Common Objections-NEW

>> So you're having an enrolling conversation with a potential client, the call has been going well, and they seem like an ideal fit for your coaching services. Then at the end of the call, they hit you with an objection. "I don't think this is a right program for me or, you know, I just don't have the time to commit to a program like this right now." How do you deal with that? In this lecture, we'll be talking about common objections that prospects raise during enrollment conversations and how to handle them. To start, let's talk about why prospects make objections. When a prospect raises an objection, it's because they have some kind of doubt. This is usually because they're not yet sold on the service they're being offered. As a coach, it's your job to help them see the value in what you're offering. It's your job as a salesperson to help them realize just how much they need to work with you. And once your services are seen as a need and not a want, the decision to work together becomes effortless. So how do you help your client to see the value in your services? Number one, focus on them, and number two, ask the right questions. During your Health History, talk to your prospect about their goals, why they're motivated to achieve those goals, and what the consequences are of not achieving those goals. For instance, maybe your client wants to lose weight and their motivation to lose weight is to set a better example for their children. The possible consequences of not losing the weight are that their children may end up overweight as well or they might be teased or experience health consequences. This really puts their goals in perspective because it stops just being about them and becomes a bigger goal than something that's just self-serving. During the Health History, you want to highlight both what's possible when they reach their goals and what could happen if they don't achieve their goals. Now let's talk about the three most common objections prospective clients will raise during a Health History. The first is money, the second is time, and the third is doubt. So let's start with money. I'm sure you've had at least one prospect tell you I can't afford it when you offer them your 6-Month Coaching Program. If you're speaking with a client who seems very interested in working with you but they start to pull back when you start talking about the investment in your services, here are some things to consider. The first is that people pay for what they value. It's likely that the same client has recently made purchases that weren't necessary such as a vacation or a new TV, but now can't find the money to work together. People pay for what they value. If your prospect isn't sure they can afford to work with you, go back to the basics. Make sure that this client understands the value they'll get out of working with you, the results they can expect from working together, and make sure that they're emotionally connected to the outcome of your work together. The second thing you want to do when someone raises money as an objection is remind them of the goals they set during their Health History. If you've completed Health History with them, they've probably shared with you their goals, how important it is for them to reach those goals and possibly a number of different negative outcomes of what could happen if they don't reach those goals. Use this time to remind them of what they're working towards by saying something like, "I'm curious what you mean when you say that you can't afford it. Earlier in our conversation, you told me that losing weight was your top priority both for yourself and for your kids. And now I hear you saying that you can't afford to work on that goal, so I'm curious what the disconnect is." Now some of you might feel like that's too direct but it's really highlighting a disconnect. They're saying one thing and then saying something different. It's just like self-sabotage where people set a goal, then do things in direct opposition to achieving that goal. So your job as a coach in this situation is to highlight this discrepancy so they can check it out and see how they want to resolve it. They may decide, "You know, this really isn't right for me right now," and that's totally fine. But they may be like, "You know what, you're right, I'm totally backing down from committing to this. I need to do this for me and for my family." And then they'll sign up for your program. What you're doing here is giving them the opportunity to notice that what they're saying they want and what they're doing aren't in alignment so they can make a conscious decision to bring their actions into alignment with their desires. Make sense? We've included sample scripts in your handout for how to deal with objections like this. Number three, you want to get creative. Chances are that your clients spend money without even thinking about it. It might be as simple as dinner out once a week, their morning coffee or updating their wardrobe with every season. Talk with your prospect about what they purchase without even thinking about it. Are those things the dinners out, the morning coffee, the new wardrobe adding fulfillment to their lives? Is it possible that working with you as their Health Coach would add more fulfillment to their lives? Debbie Ford once said, "Don't sacrifice your long-term goals for short-term pleasures." Help your prospects to recognize that if their purchases are contributing to their long-term goal of being healthy and happy or if they're just helping them to feel okay in the now. You can also work with your prospects to find creative ways to fit health coaching into their budget. Sometimes they just need to think a little outside the box to find a solution. Now the second most common objection is time. If your prospect says that time is an issue, like they're not sure if they can commit to the scheduled sessions or the work, question them on that. Remember, your job during the enrollment conversation or Health History isn't to sell your prospect on your services but to help them see for themselves, the value they'll get from working with you. You're helping them to uncover and eliminate the internal obstacles they have to working on their goals. For example, let's say that your prospect is concerned about having time for health coaching session and let's use the example of working with a doctor. The doctor's office is usually open nine to five, right? This is also usually when most people work. But when they have a doctor's appointment, they take the time off of work to make the appointment, just like people spend money on what they value, they make time for what they value. So now the question is how can you position yourself to be as valuable and necessary as a doctor's appointment? And again, you want to bring your prospect back to their goals. Remind them of their motivations for reaching those goals. Keep bringing them back to the results they'll get and the reasons why they need to work with you. And you could even ask your client, how can you see yourself making this work, right? Turn the question back to them. This will engage their creative mind to problem solve. Maybe they could do sessions during their lunch break, maybe they could leave work an hour early one day a week, maybe they could hire a sitter for an hour while they work with you, maybe they could meet with you in the evenings via Skype. There are endless options for how they can make it work. Helping them come up with these creative solutions will serve both of you. And the last objection prospective clients may have is doubt. Doubt usually crops up when a client has already done a lot of work on their issues but still haven't seen the results. Maybe they've attended seminars, participated in online programs and read books to help themselves but still these issues remain. As a Health Coach, you want to continue asking questions like, "What have you tried before? What worked? What didn't work, and why didn't it work? Here's how you can work with them on their doubt. Reassure them that you know coaching will work. They're looking to you for affirmation, validation, and the confidence to make the decision. You can also share with them stories of client successes, especially success stories that mirror the results they want for themselves. Let them know that if it was possible for someone else, it's possible for them too. All they have to do is show up and do the work and you'll help them to do that. And speak to their fears. Are they worried about not being held accountable? Are they worried that they won't have anything to talk about in sessions? Are they worried that this will become yet another thing they've tried that doesn't work? Here's a really powerful question you can use in these examples, "Look, Sharon, I understand you've tried X, Y, and Z before and they didn't work. What will it take for you to make this program the program that works for you?" Finally, I want to remind you that clients aren't always created in 30 minutes. Make sure that when you're scheduling time for enrollment conversations, you give yourself extra time to handle any objections that might come up. You want to make sure that you have enough time to help your client to emotionally connect with their motives and desired results, as well as handle any objections that arise. Keep in mind too that objections don't mean anything about you as a coach. In fact, it's opposite, objections are based in fear, fear of not getting results, fear of wasting time and money, fear of failure. When you're addressing objections, you're really just coaching someone through their fear to commit to the results they want for themselves. And when you look at it from that perspective, handling objections isn't a sales tactic, it's one of the most loving coachable moments you can have with the client. To recap, we talked about the most common objections prospective clients have during the enrollment conversation. We talked about how to handle objections about time, money, and doubt. We talked about making time to handle objections during the enrollment conversation. And finally, we talked about how objections are manifested by your prospect's fears. Now I'm curious. What are some of the objections you've heard from potential clients? How have you dealt with them? Share your thoughts and your experiences in the Facebook group, and I'll see you there. Bye for now.