How to handle to the Money Objection

In early 2023 it’s pretty tricky to be totally unaware of the current global recession.

The uncomfortable truth is that some people in this world are facing real financial difficulties.  And if those people are your target market, the reality is that you may need to re-think your business model to ensure that you can still survive short term.

BUT, for many higher-level service-based businesses, this isn't the case.

Yes, your client base or target market may be feeling the recession in some way, but they still have the ability to make choices about where and how they spend their money.  

So if you feel like you’re hearing the “money objection” more often than not in your sales conversations, whether it’s 2023 or any other time, and regardless of the state of the world and economy, this is for you.

What do YOU believe?

Money is just one of a bunch of concerns, hesitations, or "objections" we may encounter when offering our services.  Other concerns could include time, energy/effort, certainty (what if it doesn’t work?), etc.

And whenever we encounter a concern, it can be really helpful to consider to what extent WE ourselves believe that concern.

For example, if you’re feeling the financial pinch, watching your finances more than usual and are not investing in the support you desire (in whatever domain - health, life, business, etc.) then YOUR thoughts and feelings about money are going to be reflected back to you during your sales conversations.  

Excuse me?

Yes.  It’s likely you’ll hear potential clients tell you how they’re feeling pinched financially, aren’t sure it’s the right time to be investing in your support, and/or if they had the money already they would (buy your thing).

Not just because you’re having those same thoughts, but more importantly, because there is a part of you that BELIEVES it’s all true.

When we believe that a potential client doesn’t have the resourcefulness to find a way to invest in the support they deeply desire and know will be transformative for them, we can’t help them discover or trust their own resourcefulness.  It’s there of course - but by believing their thoughts about money, we believe they can’t be resourceful or it’s not in their best interest.

The thing is, regardless of if it’s money or time, that decision is not actually ours to make and the moment we can recognise that, the more we can help a potential client step into an empowered decision-making position.

When you believe that a potential client doesn’t have the resources to invest in your services, you may convince yourself it’s best if they don’t invest or that they wait until they do have the resources.  

If you are debt averse yourself or have negative thoughts about having debt, you will likely believe that someone shouldn’t go into debt to work with you.  

If you believe that people need x multiple of savings as a “rainy day fund” that should never be touched and need x multiple of their earnings to live, then you’ll likely support your client when they say they don’t have the disposable funds to invest - even though they may have more than x multiple of savings in the bank.

That’s NOT to say YOU decide how other people should or should not spend their money.

Not at all.

The point is that it’s really important to notice your own money beliefs FIRST so that you have that awareness and can notice when you might be “agreeing” (in your mind) with a potential client’s concerns because you share those same concerns personally.

Creating Awareness

So if you’re noticing you’re hearing the money objection a lot in your sales conversations, take a moment to check in with yourself and your own stories and beliefs around money and investing in support.  

You may consider using some of the following prompts:

• What do you believe is a valuable investment?  
• When is it worth making an investment?
• Is there an acceptable limit (monetary amount) for an investment - say, in services similar to what you offer?
• What do you think is a “waste of money”?
• What are your views on having debt?  How much debt is acceptable?
• What are your views on savings?  How much should one have?  When it is okay to spend savings?
• What are your views on “family” funds?  Who has to agree on when to use them or what is an appropriate use of them?
• How do you decide what is a good use of money?  What criteria do you use?
• Who do you need to ask “permission” from before you spend money?

Creating awareness for yourself will help you see where you may be easily agreeing with your potential client and believing their objection to be true, rather than helping them explore what they want for themselves and how to achieve it (even if it’s without your support).

Helping Your Potential Client

Whether we’re hearing a “money” objection or any other concerns about working with us, the most important thing we can do during a “sales” conversation is to help our potential clients make the best decision for themselves.  

The best decision may be to invest in your services or not. 

It doesn’t actually matter what that end decision is because there are plenty of potential clients out there for you and so any one individual is not going to make or break your business.

When you truly believe that, it opens you up to help each individual make the best decision for themselves, regardless of what that is and the impact on you.

So how do you do that?

Firstly, check in with yourself before you even enter a potential sales conversation.  You want to let go of any insufficiency or “neediness” you might be feeling.  You want to let go of any thoughts about the outcome of the conversation.  

Then, you want to immerse yourself in a person’s potential - seeing in your mind the results and/or transformation they would have after working with you.

And when you’re in the conversation, just be aware of the thoughts your own mind is offering up.  Are you agreeing with what they are saying? Are you disagreeing? How are your own thoughts impacting the direction of the conversation?

Finally, consider how the objection your potential client has offered may be a principal factor in what is stopping them from being where they want to be or having the result they want. How or where else is this objection showing up in their life?  What is this objection a reflection of?  

For example, money can often represent fears - fears of insufficiency, insecurity, danger.  It can also bring up feelings of selfishness, guilt and indulgence.  It is an area that is often accompanied by lots of judgment - whether towards ourselves or others.

Are any of these things a factor elsewhere in your potential client’s life that is influencing where they are right now and preventing them from the result they want?

It’s not our place to add any extra judgment or make a potential client feel bad - not at all. 

But we can, out of utmost love and service, and when we stay neutral in the conversation, make gentle observations that help our client more clearly see their own reality.

And when we do that, we help them make a decision from an informed place - having all the information they need to make the best decision for themselves, regardless of what that is.

Just making that informed decision is incredibly valuable for a potential client. 

To be able to have considered what they want for themselves, what is important to them and what is the best decision for them right now and trust in their own decision so they can move forward in their life is hugely empowering.  

Whether they ultimately become a client or not that is a gift you can give them during your sales conversation that will feel great for both of you.