Translating into Needs

When you re frame a client's objection you are changing the tone of what they said

Objections from customers are barriers to progress, whereas needs are aspirational, so it follows that turning objections into needs makes them easier to discuss and resolve. These examples illustrate how objections, in fact, mask needs:

• A client complains about the high complexity of your proposal: what he may need is a clearer explanation pitched at his own level.
• A client recounts a bad experience of a purchase similar to the one you are proposing: what she may need is reassurance that it won't happen again.
• A client laments the difficulty of changing heir in-house systems: he may need to understand that you can help to facilitate the process.

You can re frame almost any objection into an invitational question that asks how something can be done as opposed to why it can't. An objection like "my manager will never go for this" becomes "It appears to me that there's a need to establish a rock-solid business case for this purchase."

When you re frame a client's objection you are changing the tone of what they said, and you should avoid putting words into their mouth--note the use of "it appears to me" in the example above.

ACTION POINT: Don't worry if the way you re frame the objection is off target. Ask the customer to correct you and keep trying until you get it right.