fire shortly aftermy arrival here is pretty well healed now. I only spent two weeksin the hospital and now I can see almost normally and only getthose sick headaches once a day.

Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory and my jump, was witnessed by anattendant at the gas station near the dorm and he was the one who called theFire Department and the ambulance. He also visited me in the



hospital and since I had nowhere to live because of the burnt outdormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartmentwith him. It's really a basement room, but it's kind of cute.He is a very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love andare planning to get married. We haven't got the exact date yet,but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show.

Yes, Mother and Dad, I am pregnant. I know how much you arelooking forward to being grandparents and I know you willwelcome the baby and give it the same love and devotion andtender care you gave me when I was a child. The reason for thedelay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has a minor infectionthat prevents us from passing our premarital blood tests andI carelessly caught it from him. I know that you will welcome himinto our family with open arms. He is kind, and although notwell educated, he is ambitious. Although he is of a different raceand religion than ours, I know your often-expressed tolerancewill not permit you to be bothered by that.

Now that I have brought you up to date,I want to tell you that there was no dormitory fire,I did not have a concussion or skull fracture.I was not in the hospital, I am not pregnant,I am not engaged, I am not infected, and there is no boyfriend.However, I am getting a "D" in American History, and an "F" in Chemistry,and I want you to see those marks in their proper perspective.

Your loving daughter,”

Isn’t that just a gem?Do you think the parents would have been relived to hear their daughter wasgetting an F in Chemistry after reading that letter?

When most sales trainers talk about reframing they just tell you to get theprospect to look at the situation from a different angle.

“What angle?””How do I do that?”, you might ask.

What if there was a model you could follow that could lead to generate manydifferent reframes?

How useful would that be?

Well, there is such a model.

Ever heard of the concept of Sleight of Hand?



In performing a magic trick, the magician's challenge is to redirect theaudience's attention, in order to create an alternative visual experience. Thisredirection of attention is Sleight of Hand.

Just as a magician can dazzle you with seemingly impossible feats so too amaster of reframing can use their choice of words in a way that can redirectyour attention or change your perceptions.What you were once sure of now seems open to doubt.What was unbelievable now seems possible.

Linguists and modellers studied the world's most powerfulpersuaders and uncovered a compelling and impressiveset of reframing patterns. These patterns are called"Sleight of Mouth."

2. Sleight of Mouth

The name "Sleight of Mouth" builds off the phrase"Sleight of Hand" which refers to a magician’s skills inmaking things happen which appear impossible.

Why are they called "sleight of mouth?"

Because, when done well they work like magic in dissolving objections!

In fact, Sleight of Mouth forms a system that, once mastered, can allow you toalways have a response that will effectively elucidate your position and helpyou to persuade rather than be persuaded.

Simply put, it will help you win any argument, handle any objection, beverbally powerful and powerfully verbal.

In using Sleight of Mouth there is a bit of an art in how to hear the objectionand perhaps even get your prospect to repeat it in that way but once in thatform you’ll have the ability to bend their original objection in many ways thatwill transform the way they think about it.

To enable us to bend meaning and change the frames around an event it iseasier if we introduce the model of “The Magic Box”

3. What is “The Magic Box?”

The magic box is the one in which we specify a meaning in a certain way.We say A=B or more accurately EB = IS.



That is to say External Behaviour equals or causes an Internal State.

The terminology of this magic box is not nearly as important as how we usethe structure, which is what we will get into next.

Sometimes it is easier and the prospect gives you their objection already inthe A=B format.For example,“I can’t buy your product because it costs too much”So,A= I can’t buy your productB= I think it costs too much

Sometimes the customer’s statement is incomplete, and they give youthe facts without their meaning for example,“ I can’t believe your delivery is late again.”A statement like the last one only states the AExternal Event or Behaviour = Late delivery.

You need to ask a question of your prospect to get the objection into thebest form to utilise SOM patterns.The question might be,“What does that mean to you?”or“And, that means?”

The customer may come back with,“It means you don’t care about our business”or“It shows you are an inefficient organization”.Either way you now have the complete statement.A = BA(Late delivery) = B(Don’t care about my business.)orA(Late delivery) = B(Inefficient organization.)

The sorts of questions to ask, which will fill out the equation, include:

How does this cause a problem for you? What makes it so? What does this mean to you? What meaning do you attribute to this?

These question all apply when someone gives you the action or thing, the A (External Behaviour), without the evaluation.

Sometimes the person just gives you the belief (B, or IS) itself and you needto enquire about the evidence, for example:“Your company is really inefficient.”Your response is



“How do you know that?”Their response might be,“Well, your delivery was late again last week.”Now you have both sides of the A=B equation.A= you made a late delivery again last week.B= your company is really inefficient.

Once we have an objection in the A=B form we can do some linguistic magicby reframing their objection.

How many different directions can we send a meaning?

4. How many different ways can we look at something toreframe it?

Well there are only six different directions we can take to reframe anobjection: Reframe the content, work inside the box, that is question A and B We can counter reframe by turning the objection back on itself. We can work with time and look at the objection from the past or the future Pull the frame apart so they have to construct a new frame around their

objection We can look at the objection from higher-level meanings, outframe them We can offer an analogy or story to show an alternative meaning.

OK, enough of the theory lets get into some examples.

Just before we start you just need to remember that all the other rules ofdealing with objections still apply. No “yes…buts”, gain rapport with your prospects, soften your responses with “The Agreement Frame”, never argue with the customer etc etc.

Sleight of Mouth patterns are powerful but they are not the panacea forobjections.

How about we complete the example I used in my YourSalesSuccess eZineand in the 7-part mini-series, “Easily Overcoming Sales Objection”.

5. Specific Example

As you go through these examples it will help you if you print out Appendix 2and Appendix 3 so that you can follow the direction of the moves and becomeacquainted with the model.



“I can’t hire you as a sales coach because I can’t afford it.”

Let’s start with some content reframes

Often your biggest breakthroughs occur in those moments when it’s time tostretch yourself, stretch yourself beyond your current limitations.(Redefine on B= their belief they can’t afford it)

It’s not about affording the coaching; it’s about making an investment in yourmajor means of generating income. (Redefine / reframe on B)

It’s not about hiring me or not, it’s about how you’ll best improve your salesskills without learning by your costly mistakes (lost sales), and given that 80%of sales training is forgotten within 8 weeks of training what better way than toimprove than with a sales coach? (Redefine on A)

Now how about some counter reframes

“I can’t hire you as a sales coach because I can’t afford it.”

I might respond as follows:

Using Apply to Self on A.The way you need to think about using this pattern is to not think about it atall. Just turn the A of the A=B format back on itself.

“That’s why you need to hire me, so that you can make more sales and beable to afford anything you want.” (Apply to self on A)

Let me give you another example for clarity:

“Your sales coaching is high priced.”The hidden pattern is A= high priced, B= I can’t afford to buy it.More completely,“Your service is high priced therefore (and that means) I can’t buy it.”To use the Apply to Self-pattern I merely turn “high priced” back upon itself.“You may pay a high price for thinking that way?”

See it’s easy. Don’t think about it just use part A of the objection back onitself.

Then you can apply to self on B

“You can't afford not to hire me, because if you were making plenty of salesmy fees would not be an issue." (Apply to Self on B)



A very interesting type of turning objections back on themselves is calledReversing Presuppositions.

It involves thinking along the following lines.“How is the whole thing actually the opposite of what you thought it was?”

The format for applying this pattern is to ask:In what way does (can, might, could, would, will) A actually mean or cause theopposite of B.Answering this question may well lead to a response like the one below.

“How might the cost of not having my services actually cause you to chooseto believe that you cannot afford not to buy my services?”(Reversing presuppositions)

Then there’s the good old, offer a counter example.

“Has there ever been something you couldn’t afford to do that was soimportant to you that you knew you had to do it anyway? So isn’t it just reallyabout realising that you’re worth investing in?”(Counter example)

Now we can play with Time, pre-framing and post-framing.

What was their intention in expressing this objection?What were they trying to do or trying to avoid?

“I appreciate you want to pay your bills and that’s why you need to hire me, soyou’ll never have to worry about your bills again.”(Prior Intention)

What had they noticed in the past that caused them to offer this objection?

“I wonder what has caused you to think about affording things, perhapslistening to news reports about our climbing level of national debt or perhapsthe well-meaning words of your parents. Yet I know that a business that doesnot invest in it’s future doesn’t have a future.”(Prior causation)

Now let’s looking into the future.

“Where are you going to be a few years from now if you don’t improve yousales results?”(Change frame size) (Outcome / Consequence of their objection)

“If you always pass up future opportunities based on current circumstancesyou’ll miss out on a lot of good stuff in your life.”(Consequence)

You can then look even further ahead it time.



“Passing up opportunities for the lack of current funds seems to be focusingon past results rather than future possibilities. How many people purchase ahome with cash? And when they invest in that home are they looking at thepast, the present or their future?”(Outcome of outcome.)

Then even further into the future.

“At the end of your life do you think the pennies you’ve saved will have hadmore influence on your success or will the money and time you’ve investedwisely have had more positive outcomes?”(Ultimate Outcome.)

Pull the frame apart, deframing

We can pull apart the reasoning of their objection.

“What specifically are you looking to improve in as a sales person which if youachieved it would cause you to know that my sales coaching is the right thingto be doing right now”(Chunk down to get more details from them)

“How would you know if you had the financial resources to afford my salescoaching?”(Reality strategy – how do they think their objection is true)

Now we move to higher levels of meaning that will hopefully override thecurrent frame they are using to formulate their objection, Out-Framing

“ Isn’t it more important to invest in your future rather than save a few penniesnow?”(Hierarchy of Criteria – what is more important to them than the objection theyhave raised?)

“It’s the people who decide they can’t afford to do what they need to do tochange their financial situation that end up remaining stuck where they areand then there are those who realise you’ve got to be willing to do whatever ittakes and those are the ones who see their income soar.”(Model of the world – people base their meanings on comparisons and thosecomparisons are based on how they see the world. Question the model theyare working from in raising their objection)

Another example.

“ If you continually evaluate everything in your life based on whether you canafford it aren’t you putting a ceiling on your wealth, growth and experiences?”



“Do you think we should judge everything based on our ability to afford it?Whether we buy a house, what car we own, our children’s education or ourhealth care?”(Allness Frame – is their objection always true and for everybody.)

“What would happen if you hired me as a sales coach even though you thinkyou can’t afford it?”(Necessity)

“Does it always work this way?Do you have to evaluate whether you can invest in your future based on yourcurrent income?Just suppose you evaluated this decision based on what your future incomecould be rather than what it is now?”(Necessity – questioning whether they have to evaluate the investment theyway that they have.)

“Who does that make you if you make decisions about your personaldevelopment based on your current income, what do you think you areworth?”(Identity – questioning whether the decision is in line with whom they are)

“That kind of thinking works if your outcome is just to get by. If you really wantto start living up to your full potential you’ve got to take a stand at some pointand decide that you’re worth investing in.”(Another outcome – what if they based their thinking on another outcome?)

“How you do one thing is how you do everything. Where else in your life areyou saying you can’t afford the things you really want. Is that a pattern ofyours?”(Chunk up - All other abstractions – Do they think this way everywhere?)

“I have a lot of people who come to me and say that because they believe inlack in the Universe, you can be, do and have anything you want, there’s somuch money out there now.”(Meta Frame – How is it possible they could believe that?)

Now lets tell them a story or Analogy.

“John Smith thought the same thing in the beginning and now that his saleshave improved 30% he realises that increasing his income is more importantthan saving a few pennies.”(Metaphor or story)



6. Specific Example

OK how about another example; this time with some aids to help yougenerate your own patterns.

Our new objection is:I can’t buy your product because it’s too expensive.

Let’s start with some content reframes

“Price isn’t the real issue but the quality of what your investment purchases foryou.”(Redefine on B)

“The initial cost may be expensive but that is small compared to the benefitsyou’ll receive over time.”(Redefine / reframe on B)

“What would really be expensive would be to continue trying to operatewithout our product because then you would not have…”.(Redefine / reframe on B)

“It’s not so much that you’re not buying a product as you’re not investing in ameans to solve this production problem you are having.”(Redefine on A)

You generate these responses by asking yourself:What other meanings could this equation have?What if AB, A=C, and that’s D

Now how about some counter reframes

“Do you really buy that reasoning?”(Apply to self on A)

“That may be a pretty expensive belief you are holding there.”(Apply to Self on B)

Remember you generate these patterns by just turning A & B back onthemselves.Don’t try to think about it just apply A to A, i.e. in this instance apply buy tobuy. In the second case apply expensive to expensive, B to B.

A very interesting type of turning objections back on themselves is calledReversing Presuppositions. Remember, the format for applying this pattern isto ask:



In what way does (can, might, could, would, will) A actually mean or cause theopposite of B.Answering this question may well lead to a response like the one below.

“How could the expense of our product actually cause you to choose tobelieve that you have to buy it now?”(Reversing presuppositions)

“How might the expense of not having this product actually cause you tobelieve that you cannot not buy it?(The not …not language pattern is a bit of a mind spin)

Have you ever not bought something when the price was really low?(Counter example)

You generate a counter example by inverting the belief. Asking yourselfquestions like was there ever a time AB.

Now we can play with Time, pre-framing and post-framing.

I appreciate your intention is to keep expenses down and wouldn’t that includesaving money in the long run?(Prior Intention)

Generate this type or response by asking yourself“What is their intention in making this comment?”“Why are they saying it?”“What are they trying to get?”

“You may have had cause to believe in the past that cheaper products can dojust as good a job, let me show you how our product’s benefits for you justifyit’s premium price.”(Prior causation)

“You’re just saying that because you don’t yet know all the benefits ourproduct has to offer you.”(Prior Causation)Generate this type or response by asking yourself“What could be the cause for my prospect’s limiting belief?”

“If you continue to think this way you may not buy anything of quality.”(Consequence)Ask yourself, “What will happen if they continue to think this way?”, togenerate these type of responses.

“It does seem expensive now and I wonder if you put off the purchase howmuch more you’ll pay in 12 months time?”(Outcome of outcome)Ask yourself, “What outcome may arise from this first outcome?”



“Ten years from now will you remember the product you bought cheaply orthe one that revolutionised your production (or solved your quality issue)?”(Ultimate Outcome)Go as far out into the future as you can to generate this response.

Pull the frame apart, deframing

“Exactly how expensive is it?”(Chunk down)To ask this question you need to ask yourself:“How specifically?”“What specifically?”

“How would you know that our product is priced fairly?”(Reality strategy)Generate this pattern by asking,“How will you know if and when your belief is not true?”

Now we move to higher levels of meaning that will hopefully override thecurrent frame they are using to formulate their objection, Out-Framing.

“What is quality worth to you?”(Hierarchy of Criteria)“What about if we focused on increased value rather than level of spending?”(Hierarchy of Criteria)What higher criteria can we apply to their stated objection?

“Up until now has it been your experience that having bought cheaperproducts was always totally satisfying?”(Model of the world)Is their objection statement true for everybody?

“I guess if everyone thought this way we would not have a product to offer,would we?”(Allness Framing)To generate this question ask“What has this person not noticed?”“Suppose we apply their objection as though it came from all customers, whatwould happen then?”

“What stops you from going ahead and investing the money to buy ourproduct, even if you think the initial expense is a little high, so that you couldbegin to enjoy it’s benefits now?”( Necessity)Ask yourself, “What stops them from not letting their objection operate as aconstraint”

“If you purchase all of your production materials based on which has thelowest cost, what does that mean about the quality of your finished product



and your company?”(Identity)Ask yourself, “What does it mean about the identity of themselves or theirbusiness if they think this way?”

“Whether the product is expensive is not the issue. The issue is your totalproduction costs and how our product and stocking policy allows you to savemoney.”(Another outcome)

“Well we do often get what we pay for. And if you really don’t want the bestproduct available, I can understand how you could let the pricetag control yourdecision.”(All other abstractions)To generate these responses you need to think about their statement in largerterms, what global principles apply, does their objection still make sense?

“You’re only saying that because you haven’t yet considered the value you willadd to your finished products if you use our product as one of your rawmaterials.”(Meta frame)Ask yourself, “How is it possible they could believe that?”, in order to generateMeta frame responses.

Now lets tell them a story or Analogy.

“Many people thought the way you have. Strangely, we are growing ourcustomer base for this product by about 10% a year, so people must bechanging their mind. Why just the other day Jim Smith from….”(Metaphor)

There you have it, two examples on how to use Sleight of Mouth patterns tohandle objections as well as how to generate responses and how to rewordtheir original objection to make the process easier.

Now it’s up to you.

In one of the upcoming sections I’m going to ask you to list down the mostcommon objections you get in selling your product(s) or service and generateSleight of Mouth responses for each of those objections.

You’ll then need to learn those responses.

Then as you use them you’ll find some are better than others and they are theones that will boost your income like you wouldn’t believe.

When you get to these sections do not to try learning this all at once.



Maybe just pick one Sleight of Mouth pattern and use it to generate aresponse to the common objections you get. Then use it for a week or twoand see how appropriate it is. Then try on another pattern. After a while youmay try using the patterns in pairs to generate a compound response pattern,which are often even more powerful.

Play with the patterns, make more sales and have some fun.

Remember Sleight of Mouth is a Model

I refer you again to Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 so that you can see how themodel is put together.

Obviously, the best way to overcome an objection is by being prepared. Youmust know how you plan to turn around each objection you face.

This is where Sleight of Mouth excels because it’s a model not just a script oflearned responses to objections.

If you just rote learn scripted replies to a series of objections the minutesomeone raises a new objection (that you haven’t learned a response for) youare on your own and you’d better be good at thinking quickly on your feet.

With SOM you learn patterns of reframes to handle objections.

So, if someone raises an objection you haven’t heard before you just applyone of the SOM patterns.



Literally, you can never be stuck for a response, never!

How confident does that make you feel?

(Strangely, the best way to learn the SOM patterns is by coming up with SOMresponses to all the objections you normally hear. That process helps imbedthe SOM patterns of thinking in your unconscious mind.)



Part Five: Minimise Objections Occurring

1. “Inoculate against objections”

If you want to avoid getting an illness you can inoculate against it. Examplesinclude polio, smallpox, tetanus injections and even the flu.

You can do the same with Objections.

You can deal with objections before they arise.

The great advantage of dealing with objections before they arise is they neverarise!

There are two ways you can inoculate against objections.

The first thing you need to do is know in advance of the sales meeting whatobjections come up most often. This is an exercise we’ll be doing later in thisbook.

The first method of inoculating against an objection is for you to raise theobjection early in the call and then respond to it with one of the tactics forhandling objections I have covered earlier in this e-Book.

The second method it to take the objection and state it in a whiny voice.

"Some people say 'oooohhhh that's so much money' (stated in a whiny voice)but I know that someone like you can appreciate the value that you're going toget from this."

It's as simple as that.

Unconsciously, no-one wants to associate themselves with the whiny voice,so they disassociate themselves from their objection.

Later in this book when you will identify the main objections you get I’m goingto ask you to practice stating them in a whiny / bad tonality voice. Then we’llget you to build your intuition by guessing what objections you could get froman individual and use this approach to inoculate against them.

2. How to Have fewer objections come up.

Of course, I said before that if you had a perfect product (or service) and gavea perfect presentation then objections would not come up.



It follows from that, that the better you understand your product/service andyour prospect and the better the job of “selling” you do the fewer objectionsyou will get.

By “selling” I mean:

Establishing Rapport with your prospect. Establishing credibility with your prospect. Uncover your prospect’s wants and what’s important to them about that. Understand your prospect as a person and how they think Establishing the Value of your offer

If you have done all that you can present your offering so that they will reallylisten to it and your presentation will be focused on the specific benefits ofimportance to them.

In fact, let me put it this way, the better you have identified your customer’sneeds and established the value of your offer the fewer objections you willget.

So, in some respects knowing how to handle objections is like an insurancepolicy.

We all have insurance policies on our cars and houses and even our life butwe really hope we never have to use them.

So, think of your skill in handling objections as something you can fall back oneven if you have not done a great “selling” job earlier in the sale.

3. Rapport before closing

Remember before you start to close, which is where most objections comeup, make sure you are still in Rapport with your prospect.

Without rapport your chances of closing are much lower.

4. Attitude towards sales & objections

Now that you know the tactics to handle objections that we have covered sofar in this e-Book you can begin to feel more confident.

Next we are going to apply these tactics to the objections you hear mostoften.

Then you are going to practice responding to those objections.





That will mean writing out and reading out loud the responses relating to eachobjection while paying attention to how you formulated the response.

This is where this approach is different because it’s not about rote learningscripted responses but rather learning how to generate responses.



Part Six: Overcoming Your Objections

1. What are the Objections you hear most often?

Now comes the time where we start to apply the tactics for responding toobjections that you have been reading here.

The only way to learn a skill, and responding to objections is a skill, is topractice.

Golfing is a skill and the masters practice for hours every day, tennis too andhow many hours to Olympians put in to becomeexcellent at what they do?

As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough,you get what you practice.”

The reason that practice is so important is that itgets certain behaviours to be unconscious. That isyou don’t even have to think about them.

Think back to when you first stated to ride and bike and how at first youprobably fell, then you had to concentrate hard to stay balanced and finallyafter a while it was like walking. When riding a bike became something youcould just do without thinking about what you were doing it became fun, didn’tit.

Let me give you another example.

Driving a manual car (a stick shift as people in the USA call it). Do youremember “hopping” down the road as you tried to coordinate the clutch, thegear change and the accelerator? Do you remember how hard that was atfirst? Then after a while you could drive your car while you listened to theradio and talked on your mobile phone (hands-free of course) and drank yourcoffee while you looked up the address of the prospect you were going tomeet.

That’s why we are going to practice answering objections next. NOT to learnrote responses that you can “spit out” when a prospect comes up with aspecific objection BUT to train your unconscious mind to be able toautomatically generate responses to objections.



So, this practice will be a little bit different.

I’m going to ask you to generate a lot of responses to objections rather thandevelop one response and practice it again and again.

On the following page is a form. On that form I’d like you to write out all theobjections to the product you sell. Try and use the exact words your prospectsuse. If you sell more than one product or service you’ll need to print out extraforms. Go ahead, do it now.



Handling Objections

Work sheet # 1

Item Sold:

Most common objections.

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Now, you’ve written down your most common objections, haven’t you?

Now take each objection and apply one of the Sleight of Mouth Patterns toevery objection.

So, if you have five objections listed down. Try to write a response to each ofthose objections using only one of the Sleight of Mouth responses.

Now, in some cases a Sleight of Mouth response will not make sense for aparticular objection. That’s OK. Your unconscious mind has just learned hownot to apply that response to certain objections.

Remember to first convert the objection into an A=B format.

Start with something simple like “Apply to Self on A” or “Hierarchy of Criteria”which often begins with “Isn’t it more important to..”

Maybe a lot of your objections have a “but” in them.If that is the case you may like to start with “the but flip” instead of a Sleight ofMouth response.

Maybe you’d like to start with “feel, felt, found”, that’s OK too.

Once you’ve gone through each of your objections with a Sleight of Mouthresponse then try a different Sleight of Mouth response and go through all theobjections again. Cycle through all the objection handling responses listed.

The important things are:To work with specific objections that you get.To use an objection answering tactic with lots of different objections.

The idea is to train your brain how to use the objection-handling tactic.

I would suggest you spend 30 minutes a night doing this for at least 60 daysbut only if you want to become good at handling objections. If you want tobecome a master at handling objections you may do this exercise for a year.

2. Formulate responses to your Objections

Now as you go about practicing your objection responses you will come upwith some responses that are absolute classics.

Feel free to list those down and read them again and again.

You could keep that list in a little notebook you carry around in your shirtpocket and read it every time you get a few spare minutes.



3. Remember to use “just suppose”

OK. Earlier in this book I mentioned the use of “just suppose”.Do NOT underestimate the value of this little phrase.

The specific objection handling tactics mentioned earlier in this book aredesigned to change the way your prospect is thinking about their objection insome way. Your sort of weaken their belief as to why they cannot accept yourproposal. Some of the tactics may actually work like a mental eraser anddelete their belief (gently without offending them).

But that is only half the battle.

Now you have created a space in their mind for your offer to reside byclearing some space in their head. You now need to fill that space withthoughts of your product.

You do that by focusing their thoughts on USING your product or service.Hence the importance of “just suppose” or phrases like it. (eg imagine)

It goes like this.Customer raises objection.You respond with Agreement Frame & Feel, felt, found.Then you follow with,“Just suppose you use our product in your office. What do you see (or feel orhear) as the main benefits it is giving you?”

It’s about getting your prospect to imagine using your service or product andreminding them of the value your offer has for them (the value you built upearlier in the sales meeting).

Remember earlier in this book I said that the best salespeople in the USAclose most of their sales after the fifth “No!”

I mentioned that while writing about attitude. The inference most people takeis not to be afraid of a NO and also to have some resilience (like the bestsalespeople).

There is something else behind that 5 No data.

Would it surprise you to know that most people (i.e. more than 50% of thepopulation) have to see, hear or feel something at least 3 times before theyare convinced of it? Ever wondered why advertisements on TV often say “butdon’t buy yet …” and that is repeated so many times during the ad? Next timecount the number of times they repeat the offer. I’ll bet it’s 3 – 5 times.

The reason why prospects buy after the 5th NO is because the salespersonhas then got them to think about using his product/service again each timethey raise the objection. After 3-5 times they are convinced.



4. How will you practice responding to your Objections?

As you go about your 30 minutes practice every night don’t worry about tryingto use the responses you generate on sales calls.

Be patient.

After a while you may notice that certain responses start jumping into yourhead during a sales meeting.

That’s great, as it’s a good indication that the information is beginning to beassimilated by you unconscious mind.

Once again after practicing for some time, say no less than 30 days, you maywant to start consciously using some of these responses. If you want you canassign yourself a response of the week and try to use a certain response toobjections for a whole week. If it doesn’t make sense to use it on an objectionthat comes up use whatever else comes to mind if you’ve been practicing fora while I’m sure it will be a good response.

5. Common Objections (link to Answers to ASKObjections)

Now, there is a form on my website where people can enter their mosttroublesome sales objection.

In the future I will be collating all the objections that have been posted in thatform and creating an e-book with answers to them all.

As a purchaser of this book I’ll let you know when this material becomesavailable.

http://www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com/OSO-sales-objections



Part Seven: Putting It All Together

Putting it all together.

Now you have gained a lot of knowledge in this book about how to handleobjections.

They say knowledge is power, but only if you use it.

Hopefully, you started practicing how to apply that knowledge as I have askedyou to do just a few short pages ago.

Remember, “When the going gets tough, you get what you practice.”

Now, it’s time to put the icing on the cake.

The real power in the tactics I’ve mentioned in this book is when you start tostring them together and combine them.

Let me start with an example from an acquaintance of mine.

Tad James had arrived at an office after the official closing time. The securityguards were instructed not to let anyone into the building after 6pm.

Here is what Tad said to them.

"I appreciate that the rules say that I can't go in the building, and just supposeyou took me inside, because I know that the people I'm supposed to meet arein their office, and they want to see me, and I'd be willing to stay only 5minutes, and you can get right back down."

Let’s break that down.”I appreciate..”, Agreement Frame”Just suppose””because”, power word (see YSS # 2)”stay only 5 minutes, and you can get right back down”, is a concession

So the pattern is,“I appreciate (intent of objection) and just suppose (new behaviour), because(reason), and if you'd do that I'd be willing to (concession).”

I like it.

Here’s another one of Tad’s.

“I want you to become a client of ours, and I appreciate that your companyfaces some challenges in the next few months because of market conditions,

http://www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com/OSO-persuasion-words



but imagine when we've overcome the future obstacles, just as we'veovercome difficulties in the past, don't you feel good now?”

You can see what’s he has used, yes?Agreement Frame, imagine (like just suppose), “but” (yes, you can use it, justnot all the time and soften it first with the Agreement Frame), then reorientthem to past successes and leave them feeling good.

The pattern is.“(Your objective), and I appreciate (future obstacles). Imagine for a momentthat (together we overcome future obstacles), as we've done in the past, don'tyou feel good now?”

Let me put one together for you.

Customer says,“I’m just not ready to move on your proposal just yet.”

I might respond with,“I understand the timing is not ideal for you now because of the newcompetition in your market. And I was wondering if that’s not the reason youshould be moving on this proposal right now because I know XYZ company(not a competitor of the prospect you are talking to) hesitated and theircompetition seized on this development before them. I can understand youfeel like you want to wait, XYZ’s competitor felt the same way initially and letme tell you they have found this “whatever” instrumental in them dominatingthe market. Just suppose you moved on our proposal now what advantageswould that give you over your competitors and how could you take advantageof that in your Market?”

What did I use?Agreement Frame, Apply to Self on A, “because”, negative consequence ofnot moving, Agreement Frame, “feel, felt, found”, “just suppose”.

Let’s try another one.

Prospect say,“I’d love to buy your product but we’ve been with our current supplier foryears”

One of my responses could be,“OK, you’ve been with your current supplier for years but you’d really like tobuy our product, wouldn’t you? I can understand you wanting to stick with thefamiliar. I went through that feeling myself recently. I didn’t feel like I could buya new car. I felt my old car had been a faithful servant and was wonderinghow a change would work out. Let me tell you though I have found the newcar great and I love driving it. Can I ask you this? As you think about using ourproduct what’s the one question you need to ask to be totally convinced thatour product is the one to be using?”



I used: “but flip”, tag question, Agreement Frame, “feel, felt, found”, orient theirthinking to my product (as you think about using..”) and finally “what’s the onequestion”

Now, here’s your assignment.

After you’ve been practicing the individual tactics for a while. When you aregetting good at them. Start stringing together the responses just like I havedone above.

Look at an objection you get.Write down the tactics you want to use.String them together into a response.Don’t worry if you can’t always make them fit.The important thing is that you are training your mind in how to put themtogether.

That’s All there is Folks – It’s up to you now

That’s all there is folks.The rest is up to you.

I have given you the information.I have given you the method to practice.

Now the ball is in your court.

If you do nothing things will stay the same.

If you want to become a master at handling objections start practicing tonight.

As they say, the ball is in your court.

(If you need help feel free to contact me via the Sales Coaching page on my website.)

http://www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com/OSO-sales-coaching



Appendix 1

The trouble with any “scripted” approach like “feel, felt, found” is that itcan easily be spotted by a professional buyer who has been around fora while.

So, the question becomes, why does “feel-felt-found” work and how can weuse something similar to get the same, or better, results?

I believe “feel-felt-found” works for several reasons: It uses time distortion language It tells a story It sells indirectly, via the “quotes” or experience of the other customer. It paces the prospect’s current experience and then leads them to

consider the experience from a different point of view

Everybody loves to listen to a story. Children love it. People stand aroundat parties telling them. People lean over the fence to tell stories to theirneighbour. The minute you start talking about the experience of anotherperson who now uses your product or service you get your prospect involvedin the story. So, you have your prospect’s attention.

I love the intricacies of language. Verb tenses are a particularly goodinfluencing tool. What “feel-felt-found” does is move the prospect’s objectioninto the past and offers an alternative belief for them to consider.

Let me explain.When you first refer to the prospect’s objection using “feel-felt-found” you usethe verb feel, which is present tense and thus mirrors the prospect’s currentthoughts on your offer.Then when you start talking about Mr Jones it is quite likely that your prospectwill associate with Mr Jones’ experience (especially if they have a similarbusiness) and then you are using “felt” which is past tense. By using theverb in past tense you are changing your prospect’s objection from anobjection they are having now to one that they HAD in the past. Thisopens up the prospect’s future to consider a new reality.Finally, when you start talking about what Mr Jones “found” you preface thatverb with the phrase “after he started using our service”. So, you move theprospect into the future AFTER having used your service and then invitethem to consider the good experience that Mr Jones had. Of course,when they consider what Mr Jones found they are trying it on themselves,aren’t they?

Now that you know how “feel-felt-found” uses verb tense and story to counteran objection you can come up with a general formula to do something similar,without risking being caught using “feel-felt-found”.



That formula would be something like: Agree with the prospect’s current objection, Move that objection into the past, Then take their thoughts into the future and, by implication, invite

your prospect to consider having discovered a different reality.

So, back to our original statement, “I’d love to use your service but we justcan’t afford it.”

I appreciate our service is not cheap. Have you always thought about ourservice in that way? Having had that thought it would not have been easy toconsider using our product, would it? You know many of our current clientsused to think that same way until they started using our service. For example,Mr Jones told me, after he’d been using X for a while that his … far exceededhis previous…”

This achieves the same results as “feel-felt-found” and is much less likely tobe detected.

It takes some practice but the results could well be worth it. Anyone, you don’thave to believe me, just give it a try and see what results you get.



Appendix 2



Appendix 3 – reprinted with permission

E.B.= I.S.#1 #2

Content Ref. Of EB Content ref. Of ISThe Magic BoxThe Belief / MeaningFormula

#11 #12Chunk Down RealityMD & SbMD Strategy

#3, #4Reflexively Applyto Self/Listener

#6 PositiveIntent

#7 PositiveCause

#5CounterExample

#8 First Outcome#9 Outcome of Outcome#10 Future Time Outcome

#14Model ofthe World

#15Criteria

#16Allness

#17ModalOperator

#18Identity

#13Abstrac-tions

#19Meta Frame

#20Metaphor

Mind-Lines : Lines for Changing Minds (2005)

© L. Michael Hall Ph D Neuro-Semantic Publications, Clifton Co. www.neurosemantics.com

overcoming sales objections · part four: sleight of mouth reframing.....33 1. introduction

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