TURN OBJECTIONS INTO OPPORTUNITIES

Facilitating through an objection successfully begins in your mind. How you think about objections factors heavily into your reaction to objections. The words “objections” and “negotiation” often have negative connotations. Some of the concepts you might associate with these words are “manipulation,” “confrontation,” or “winners and losers,” for example. These thoughts do not lead to the mindset needed for collaborative problem resolution.

Instead of these negative thoughts, think of objections as an opportunity to:

• Collaborate with your buyer as a problem resolver.

• Strengthen your connection with the buyer as you focus on Their ideas, concerns, and feelings.

• Educate yourself and the buyer. Perhaps we need to learn something from them because we didn’t ask or they didn’t share specific details earlier. Or the buyer needs to learn something or have more information about the solution, proof, or details that were not explained to the level they needed.

• Show expertise. Our ability to work through objections collaboratively and by sharing examples, ideas, and suggestions shows our flexibility, knowledge, and experience.

Converting objections into opportunities for collaborative problem resolution takes skill and discipline. We may need to train ourselves to respond differently than we naturally would. It takes some effort and preparation to respond to and work through objections effectively.

We increase our probability of success when we work through objections with a collaborative, opportunity-focused mindset.