Reframes
The ability to change a person’s mind is a very unique and powerful skill. It is its own discipline that
transcends science and becomes “art.” In this brief “white paper” we will address a powerful set of
tactical communication skills necessary to the process of selling.
After 2 decades of coaching some of the most successful financial advisers in the industry and
studying the largest producer in the entire industry, I have found that one of the biggest factors for
their repeated success is the ability to communicate. In fact, it is often surprising to people that the
top 1% of advisers don’t have advanced designations, what they have an advanced selling ability.
One of the most advanced skills exhibited by these individuals is the ability to handle resistance and
objections as if they were a minor challenge or in most cases a fun “game.” This ability to handle
objections comes from their advanced selling ability, but it also comes from practice.
Being trained in the art of overcoming objections, practicing the skills to a point of “flawless” delivery,
and opening yourself up to coaching can help you to exhibit the same level of communication skills
exhibited by that top 1% and would be likely described as “mastery.”
It is common knowledge that people enjoy doing what they are good at and inevitably don’t enjoy
that which they are not good at. In truth, most people do not enjoy handling objections and
resistance. Why? Most people don’t enjoy handling strong issues that people have with their
recommendations because they are ill prepared to address them.
It may seem a bit strange to say that people don’t enjoy handling objections because they are ill
prepared, especially when they encounter the same (relatively limited) objections day after day. This
is what we are trying to address in this paper. In most cases, when faced with resistance, either
on the part of the client or prospect, an advisors gut reaction is to push back (or resist) as well, a
process we call “invalidation.”
Probably one of the most relatable examples of this is the experience had as a customer walking
into a retail store. Most salespeople in a retail environment will walk up to you and use a well-worn
opening “may I help you?” And as consumers we have learned that there is a predictable answer to
this question that will typically send the salesperson away, “no I am just looking.” Although it is often
an automatic response, a good salesperson will try to overcome it and a little later in this paper we
will discuss how to do so.
That said, it is hard for us to imagine that an intelligent person could encounter the same objection
or resistance day in and day out and continue to handle it in a way that is bound to create an
unsuccessful outcome, but that is often indeed the case in retail and it is indeed the case for us.
Why you may ask? Well, the answer requires a deeper understanding of human behavior. When a
person encounters a challenging situation, inevitably the person is looking for a way to survive and
succeed in that situation.
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Let’s take the example of an adviser calling a referral or prospect who says “I’m already working
with someone else and am very happy.” The reality is that the easiest person/prospect to reach
and turnaround is someone who is resistant or has an objection because they will probably not only
understand ultimately what you are selling them, but will make the best clients.
When working with clients it is even more important to “turn them around” or get them to understand
a particular recommendation because we, as advisors, are often blamed if something goes wrong,
but also if something goes right and we were not able to convince them to take our advice.
“Why do intelligent people keep using the same approach, which rarely ever works, hoping for a
different outcome?” This sounds a little like the definition of insanity, or maybe “temporary insanity,
where an individual uses his/r normal coping mechanisms for handling objections to deal with
something they may not fully understand.
For example, when one encounters a difficult communication or problem, they may form an
immediate objection or resistance which can be often shown as “defensiveness” or a “comeback.”
This is a “habit pattern,” and is how we “mechanically” operate when faced with a challenging
situation or problem.
This paper is meant to help the reader establish a “training pattern,” or a learned sequence of steps
designed to optimally impact a situation. In the case of handling objections and resistance the
training pattern that applies is as follows:
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Step 1: The Objection - the individual objects or resists “I think alternative investments are too
risky”
Step 2: The Advisor Replay - the Adviser Replays the objection or resistance “so you think that
alternative investments are too risky and are not of interest to you.”
Step 3: The Verification - they, the client or prospect verify the accuracy of the Replay or will
correct it with “Yes that’s what I said” or they may say “No that is not what I meant, what I meant
is…”
Step 4: The Acknowledgement - the Adviser “acknowledges” the person for their objection or
resistance, “I am glad that you feel you can be open and honest with me, it’s the only way to get
the best outcome for you.”
Step 5: The Isolation - the Adviser “makes sure that this is the only issue by segregating this
issue from any others, “if that was not an issue are there any other issues that you have in
addition to that one when it comes to considering alternative investments?”
Step 6: the client or prospect verifies that this is the only concern, “no if it wasn’t for the fact that
they are risky I would always keep an open mind to a new idea.”
Step 7: the Adviser would Replay the client or prospects response, “so you would consider
alternative investments if they weren’t so risky?”
Step 8 - The Probe/Reframe - the Adviser then uses a special class of probes designed to “re
frame” the way the prospect or client is relating to their own concern or issue.
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(This example assumes that the client or prospect lacks accurate information about the nature of
alternative investments and is not an attempt to sell someone something that is not in alignment with
their risk preferences or investment goals)
There are two kinds of special probes we call “reframes” the conscious and the subconscious. A
conscious objection is one where there seems to be a rational or logical issue with what is being
proposed, where the individual may not yet see the “whole picture.” The subconscious objection
presents more in the form of an emotional or illogical reaction to a given scenario.
Any objection can be addressed using the “lead in phrases” below. Use the examples to come up
with wording for how to complete a sentence when handling a particular issue.
Conscious and Logical Reframes
1. Unraveling Their Logic through Specificity: “can you be more specific/can you give me an
example?”
2. Change of Referential Index: “If you were me how would you…?”
3. Comparative Past Violation: “Has there even been a time in the past where you…and it
wasn’t…?”
4. Black and White Contrasting: “What do you like the most about the other advisers you are
working with? No one is perfect, what do you wish they could improve?”
5. Appealing to a Higher Value: “What’s important to you about that? If there was another or even
better way to achieve that would you be open to that?”
6. Uncovering: “What am I missing, I’m confused help me out…”
7. Time: “In X period of time how important will this seem then”, “if we look out X number of years
will you wish you had thought differently about this now?”
Unconscious and Emotional Reframes
1. Extremes: echo back the extreme phrase they have used so it sounds like a question,
“Always?”, “Never?”, “Everyone”?, “No one?”
2. Emotional Response: “That really hurts…”, “It makes me sad to hear you say that…”, “I
am deeply disappointed in myself that you could feel that way…” or if the emotion is in the
background but unstated/suppressed “I sense concern…”, “I sense something is wrong”, “I
sense some dissatisfaction”
3. Humor: i.e. “don’t say no, just say maybe, that way you won’t feel awkward when you say yes”,
“Can you take a joke? I’m only pushing you like this because I want us to get married, not go on
a date! I’m interested in a long term relationship…”
4. Stories: “This reminds me of a time…”, “That reminds me of a story…”
5. The Take Away: “I am not accepting No as an answer, given that what are we going to do about
this
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The key is to not feel as if any one Reframe has to be the “end all to be all” in fact what we are
dealing with is a very simple and powerful phenomenon seemingly only understood by children and
some of the most talented salespeople in the industry, “most people only have the ability to say no
twice before they are forced to really think about what they are saying.”
Saying no or “I’ll think about it” is so automatic with people that often they are not truly thinking
about what they are saying. In fact, going back to the previous paragraphs rule about a person
automatically saying no twice, if you don’t at least give them at least 3 chances to consider why
they would want to take your recommendation you may not really be communicating. The goal
of this process is not for you to “change their mind” but to give them the necessary opportunity to
“change their own mind” by giving them the chance to really think through what you are suggesting.
Unfortunately, great advice is often not taken because the salesperson was not persistent enough
in their communications. But if we examine it further we will see that many salespeople simply don’t
know how to communicate with someone, without being rude or disrespectful, which is why they
don’t persist. They literally don’t know what to say!
As an exercise take the top 3 objection you get and work with the list above until you have found
the right wording for you that would allow you to have 12 ways to address those objections. You will
know that you have gained good facility with the skills when a person can say no to you 5-7 times
and you can each time give them a reason to reconsider that is truly worthy of consideration.
The top advisers that we train in this process pride themselves on maintaining a closing ratio of 80100% while dealing with their most difficult clients and pursuing their most challenging prospects.
Of course, the handling of objections is just a small part of the overall training we conduct that
covers the entire sales process from beginning to end. That process is called “The Track” because
like the Reframes it gives a salesperson a clear path to achieving their goals so that they are always
prepared to handle any aspect of the sales process.
If you did have these skills what difference would it make in your results and your enjoyment in
handling people’s objections and resistance? Was there ever a time that you wished you had of
known what to say and didn’t so you missed a major opportunity? I’m only asking these questions
and pushing you because I know you want to be better? If you were us how would you go about
building a better relationship with you? That reminds me of a story…
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Go to www.direxionfunds.com to go beyond the status quo
This paper is brought to you by Direxion.
Who is Direxion Funds?
Direxion offers investment professionals and investors the means to seek improved risk-adjusted
returns in all market conditions, through a diverse suite of alternative investment products. It is
our belief that opportunities exist in all market conditions and we seek to provide flexible, focused
investment options to capitalize on that potential.
Why Direxion and Sarano Kelley Make Great Teammates
In a phrase: long-short strategy. We both help you plan for long-term success by offering a way to
take control in the short-term. It’s rare that people give 100% effort 100% of the time, making for an
abundance of untapped potential. That untapped potential is what both Direxion and Sarano Kelley
seek to find and use to help achieve successful results.
About The Coach, Sarano Kelley:
Sarano Kelley, Founder of The Game and Author of, “The Game: Win Your Life in 90 Days,” grew up
in a gang-infested neighborhood of Brownsville, New York. At 16 years old Kelley was accepted and
began his studies at Vassar College. By the time he reached the age of 23 he was already earning
400,000 dollars in commissions as a Wall Street Stockbroker. It was at the height of his professional
success when a family tragedy occurred and Kelley lost some of his beloved family members in a
sudden fire. The somber experience was the driving force behind Kelley’s journey of new beginnings
where he discovered how to produce results, while achieving a life mounted on the principles of
balance and purpose.
Kelley’s experience as a Motivational Speaker and Life Coach has allowed him to train more than
250,000 people. While serving as a media coach, Kelley trained several corporate leaders and
government representatives. Because his trainees were frequently interviewed on CNN, 20/20
and 60 Minutes, it was up to Kelley to properly prepare these individuals for their highly publicized
stories. His media coach experience also gave Kelley an opportunity to coach President Clinton’s
White House Fellows, a leadership group which included Gen. Colin Powell.
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