Listening Through Objections To Your MLM Offer

“This sounds like one of those pyramid schemes.”


How many times have you heard this objection? And how many times have you responded with “Well, it is a network marketing company, but it’s certainly not an illegal business,” or “Yes, but our company is different...”?


How many hours do you spend researching and memorizing stock, scripted answers to the most common objections? How does it look to your prospect when you turn and with anger or embarrassment react personally to the objection they just presented?


I’m sure you noticed the title of this article, “Listening Through Objections.” That’s different from overcoming objections—isn’t it?


Does your prospect really want you to answer her with your opinion—an opinion that makes her wrong? Clearly, your opinion may not be worth very much to your prospect. Countering an objection creates a standoff. You say "black" and she says "white." Who’s right? What’s more, who’s going to be wrong? Do you know something she doesn’t?


Has anyone ever made you do something or convinced you to do something you didn’t want to do? Do you appreciate it when someone makes you wrong? Of course not.


Instead, do this: Listen! Listen! Listen!

Listen THROUGH what they’re saying to hear how they are thinking and feeling. Their objection voices only part, if any, of their true feelings. The initial response is almost always a smoke screen or a justification for a deeper, more personal fear. Listen for the true concern behind the smoke.


Even the word "objection" brings up a negative connotation. Derived from the Latin "ob" (toward) and "jacere" (to throw), objection denotes the expression of opposition.


Looking at other definitions, you see that an objective is something different. It means something worked for—a goal. Why not look upon objections from this point of view? Use the positive connotation. Something that you can strive for. Look for your prospects to “throw opportunity toward” you, rather than throwing objections “at you.” Objections can provide you with an opportunity to create relationships with your prospects by hearing and understanding their feelings, giving them a chance to open up to you. What a shift to actually encourage your prospects to have objections! They become opportunities to clear up any falsehoods and develop a sense of belief and trust on the part of your prospects.


Another positive interpretation of objections is to listen to them as openings, opportunities to shift your prospect’s interpretation. Actually, this is one of your jobs as a network marketer. You get paid to listen through objections.

A perception you can take about objections is that they are the REAL opportunity. If no one had any objections, then everyone with whom you shared your business would enroll. You would quickly have everyone in the business and that opportunity would be over! Welcoming objections is part of your job. That’s why you get paid a percentage of the product sales and downline commissions. This point of view can make the whole concept of objections fun for you, and the more you practice, the easier and more fun it will get.


The Five-Step Process

The process of listening through objections is a powerful way to develop relationships with people. It can be used not only in your prospecting for your network-marketing business but also in any conversation where someone may not necessarily agree with your point of view. The process of listening truly honors the values of others, which allows you to better understand who they are. It allows them to vent their frustrations, share their feelings, and remain emotionally secure in their communications with you, and in a world where people are rarely, if ever, heard, your willingness to truly listen will attract others to you like a magnet.


Not every conversation you have will end up with your prospect taking action in your favor. Often, the process will take more than one conversation. Some prospects will have deep-seated, complex emotions about a particular subject or point of view—emotions that may take several conversations to communicate to you. You honor others by truly listening to those underlying concerns without demanding anything in return. Your objective is simply to have your communication with them be complete. Whether or not your prospect enrolls in your business or even changes his point of view, as long as you generated an open listening that empowers the other person, you have succeeded in your job.


I learned the following five-step process from the master of listening through objections, Richard Brooke.


Step One: Embrace the Objection

To “embrace” is defined as “to hold in one’s arms as a display of affection.” What a complete contrast to the usual agree/disagree scenario in a typical “overcoming-objections” conversation. To display affection for your prospect through listening and honoring their responses to you and not arguing or being defensive may seem unnatural at first, but try it and watch what happens.

“I have no time to do another business.” Welcome the objection. Don’t say, “Yes, you do,” or “You don’t need much time.” These counter the objection like a defensive chess move. Resisting and pushing only invite your prospect to push back. Get on their side. Agree with them and find out more. Embrace the objection and do it with sincerity. The objections people give you are concerns they hold as true. And these concerns are very real for them.


“I have no time to do your business.” Their plate is full. They’re overwhelmed, frustrated. They're working long hours and have no time for fun. You know what your business can provide for them--only they know they don’t have time to do it. So are you going to take their schedule and plan out their day, finding enough hours in it so they can do the business? Would you want someone dictating to you what your day should be like?


Remember, push and they will push back. What you resist, persists. Don’t argue. As I said before, their concerns are real to them. Don’t try to fix them, but don’t buy into their stories either. Their stories are not the truth. The degree that you “buy into” their stories and excuses is the degree to which you are not supporting them being successful and complete in their lives.

So, what is there to do in this embracing business?

Listen to them. Listen through their concern. Develop true empathy. Look them in the eye and simply listen. Shut your mouth (tape is optional) and get into their world. Feel how it is for them. Open your heart and embrace theirs.

How? Hang on, I’m coming to that.


What’s important for you to know is when you connect with someone in this way, you honor them. They are being truly heard. And when human beings are heard, they will shift and open up to the awesome power of possibilities. They will begin to show you their heart. It may not sound like that’s what they’re doing at first. It may sound like anger. Their voice may be loud. Their intonations may sound harsh. Just keep your heart open. The harshness will soften. They may sound scared. Their tone may project fear.
Keep your heart open. Continue to embrace their words as you proceed to the next step in the process...


Step Two: Define the Objection

As the person speaks about their concerns, make sure you understand clearly just what the objection is. Asking, “What do you mean by that?” or encouraging them to “say more about that” will draw out what they mean. Don’t guess or assume you know what they mean. Be aware of your own listening. If she’s talking about not having enough time to do the business, find out how much time she thinks it takes to succeed, or how much time she thinks you spend on the business.


You’ll be surprised what people come up with. You may know that to succeed in your business takes a part-time effort of maybe eight to 10 hours per week, but your prospect may think the income you are discussing takes a full-time, 40-hours-plus-a-week effort--and they certainly don’t have that much time.
Find out. Make sure you know what she’s thinking. Never assume you know what is in her mind. So many enrollments are lost to assumptions and unclear definitions of what others think and feel.


Your job is to contribute the possibility of your opportunity to your prospects. You are listening to see if your business is a fit for them. You are proposing a burden—not a benefit—if your prospect can’t fit your business into his schedule. Does he see ways your business can fit into his existing activities? Does he see your business as just another JOB—big effort, little return? Make sure you clearly define the objection fully before you move on to the next step in the process...


Step Three: Embellish the Objection

Embellish means to adorn or make more beautiful (to add fanciful or fictitious details). Am I really asking you to add details to their objection and make it beautiful? Yes, I am.


Something to keep in mind as we go through this process is that network marketing is the antithesis of sales. In traditional sales training, you’re taught to throw the objection back to your prospect. This leaves all their feelings and concerns associated with the objection in the first place still in place. This traditional approach only makes people wrong. In essence, it calls your prospect a liar.


What thoughts do you have about someone when they say things to make you sound like a liar? You go away and check out, not physically, but mentally. Your mind goes somewhere nice and pleasant like the Bahamas. It won’t stay in a situation where it is being made wrong or being dominated. When you are made wrong, there is no bond between you and the other person--except, perhaps, antagonism. There's no connectedness, no friendship.


As you’re going through this process, remember that objections, manifested as concerns, have emotions attached to them. These emotions are deeply embedded in a whole body of conversations and experiences from the past that are just waiting to rear their ugly heads. Keep opposing these emotions and they’ll get stronger and probably uglier. They will fight back!


Instead, try something different. Embellish the objection. Make it beautiful. Add to it. Let it be heard, understood, and respected. Keep saying to your prospect, “Say more about that...What other concerns do you associate with that?” Get all the emotion out. As the definition of embellish says, add fanciful or fictitious details. Make up stories of what it must be like to have the objection.


For example, take the classic “No time” objection. Here’s how it goes:

“It sounds like you really don’t have any time even to do little things. You probably don’t get to read the newspaper or watch the weather forecast on TV, do you? Do you have any time for yourself?”


Can you see how this approach validates their objection—and with it, your prospect? It connects him with his emotion. It doesn’t fight or oppose it. With this approach, you honor the person’s values. They’re being heard. How many people do you think have listened to their concerns about not having the time to do what they want recently? Their thoughts will still be there, but you’ve created enough space for the emotion to dissipate. And as it does, the feelings shift from negative to positive, and you go on to the next step...


Step Four: Purging the Objection

The word "purge" has many definitions: to free from impurities by cleansing; to rid of guilt (or fear); to cause evacuation; to rid of the undesirable.

As you’ve embellished the objection and made room for their emotions to come up, there is a moment when all the “bad” stuff is out. Your prospect is purged of the negative emotions associated with the objection. You will actually see a physical change in the person if you are face to face, or you’ll hear a change in their voice if you’re with them on the telephone. Their being, who they are at the moment, literally shifts when the purging is complete. A lighter facial expression will be evident. Their body language will loosen up. They could sigh or even laugh out loud. They'll relax. You are now nearly home free as you move into the next step in the process...


Step Five: Transition

The transition step is the place where the process changes from one state to another. It is a passage causing a connection to be made between two different themes. In the transition, you’ve arrived at the moment in the conversation that you’ve waited for. The objection has been purged. All the negative feelings and emotions have gone—at least temporarily—and you now have the opportunity to really connect with your prospect.


The connection takes place in the form of offering the awesome power of possibilities. The most powerful words you could use at this transition—words that actually put your prospect in a state of open, positive emotion—are, “Would you be willing...?” Then share how what you are offering is an opportunity that might fit them.


When you ask, “If I could show you a way around that problem, would you be willing to take a look?” The majority of times the answer will be, “Yes.”
Now you and your prospect are looking at the possibility together. You’re on the same side. Connecting two themes. Offering possibilities and seeing if there’s a fit. Remember, what you offer may not be appropriate for her. There may not be a fit. She may not be willing to take that look with you at this point in her life. However, you have listened, honored and respected her, and left her with a positive impression. You have created an atmosphere of care and concern. Here is the shift in the paradigm where we all get to play a role in creating the new paradigm of network marketing. Listen, honor, respect.


People will begin to respond when you say proudly that this is a network-marketing opportunity. You will then see how much of an impact you can truly have on the future of the world!