Do you remember going to the doctor as a child and having your inoculations? You know, those painful shots that prevented all sorts of dangerous diseases? Well, as adults, we know why the shots were necessary, but as children it just didn’t matter at all because all we knew was, it was scary and it hurt.

The inoculation I want to talk about today has nothing to do with disease prevention and could result in your sales skyrocketing (which, to me, is quite the opposite of painful). This is an inoculation against objections and it is potent medicine for any sales ailments you may have.

Here’s how it works. Come up with your top three objections. You know what they are. They are the same objections that you get over and over. “It’s too expensive” is a popular one. How about, “I need to talk it over with my wife.” And then there’s, “I think I can find this for cheaper on the internet.” These are very general objections and I suggest them as examples. This exercise/technique will be all the more powerful if you come up with the objections you most receive. I have students who tell me that they go through periods where they keep getting the same objection over and over, and then it will stop. I believe it is absolutely something they are doing to attract the objection — unconsciously. It could be a phrase or a tone of voice or even a negative mindset that they’ve created for themselves that continues to attract the same response.

So today is your lucky day because you have the opportunity to understand how to stop objections before they’re even brought up. Eliciting criteria is the most important aspect in the process as you must have your prospect’s values foremost in your mind for this strategy to work.

If you keep getting the objection of, “I don’t know if I really need the services you’re offering” then you know that this has the potential to pop up from time to time for you. Bringing up the objection before it’s even fully formed in the mind of your prospect and canceling it out by casting a negative light on those that suggest they don’t need your services, it is a lot less likely that they will bring up that particular objection.

‘Look, one of the things I hear on occasion is people telling me, I’m not sure if I need your services. And let me tell you what I’ve said to them. . . ‘

By doing it this way you’re not waiting until this is a set in stone objection in their head, you’re overcoming it when it’s barely a speed bump. And that way, it doesn’t sound so aggressive. So this is one of the things I like doing on a regular basis.

You may also find yourself saving a lot of time because if there is an objection that’s so big, you can’t overcome it and this objection is going to break the deal, then might as well get it out of the way right up front. If it’s not possible to get it out of the way, then move on.

This is why I’m constantly asking someone in the presentation ‘are you with me? Do you understand?’ because if they’re not, I want an indication that they’re not so I can immediately try to do something different.