A statement of disapproval, or a reason to dislike something. Also known as an objection.
Most of us have already faced objections. Whether the objections were justified, or not.
Who would enjoy facing those?! After all, being on the receiving end of an objection is not easy. Especially when you are not used to it.
However, once you know what attitude to adopt, I promise you’ll almost enjoy receiving objections.
A personal experience
Let me start with a situation I experienced
June 27th 2002 was the day I first boarded a plane. Days before, every cell of mine had objected getting into that airplane.
After all, what 10-year-old child would want to board a 200-ton device flying 35,000 feet above an ocean?
I was terrorized.
Yet everyone around me was pressuring me because the plane was about to leave. Without me.
In less than two minutes, an uncle of mine convinced me in a way I will never forget. Here is how he proceeded:
He remained calm and kept his cool
My uncle remained calm and peaceful. He wasn’t panicking, and the look in his eye was a caring and friendly one.
He behave as someone who wanted to hear me out. That approach was completely different from those pressuring me.
Our attitude will either reassure the objector or make them even more objecting.
My uncle’s calm showed he was willing to discuss and to listen to my arguments.
He initiated a discussion
Not only he was calm, but he actually asked me more questions. In the same caring way.
He engaged a civilized discussion with an aggressive 11-year-old. Without being aggressive, without showing any signs of impatience.
With a smile, he encouraged me to open up. And he instructed everyone else to leave the room.
And he sum up and rephrased everything I said. With his own words.
Initiating the discussion with the objector will force you to hear them out.
Depending on the situation, this step may require some patience.
Showing an unwavering patience to your objector will contribute in calming them down.
He manifested empathy
After listening to me, my uncle had an unexpected reaction… He agreed with me.
He made me realized that my irrational fears were not so crazy: they were justified.
I thought “Finally! Someone understanding me. Maybe I am not that crazy!”
Finding someone who understood me disarmed me from my aggressiveness. I was even more inclined to listen to him.
The amazing thing is that I didn’t even realized I was disarmed! If that happened to me, there is no reason it doesn’t happen to your objector.
My uncle’s calmness contributed in letting my guard down – without me noticing.
He made it sound as an adventure.
My uncle convinced me to take board that plane in seconds.
He turned all of my objections into advantages. He did so in a way that fascinated me. Like a story. Or a sales pitch.
I went from not wanting to board that plane to being eager to board in.
That was a genius move. He was able to do so because he listened to my arguments, and he agreed with them.
This is why listening to the objector is capital. Otherwise, you won’t be able to overcome their objections.
For practical reasons, I will not mention his arguments here in this post.
Conclusion
Now if you notice, my uncle did not try to tell me my fear was irrational. He did not try to correct me. Nor to belittle me. Nor to patronize me.
In fact, he did the exact opposite.
He probably noticed that people who were trying to convince, correct or belittle me weren’t successful at changing my mind.
So he approached me in another way.
I believe a good sales person is one who has the right attitude when facing objections
When you validate and show empathy: not only people are inclined to listen, but they’ll be willing to face their fear.
It’s already a victory when your objector is willing to hear you out. Let alone when you convince them!
Needless to say: a good sales person is one who can handle objections. If you can handle objections, then you can sell anything to anybody.
Now…
As of now, needless to say: that experience with my uncle is one of the reasons I love facing objections.
I dare you try this method with your entourage. I’m sure you’d be surprised (let me know about that in comments).
With more experience, you might end up loving it as much as I do. In another post, I will give you my methods on how to respond to objections.
What about you? Would you dare facing objection the same way I love facing objections? I challenge you ;-). I can’t wait wait to read your experience in the commenting section.
This post was about why I love facing objections. If you enjoyed it, please feel free to comment and share.