Handling Objections & Questions from Prospects who have Limiting Beliefs

 Some prospects ask questions or raise objections to sound intelligent or feel better about themselves. And this usually indicates that they have limiting beliefs that we need to help them overcome.

When we respond in a weak or defensive manner, this is like pouring water on the already existing seed of doubt. It is crucial, for their sakes, that we do not do this.

In addition, if we are aggressive when handling objections and questions, prospects are chased away.

Eric Worre’s “Go Pro” places the negative beliefs of prospects into limiting beliefs of abilities and limiting beliefs in Network Marketing. They aren’t sure they can be successful. They aren’t sure Network Marketing will help them achieve their goals in life. Handling objections and questions from limited beliefs brings assurance to dark places overcoming negative beliefs.

The Two Approaches to Handling Objections and Questions

There are two approaches to handling objections and questions from negative beliefs. The superior approach and the empathetic approach.

The superior approach makes you look smarter and the prospect appears stupid.

Feeling good about how smart you are by putting a prospect down and turning the tables on him doesn’t help you or the prospect.

“You don’t have the money? Do you have a cable bill? Do you have a phone bill? Do you ever go out to dinner? You have lots of money. C’mon, wake up.”

Or,

“You don’t have the time? How do you want to have that reality in your life? You have to change if you want your life to change.”

The empathetic approach is the old tactic “Feel/Felt/Found.” Prospects respond with objections and you respond with, “I know how you feel. I felt the same way. And here is what I found.” Handling objections and questions by the empathetic method attracts rather than repels.

When the prospect tells you that they don’t have any money, relate to him by telling a story:

“I had the exact challenge. I didn’t have enough money to pay my bills, let alone start a new business. I thought about it and realized if I didn’t have enough money to pay my bills now, how was I going to change that in the future? I was tired of being behind. I was tired of always scrambling. I wanted more out of life. So you know what I did? I found a way and it was the best decision I ever made. Let me ask you something …if you really felt this was a chance for you to take control of your financial future, do you think you could find a way to make it happen?”

When the prospect tells you they don’t have time to do Network Marketing, respond with another story:

“I once felt like you. I had no time for doing anything other than work and paying bills. I didn’t have time for my family and friends. I was so busy that working 70 – 80 hours a week that I could not attend my son’s baseball games or help my wife raise my kids. Vacations were out of the question …time spent for vacations was a luxury that I couldn’t afford. I was physically tired with my energy drained and I had nothing left to give my family at the end of the day. I decided things had to change. I found a way to reduce my hours at work from 80 hours to 20 working from home with 4 X more pay. If you could take back control of your time, do you think you could find a way to make it happen?”

What happens when you don’t have a story of your own to tell? Tell someone else’s story. Write down stories you hear from other people within your company and put them in a notebook. Plenty of stories populate your company and you only must listen.

“You’re not interested in MLM and owning your own business and working from home? I know what you mean. In 2008 the person who introduced me to this business began looking for a way out of an unbearable job with a horrible boss. He began looking at the two ways of making money like the big boys do. What he found was to retire was to have an inheritance or earn it over a long period – and they weren’t satisfactory for him. One, his parents weren’t rich and he wasn’t going to inherit anything. Two, he would have to work 45 years and only earn half of what he made full time at his old job as a nurse. So, he began looking for something else to help him retire in ½ the time of the 45 years it took his mom and dad to retire and with more money. He discovered a way of retiring in 5 years with a repeat business in MLM at 4 X more pay a month than his old job and with vacations 6 X a year paid in full for his friends and family. He learned the inside secret of owning his own business doing it part-time without interfering with his current job and without the 9-5 work hours and have a lot of fun doing it. Do you think you could find a way of owning your own business in MLM working from home like my friend?”

98% of the time after telling them a story and asking them, “Do you think you can find a way…,” they respond with a “YES.” 

The List of Limiting Beliefs about Network Marketing

Handling objections and questions from the list of limiting beliefs makes some people go a bit crazy. Overcoming self-limiting beliefs from the list by the story “Feel/Felt/Found” is the best way of neutralizing them.

The list of limiting beliefs about network marketing:

• “Is this MLM?”
• “Is this one of those things?”
• “Is this a pyramid scheme?”
• “I don’t want to bother my family and friends.”
• “How much are you making?”

“Is this MLM?” – “Is this One of those Things?” – “Is this a Pyramid Scheme?”

The number one question striking fear in the hearts of most network marketers is, “Is this MLM,” or some variation like, “Is this one of those things?” or, “Is this a pyramid scheme?” or, “I’m not interested in MLM.”

Hearing this question is like hearing finger nails screeching across of a black board. It causes you to cringe sending chills down your spine.

A prospect asking the question. “Is this MLM,” has a story. Let him tell it and he will break down his own defenses. Here is a story from a person I spoke to recently.

“Is this MLM?”

“Yes, this is Network Marketing. But I see you have a story. What happened? Were you involved in Network Marketing at some point?” – Let them tell their story. It opens them up and lowers their defenses. It allows you to ask some questions about the experience.

“Yea, I was in a company a few years ago, I doubt any kind of network marketing company will ever interest me again. I spent over a year in XYZ company trying to make it work. I put a lot of money into it and got about $100.00 in return. Buying the products monthly to maintain my good standing, paying the ridiculous sum of $150.00 per lead, my continuing membership and money spent on literature as well as fees to American Express for handling transactions, I eventually had to file bankruptcy. My upper level people bailed out on me.”

I asked him, “Do you think Network Marketing was the problem or the particular company doing questionable practices?” He admitted Network Marketing was not the problem. In this case, XYZ company was front-loading prospects with inferior products that he couldn’t move.

Handling objections and questions related to being a pyramid scheme, I always say, “Oh no. Pyramid schemes are illegal. I would never be involved with something illegal.”

“I Don’t Want to Bother My Family and Friends.” – “How Much Are You Making?”

“I don’t want to bother my family and friends” – relate to them with some creative thinking in a story grounded in truth.

“I used to think like that. I never liked bothering family and friends about the things I liked. I didn’t want them thinking I was selling them anything. And I got to thinking about how I always recommended songs and movies that I saw and liked and how family and friends bought or rented them on my word. I discovered I believed in the products and my belief in them caused my family and friends to believe in them and buy. I could show you how to share the products with others without feeling or sounding like a sales pitch. Would that help you?”

Finally, “How much money are YOU making?” – If you are making money, handling objections and questions related to this one is easy. If you are not making any money, here is an honest answer:

“Honestly, I’ve made none. I’m just getting started in the business. As you know, anyone starting out in any business has very few success stories to tell. People who I’m working with and getting trained by have made millions of dollars in network marketing. They’re showing me step-by-step exactly what to do …so I’m fired up about it. I’m learning from people who’ve proven it over the last X number of years. And the best part about it is they are training me for free on how to do it. They’re helping me follow the exact steps 1, 2, 3 that they took to make money. Their help will get me where they are now in 75% less time that it will take you to retire.”

Take time to practice learning the concepts of handling objections and questions about network marketing.

Handling objections and questions is nothing new to network marketing. 98% of the objections have been answered in this article. Learn and practice with responses in a story to objections and questions. Make the stories second nature.