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Are you struggling to overcome objections to book meetings when calling referrals and prospects?

If so, you’re not alone. This challenge plagues new and experienced advisors alike.

Booking a meeting with a new referral is a multi-step process. Think of all the steps you have to go through just to get to the ask:

You or your staff generate a feed list.

You’ve put prospecting on the agenda with your current clients and follow through on it.

You follow up with the referral.

You actually get them on the phone.

And, now, your new prospect or referral doesn’t want to meet…

They tell you they’re too busy. Or, they already have an advisor. They’re all set.

This can be a disheartening scenario if you don’t understand why it’s happening and are not prepared to overcome it.

This situation came up countless times during my 12 years as an advisor. The systems and language I used allowed me to never be caught off guard. It worked for me then and continues to work for the thousands of advisors I’ve trained and developed over the past 20 years. It will work for you too.

Understanding The Prospect’s Mindset

The first thing you have to understand is that people, in general, are automatically programmed to say “no” when they get approached by almost any sales individual.

For example, imagine the simple experience of buying some new shoes for work. You found a pair online that are available at Nordstrom’s, which is an hour away from your house.

You get in your car right away to drive out there and pick them up. There’s a very high likelihood that if you walked in that store and a sales representative came up to you to ask if you need help, you would say, “no, just looking” – even if you actually needed help locating them!

You’re not “just looking.” You just drove an hour to the store! You know exactly what shoes you want to buy. Why wouldn’t you accept his or her help?

People are simply programmed to say “no” the first time. Add on top of this that, according to an AARP survey, 45% of adults age 45 – 59 would rather make an appointment with a dentist than with an advisor, and I can almost guarantee that your first objection will be automatic.

Don’t take it personal. Don’t be caught off guard.

Always Go Through Three Objections When Calling Referrals

When calling referrals, you need to be prepared to go through three objections on the phone.

As mentioned before, the first objection is automatic. You will have to overcome it or you have no chance at booking the meeting. But why overcome a second or third objection?

First, it displays professional persistency. What I have found in my career, is that the higher the caliber of the prospect, the more they appreciate and respect professional persistency.

Secondly, you have to put yourself in a position where you are creating attraction power and displaying a mindset of confidence.

Top sales people are masters of making a statement, not by directly stating it, but by inferring it. When you go through three objections, professionally, it lets the prospect know that:

• You need me.
• I’m really good at what I do.
• Even if we don’t end up working together, this will not be a waste of time.

Looking back at my career, I can’t tell you how many times some of my best clients I got on the third objection.

What Gets In The Way

There are two primary reasons why advisors don’t follow through to the third objection.

In the early years in the business, the first reason is fear. This happens when advisors don’t have their language down and they are doing to many ums, ahs, and awkward pauses.

They don’t know exactly how to respond to any specific objection. They wing it. They’re uncomfortable. They are scared they are going to make the prospect uncomfortable, but the very fact that the advisor is uncomfortable makes the prospect uncomfortable.

The way you overcome that fear is to get good. You practice your language over and over again. You do it until have it down to the point that someone could wake you up out of a deep sleep and you would nail it.

After being in this career for five or more years, it becomes more about ego. This is more sub-conscious mindset than a conscious mindset. When the experienced advisor hears the prospect’s objection, they think, “I don’t need you.”

They feel that by overcoming a third objection they are begging. It makes them sound desperate. They think, “I’m going to give this person one shot and if they don’t take the meeting it’s their loss.”

If you can relate, you need to remember to give people the benefit of the doubt. They don’t know much, if anything, about you or the incredible impact you could have on their lives – until you meet with them!

Walking The Fine Line

I learned early on in my career that in sales there is a very fine line that on one side is being aggressive and the other side is obnoxious.

You want to always get as close to that line as you can, without ever crossing it. In some aspects of the business, like prospecting with your current clients for referrals, you should only ever go through one objection. They already know you and trust you so going through multiple objections wouldn’t be appropriate.

However, when calling referrals and prospects for new appointments, you can get away without crossing that thin line by going to three objections.

The objections you face are going to be virtually the same every time:

I’m all set.

I’m busy.

I’ve already have an advisor.

You can get my language on how to overcome objections here and also see my language for opening up the phone call here.

Even better, join P2P Academy and go through the entire phoning course. If you’re already a member, log in a few times over this month, watch a few of the phoning videos, practice it, implement it and repeat.

Practice it over and over until you master it. Mastery will give you confidence. Your confidence will strengthen your commitment to go through the three objections each and every time when calling referrals. Most importantly, it will have a transformational impact on your business – as well as the financial security of so many clients who would never have had the opportunity to meet you had you not stuck with it.