What do you say?
AGREE WITH THEM! Don’t get defensive… agree with them. When you do this it always puts the client back on their heels. They did not expect this. Argument over… almost.
You are never going to win an argument with a client, so here’s how to avoid one and still win. Follow these 3 steps:
- When a client says something you don’t like… don’t argue, but instead agree with them. This shuts down their “fight-flight” mentality and gets them listening to you again… instead of prepping for an argument.
- Then get on their side. Tell them why what they are saying is right. This is difficult to do at first but when you master this skill… the world becomes your oyster.
- After you have convinced them that you TOTALLY get where they are coming from… then and only then have them take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
- Here’s what I mean by this. Every objection is valid in the client’s eyes… so first look through the client’s eyes (get into their shoes). And after they feel validated then you simply say, “Now let’s look at the big picture.” – and here’s the miracle… they will! They will because you didn’t try to prove them wrong. You instead proved them right… and then had them look at it from a different angle.
This skill is so important I have practiced it religiously for 30-minutes a week for 16 years. But the great thing about this skill is you can get better at it in just 5 minutes of trying… the reason I train weekly on this skill is the same reason NFL players train on tackling and blocking weekly… not necessarily to get better, but to make sure the skill doesn’t backslide.
