Tooling Up For Objections

‘They love what we do… but they’re going to go away and think about it’. 

That’s a common phrase I hear from Financial Planners in the early years of their careers after an initial consultation with prospective clients.

And with blissful naivety, they genuinely think the client is going away to do just that.

When in reality, it was just a polite ‘No’.

Of course, occasionally, a client does go away to think about it and then comes back to say ‘Yes’.

But mostly, you never hear from them again.

Not getting a client over the line isn’t a crime.

We’ve all got to learn. And, over time, we get better at convincing clients to join us on the Financial Planning journey.

But what is an issue, is not knowing WHY they said ‘No’.

Because if you don’t know why….

• You don’t know whether they’ve misunderstood something.
• You don’t know which areas of your pitch you need to improve.
• You don’t know which tool to get out of the bag to help them over any hurdles.

Hence, rather than think they’re coming back next week to sign up, it’s actually much better to have got to a ‘No’ and be able to articulate WHY.

• They said ‘No’ because they think our fees are too expensive and I couldn’t convince them otherwise.
• They said ‘No’ because they just want better investment returns, and I couldn’t guarantee that.
• They said ‘No’ because they just want a financial transaction and aren’t prepared to go through a proper Financial Planning process.

They said ‘NO’.

But at least you know why.

The reason why most Financial Planners who don’t know why the client has said ‘No’ – or even that the client has actually said ‘No’, is normally because they didn’t listen.

They viewed the pitch as a one-way street of them throwing features and benefits at the client until they surrendered.

You have to listen.

And in order to listen, you have to shut up.

So, deliver your pitch. Shut up. Listen.

And I mean really listen.

Not waiting to pitch some more.

Probe and widen the conversation to really get to the nub of their concerns.

And once you’ve identified them (remember, the client may not even be able to articulate them to you without help), go and get the right tool out of your toolbox to deal with it.

• Pitch
• Shut Up
• Listen
• Diagnose
• Tool Up
• Deal
• Engage

Simples.

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