‘But I don’t have time to invest in x.’ 

‘But you’re more expensive than that other company.’ 

‘I’ve invested in something similar before and it didn’t work. Why should I trust you?’ 

These are the kind of thoughts running through your customers’ brains. 

So what’s the best way to deal with them? 

BY SHOUTING EVEN LOUDER ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCTS/SERVICES! 

Because that’s pretty much what we do, right? We avoid bringing up the ‘negative stuff’. We prefer to talk about all the good stuff around who we are and what we do. 

But if you avoid your customer’s objections then you run the risk of losing sales.

Is your content a crappy salesperson or a good salesperson? 

A crappy salesperson will apply pressure to get a sale at all costs. They will lie. They will flatter. They will use trickery and psychological hacks. And they certainly won’t talk about anything negative. 

A good salesperson will encourage a prospect to voice their objection. And a good salesperson will be able to talk through this objection – presenting a different view or solution. 

A good salesperson may even agree with the prospect’s objection, and advise them not to buy the product/service (a frightening thought, right?) 

Your content should act as the ‘good salesperson’. It should explore your prospect’s objections and give honest answers to their concerns. 

Why You Need to Get a No, to Get a Yes…

In the book, Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, Chris describes the importance of getting the ‘no’ from a prospect. 

Prospects will often tell you what you want to hear, especially in face-to-face situations. People don’t want to offend you so they’ll say ‘oh that sounds good’ or ‘yes, I think we’ll go ahead!’ and then months go by and you’ve heard absolute zip from them. Despite you chasing multiple times. What fun. 

But once you get the ‘no’ you’re actually one step closer to getting a yes. When you get a no, you get to understand your prospects’ objections, for example, ‘it’s too expensive”, ‘I don’t have the time’ or ‘that guy over there is cheaper’. That’s then your opportunity to be the ‘good salesperson’ and counter those objections. 

Getting an objection (or a no) from a prospect can also give you a clue as to what others are probably thinking about your product or service. And this can be hugely powerful. Because this gives you the opportunity to tackle that objection before it comes up in conversation. 

Why You Need to Tackle the objection before your prospect mentions it 

There’s a phrase I see bandied around a lot. It’s… 

‘I see you.’ 

It’s important in relationships. If I’ve spent the day running around after our toddler, cleaning the house and working it’s nice when Martin says, ‘You’ve done so much today, thank you!’ 

It’s nice to feel appreciated. It’s nice to be ‘seen’.

It’s similar to what happens with objection handling. 

If you get in there first by voicing your prospects’ objections it will make them feel seen. It will make them realise that you understand them and that you respect them enough to bring up this objection yourself. It also validates their feelings and takes the awkwardness out of the situation (for example, I get that I’m more expensive). This automatically builds a huge amount of trust and loyalty with your prospect. 

So do not wait for your prospect to bring up their objection, tackle it head-on beforehand. 

Not sure what your prospect’s objections are? Ask yourself this question…

I get it. 

Getting to the heart of your customers’ objections is tricky. People are nice and often won’t tell us the ‘real’ reason they don’t invest. 

So if you’re struggling, ask yourself this one key question…

Why would someone not buy from you? 

It’s one of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself in your business. 

You’ll need to examine it fully. Think about things like…

• How your product or service compares to your competitors
• How expensive/cheap your product is 
• How much time investment is required by your prospect
• Is there something about you that perhaps could put people off 

List all these things and you’ll have a good idea of your prospects’ objections. 

How do you tackle objections before your prospect mentions them? Through Objection-Led Content! 

Now for the fun part. Because once you have an idea why people won’t buy from you, you can then tackle this head-on. 

And the best way to do this is by using content. 

Why should you tackle objections through content?

Typically, when we talk about objection-handling we think about it in terms of a sales call. Of speaking to our prospects directly.

And you might think to yourself, well, why shouldn’t I wait until I’m speaking to my client directly to talk through the objections? 

You could, but the point is they may not get to the sales call in the first place. 

People expect answers to their questions without having to speak to someone face-to-face. 

We value self-service (just look at the number of self-service tills in use at the supermarket). It’s easier and it gives the consumer more control. And we’re becoming more accustomed to it. 

Essentially, people don’t want to talk to you to find out the answer to their question. And if your website and content fail to answer that question they’re not going to pick up the phone and call you. They’ll move on to someone else. 

How to create objection-led content that actually sells

So how do you create objection-led content that actually sells what you do? Below are three great examples of objection-led content that will transform doubt-ridden prospects into paying customers. 

1. The Common Misconceptions/Concerns Content

I love this kind of content. This content essentially lists your prospects’ objections loud and clear, and then goes into detail about why your prospect might be incorrect in their objection. 

A fantastic example of this is from one of our 90-day challenge members, Fit Roots Martial Arts School, based in Slough. Jasmin published an article called, Kids Kickboxing: 6 Common Misconceptions Parents Have. 

It’s a fantastic article that tackles the potential customer’s objections head-on. 

Jasmin lists each point, such as ‘Misconception 1: Kickboxing is dangerous’ – she then goes into more detail about why this thinking is incorrect and backs up her point using a quote from a British taekwondo fighter. 

But my personal favourite is: ‘Misconception 5: Kickboxing is too aggressive’

This is where Jasmin states, ‘So, you’re trying to get your child to STOP fighting with their siblings, not learn how to get better at it.’ This made me laugh. Because it’s clear Jasmin knows her audience well and she’s voiced the exact concern some parents might have with their child learning kickboxing.   

And I love how she counteracts this objection with, ‘Kickboxing, just like many other Martial Arts can teach your child to channel their energy in a positive way. All you need to do is find the right school or instructor.’ 

This introduces the idea that Fitroots Martial Arts School is, of course, the perfect school to teach children how to channel this energy positively. 

This is exactly why this content works so well, you take the objection, empathise with it, state why it’s wrong and how your product or service can solve their problem. 

2. The ‘Why’ Content 

Prospects are like toddlers, they ask ‘why’ a lot. 

Why are you more expensive than that other company? 

Why do you take so long? 

Why do you expect so much of me? 

Why are you charging me more than that person? 

Why is your product made from x material and not y material? 

Unfortunately, they tend to ask these questions to themselves (unlike toddlers who ask them out loud every four seconds). But this does mean prospects fill in their own answers. So when a prospect says to themselves, ‘hmmm why are you more expensive than other companies?’ they’ll fill in their own answer. Which is generally not so positive, like  ‘they’re probably ripping me off.’ 

This is where ‘why content’ comes in. 

Why content explains why you do something. 

We did this with our blog post – Why we charge large businesses & public sector organisations more for website redesign.

On our web design pricing page, we stated that our website packages started from £5000+. But when we spoke to larger companies or public sector organisations we’d usually charge £15,000+. 

On a sales call, a prospect hinted around this, and we explained why we charged large companies much more. 

But we realised, this could be a potential objection for larger companies, who might think, ‘are they charging me more just because we’re a bigger company and can afford it?’ 

So we wrote a blog post tackling that issue head-on, and we sent this blog post to larger companies when they got in touch about hiring us. We had a few compliments thanking us for our transparency! 

For you, this could be completely different. But try to think about those ‘why’ questions your prospects or customers ask you. 

Another great example of this is from Tutti Frutti clothing, with their blog post ‘Why Tutti Frutti Clothing is not a certified organic brand‘

This is an excellent blog post that tackles a potential customer objection head-on. Rather than hide it, Ali goes into detail about why she’s not a certified organic brand, but how ‘the majority of my clothing is made using GOTS certified fabric…’ 

So the potential customer understands why Ali isn’t yet certified, but they also feel confident that Ali really does care for the environment and uses organic materials. 

3. The Proven Case Study Content  

Another great way to overcome your audience’s objections is by using ‘case study’ content. This is great content that acts as proof that your prospects’ objections might be incorrect. 

For example, Jo Francis created an excellent blog post all about how to grow an email list using Facebook ads for just £110.00. 

For anyone who thought Facebook advertising didn’t work or was too expensive for their business has suddenly been proven wrong. 

A lot of business owners only add case studies to their website, but once you turn them into content they become share-worthy. You’ll notice that Jo doesn’t call it a case study. And it isn’t formatted as a case study. Instead, it’s an incredibly helpful blog post that has elements of a case study in there. 

It sells Jo but is incredibly helpful at the same time. 

This kind of content can work brilliantly if you also bring in objections to the content. For example, you could say ‘Before working with us, client x believed y.’ This will allow your prospective client to identify with the person featured within your content – building even more trust and smashing those objections! 

What Are Your Next Steps For Creating Objection-Led Content?

So there you have it. How to increase sales using objection-led content. Now it’s time to get cracking with your first piece of objection-led content! Remember, your first step is to ask yourself…

Why wouldn’t someone work with you? 

If you loved this and want more sales-generating content ideas and guidance, check out our course, Content Fortress. This in-depth course will help you use content to attract your dream clients that love who you are and are eager to work with you.

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

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