How do you identify and overcome consumer resistance and objections?

Consumer resistance and objection can be viewed as valuable feedback, driving growth. It uncovers pain points and areas for improvement, leading to innovation. Engaging with objections fosters dialogue and builds trust. It spurs businesses to continuously improve and adapt. Categorizing resistance helps allocate resources effectively. Embracing resistance turns challenges into opportunities for long-term success.

In my experience, sales in the past have been more geared towards "talking someone into something" versus coaching them to make the best decision for themselves. It is far easier to help someone make a good decision than to talk them into something. Most objections/concerns are valid. The job of a good coach is to help someone make a decision. They get to choose to buy rather than be sold. Know who your ideal customer is, having clearly identified the problem you solve, also makes the process easier. You should be talking to people who have the problem you solve, need to solve that problem urgently (lots of pain around the problem), have the means to acquire the solution you offer and the authority to make the purchase.

Selling a product or service has moved from thinking for the consumer but rather providing what they need. It's not always easy to have everyone satisfied with your products or services due to individual differences. However, researching what the market needs and providing accordingly make consumer resistance or objection less of a task. Once the product aligns with the market, there will, maybe issues around products that can be addressed with good customer service.

With the cost of living increasing radically due to multiple factors, customers will increasingly be more selective and risk averse in their consuming habits.

Resisting and objecting is somehow intrinsic to human nature, so winning customer resistance is ultimately a matter of making your reasons, politely yet effectively, prevail on your customer's. You are not just presenting the features of a product/service, you are convincing them "why" they should leave their idea (of not purchasing) in favor of yours.

Consumers resist and object for various reasons. Resistance can stem from distrust, lack of perceived value, and misalignment with personal beliefs. Negative experiences, concerns about quality, and skepticism can lead to resistance. If consumers perceive a lack of value or better alternatives, they resist. Misalignment with values or beliefs also triggers objections. Inertia and reluctance to change contribute to resistance. Overcoming resistance requires building trust, communicating value, aligning with values, and addressing barriers to change. Understanding these dynamics helps businesses navigate consumer resistance.

Understand the root causes: Understanding why consumers resist or object to a product or service is essential. Common reasons include: Price concerns. Skepticism about the product's benefits. Lack of trust in the brand. A perception that the product does not align with their needs. By identifying the underlying causes, you can tailor your approach accordingly.

In my experience, identifying consumer resistance and objections is crucial in marketing. Surveys, feedback, research, observation, and dialogue are effective methods to detect and analyze them. Directly asking consumers for opinions, preferences, and concerns provides valuable insights. Studying consumer behavior and motivations helps understand preferences. Observing interactions with the product reveals insights. Engaging in conversation and listening to feedback uncovers objections. By combining these approaches, marketers can successfully identify and overcome consumer resistance and objections.

I believe the best way is to use the power of storytelling. Craft captivating narratives that address the "no need" objection. Share stories of how your product solved problems customers didn't even know they had. To tackle the "no trust" objection, showcase real success stories from your satisfied clients, building credibility and trust. Create a sense of urgency by weaving time-sensitive opportunities into your narratives to overcome the "no hurry" objection. Lastly, reposition your product as a wise investment, illustrating long-term cost savings to counter the "no money" objection.

Customer resistance can have many reasons, and before we understand those reasons, we should not jump to action. The first step is to apply the MOA framework: M= Is the customer motivated to buy? O= Does the customer have the opportunity to buy? A= Does the customer have the ability to search for the product, buy it, pay for it, and use it? Because there is no average customer, we may find that some customers are not motivated (“I don’t like this brand”), some don’t have the opportunity to buy (“The store does not ship to my country”), and some don’t have the ability to pay or to use the product (“I don’t have the budget for this”). This analysis often reveals important drivers of customer resistance.

Show empathy towards your consumers by acknowledging their concerns and validating their feelings. Clearly articulate the benefits of your product or service in relation to the consumer's needs and desires. Back up your claims with evidence, statistics, or testimonials from satisfied customers. Sometimes, offering incentives or guarantees can help alleviate consumer resistance.

Reviews and demonstrations by trusted influencers and media outlets are critical; consumers are increasingly skeptical of overwhelmingly positive reviews made by unknown sources, even in large quantities.

The fact is that there are significant costs to continually trying to overcome rejection/reservations and continuing to promote a product when much/most of a market is rejecting it (I.e. high costs per - minimal - conversion). In either case, you should resign yourself to identifying what finer segment of a market IS substantially interested in your product and promote there, at much lower cost, OR revisit and - empirically - reshape your product per your market's demands (vs. your team's initially incorrect hunches). Good luck, and remember: statistically responsible empiricism is always more reliable than hunches, no matter the degree of organizational consensus/momentum.

A powerful approach to finding out what customers really want is the “laddering” method, based on a theory called Means-End-Chain (see my book “Real Impact Marketing”, 3rd edition, 2022, or search for these keywords online). Laddering means that we connect the attributes or features of a product to the customer benefits and to customer values. For example, a watch tells you the time (attribute), which helps you be on time (benefit). This is important to you because you are a dependable parent (value). Customer resistance and objections often result in a poor connection between what the firm wants to sell (attributes) and what the customer wants (benefits, values). Customer resistance is the result of a broken ladder.