Positively Objectionable

When you meet clients, some of them will disagree with you and you’ll have to handle objections. Some will push back. They will object and they will procrastinate. However, the worst of all objections is when you get all the positive indicators. The other person is respectful. They seem interested. They ask good questions and they look thoughtful. As a result, you think things are going well. But what they don’t do is buy.

Why do they do it? There are a few reasons:

• they might like you
• they don’t know how to say no
• there is some other reason that’s actually preventing them from going ahead
• they’re deeply polite

How to handle objections when they’re positive

Regardless of the reason, you have to be able to handle objections and, like all objections, you’ll need to understand what’s behind it, and you’ll need to handle it directly. Here’s something you can do that’s low risk and easy to do. Consider simply naming what’s happening. There’s an old phrase from the therapy world: Name it to tame it. Use this approach to disarm the situation a little and start to really understand it.

You could say, “We’ve spent some time together on this and, from this chair you seem interested, and have good questions. But it also seems like something’s stopping you from a decision. How do things look from your chair/perspective?” If you’re right, odds are they’ll start to share a little about what’s going on for them. Take the time to understand it and appreciate it. There’s good information there! If you were wrong, however, they’ll just tell you that things are good and here’s what I need…

In either case, you keep some control of the direction of the conversation and you can move toward a decision.

The negative objections seem to always get the air time, but it’s the positive ones that really undermine your efforts to serve. Watch for them. Name them if you see it happening, and handle the underlying concern.

Chris Venn is the Canadian Partner of The Legacy Companies, LLC, a Boston-based training, coaching and consulting firm focused exclusively on financial advisors.