Whether you’re in Sales or not…you’re in sales. Think about it. Whether we’re selling ideas or products, we’re trying to convince someone to make a decision in our favour.

Let’s suppose that the person you’re trying to influence says that they don’t want to go for a day out watching horseracing (I can’t think how anyone in their right mind would think that, but people are weird sometimes😁).

They might say, “I really don’t want to go racing. It takes so long and it’s pretty boring, just watching horses running in a field”.

And in response, what you’d say is…

“I know how you FEEL, BECAUSE OTHERS have FELT the same way, saying that [insert their objection here, using their exact words], BUT what they FOUND was the time passed really quickly, you can get up close to these impressive animals and with all the atmosphere of the racetrack, it’s incredibly exciting.”

Why does this work? There’s a surprising amount of psychology packed into this simple approach.

The FEEL part is about demonstrating empathy with their point of view. You’re not dismissing them and telling them they’re wrong (which is a big mistake, of course).

Instead, you’re showing that you’re listening to them (people want to feel heard) and trying to understand their view. This invokes the principle of Liking.

“BECAUSE” is a word that acts on our subconscious. It’s a trigger word that seems to get people to comply automatically (see Langer, 1977)

By using their exact words, you’ve shown that you were genuinely listening to their viewpoint. Again, incredibly powerful.

“OTHERS FELT” – activates the principle of Social Proof. It’s even more powerful if you can identify many and similar others to the person you’re trying to influence. The person knows that they’re not alone in feeling the way they do.

“BUT” (or “however”) acts as a bridge to what’s coming next. We often forget or negate the words that have come before BUT, focusing instead on the words that come after it.

And that helps us in this example. Declaring what others have FOUND (and then providing your solution to their objection) illustrates to the other person that people similar to them have made the decision to proceed with your recommendation.

So there it is. A universal objection-handling technique.

I love this quote that relates to this: “A mind changed against its will, is of the same opinion still.”

The best days lie ahead.

Martin

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