I've found it highly ironic that consultants—who supposedly can fearlessly wade into a corporate mine field of politics, self-interests, and unique culture—turn into wind-driven jellyfish as soon as a prospect raises his or her voice. Who on earth would hire someone who falls to pieces or jumps on the defensive as soon as a potential buyer pushes back a bit?
The worst thing you can do when someone is assertive is defend yourself! I know that's counterintuitive to many of you, but no baseball or cricket or volleyball player is going to be worth much if they protect themselves from the ball. They try to pummel it, and the harder a ball is thrown, the harder it goes the other way when smartly struck.
Using Momentum
In the martial arts, one is taught to use the opponent's own momentum to throw the other person off balance and take the advantage. The same is true of objections, resistance, and even aggressiveness in the sales of services and intangibles.
For example, if a prospect says, "You're a one-person operation, why should we use you when other firms can bring many people to help us?" your reply should not be: "That's true, but I'm a specialist," or "But I'm local"! Your reply should be: "That's exactly why you need me!"
That reply will get you two seconds of stunned silence, during which you use the forcefulness of the resistance to turn the tables. You move into that silence with:
* "I don't bring a group of people in here to learn your business while I charge you for it!"
* "We deal principal-to-principal, not through intermediaries and junior people."
* "I have low overhead, so your fees aren't supporting scores of offices and bonuses."
* "I'm immediately responsive and you will be my top priority."
You get the idea. Don't defend yourself, go on the offensive and demonstrate—quickly—why the very objection raised is actually an asset and advantage to using your services.
The Objection Doesn't Matter
You know every objection, you've heard every objection, you should be prepared for every objection. There is no excuse—in fact, it's negligent—not to be prepared to use martial arts on every single common objection you hear. Brief examples:
1. Objection: "You're not local like the other candidates."
Response: "Exactly, I bring in world-class practices, not just local comparisons."
2. Objection: "Isn't this something we can do internally?"
Response: "Sure, if you want to make it more expensive, more politically vulnerable, and take longer."
3. Objection: "I've never heard of you."
Response: "That's because all of our business is referral business from delighted clients, and we have no need to advertise."
No matter what the resistance, the response, "That's exactly why you need me," should gain two seconds of stunned silence, during which you wade into the vacuum with your solid reasons for using you.
If you don't do this, but instead try to defend yourself (e.g., "I'm not local, true, but I can guarantee that my expenses won't be very high and I'll be here as often as you need me"), you create quite a few problems for yourself.
First, defense is seldom as effective as offense when the client's needs and values are concerned. You don't exactly portray high worth when your responses are basically, "It's not as bad as you think"! Second, you're no longer on a peer-level with the buyer as soon as you've taken a defensive posture. And that's a killer if you hope to achieve high fees and buyer commitment.
Becoming Confidently Assertive
I've had buyers say this to me quite often: "You don't know anything about automotive manufacturing (or fill in the content of your choice)." My response is, "What's your point?" I then shut up.
Once the buyer mumbles something about familiarity with the operation, competition, and so forth, I say, "Look, you have automotive experts dangling from the light fixtures and hanging over desks. You don't need another auto expert. The ones you have can't solve your customer service problems. I can. Besides, I didn't know anything about banking and it didn't bother Bank of America, so why are you so disturbed by this?"
That may seem aggressive to you (I call it "New York Normal") but it's guaranteed to turn the conversation from focusing on a perceived weakness to evaluating the strength you've just proposed.
Most "experts" advise that you study objections and prepare for them, but they advise the wrong response. The key is not to defend yourself, but to ignore the actual resistance and turn the momentum in your favor by formulating the issue as an asset.
When people say to me, "What can you do for me?" I tell them immediately that I have no idea, but if they share their priorities and issues, perhaps I can suggest ways to work together. To respond to that question in any other way is to go on the defensive trying to "prove yourself."
Forget about "digging in." Start charging up the hill. That's where the best views are.
© Alan Weiss 2007 All rights reserved.
Alan Weiss, Ph.D., is a contributing editor to RainToday.com and has been cited by the New York Post as “one of the most highly respected independent consultants in the country.” His clients have included The Federal Reserve Bank, Hewlett-Packard, Mercedes, JP Morgan Chase and over 200 similar world-class organizations. He has written 26 books which appear in 8 languages. He conducts a global mentoring program. You can reach him via his web site: http://www.summitconsulting.com or his blog: http://www.contrarianconsulting.com.