How to Turn Your Prospects' Objections into the Most Useful Marketing Hack For Your Private Practice
If you are anything like most people who are trying to sell their services, you find answering the objections to working with you extremely frustrating.
Does this sound familiar?
You spend a lot of time, and sometimes money, trying to attract a potential client. And that prospect finally calls you, just to tell you why they can't work with you.
Now, you might take the high road and say "Then it's not the right client for me", but I really don't like giving up at this stage.
And I don't really recommend it for you either. Why? Because you haven't done the work of properly addressing your potential client's objections at this point.
If you have been working on your marketing strategy and created a message for your ideal client, "then it's not the right client for me" narrative is probably not entirely true. If you haven't defined your ideal client, I encourage you to download the Ideal Client's Profile Worksheet now.
Remember, the person that is contacting you needs help resolving an issue, and your job is not only to understand that issue but also know what might be the roadblock in working together.
So how do you prepare for these possible objections?
If you haven't defined your Ideal Client, do that first. Understand the mindset, the lifestyle and the motivations of that person.
List all the possible pain points that this person might experience and answer those with the benefits of working together.
List all the possible objections that that person might have. There is a whole array of possible roadblocks. Usually, these are pretty straight forward: money (no insurance coverage), time and availability, commitment, travel constraints. But sometimes you need to dig a little deeper. The point of this exercise is uncovering as many objections that a potential client might have.
After you list all the objections, address each and everyone of them in a way that highlights the value this person will gain from working with you. Example: Time and availability >> Ask what time would be convenient for them and if they would be willing to meet online. Try to highlight that time spent working with you might decrease the time spent on trying to resolve the issue in other ways. The important thing here is not to be pushy but to really understand what could prevent a person from taking the time to solve their problems.
But before you actually talk to the client, create a script that will address these possible concerns prior to your potential client actually voicing them. Maybe you can tell a story about another client of yours that had a similar objection and the way you were able to work together after all. It doesn't need to be a long, the point here is showing empathy and understanding, and reducing your own frustration from having to be on the defensive.
In Conclusion
Some people might really be "not the right client for you", but you need to understand why. Sometimes we can rely on our intuition and it becomes very clear very quickly that it's not a good fit, but other times we might give up too quickly. Going through this objection exercise will not only equip you better to handle your conversation with a potential client, but will also reduce the frustration during your communication. It will also make your marketing message much stronger and will allow you to convert a potential client to a long term one.
