Overcoming Objections in Sales: “Now Is Not the Right Time”

"What's the best strategy for overcoming objections in sales?"

We hear this question all the time, and for good reason - we've closed millions of dollars in sales by leveraging conversations in direct messages (aka DMs). Plus, we've taught hundreds of clients to do the same thing.

If you're trying to scale your high ticket program on evergreen without any sales calls, you're going to encounter tons of client questions along the way - and you definitely need a strategy to handle them.

But not all sales strategies are created equal. If you want no part of the pushy, sleazy or tacky sales strategies from back in the day, we're right there with you. Today we'll show you another way.

When you think about the types of hesitations your leads are going to have as they evaluate enrolling in your high ticket program, financial objections such as "I can't afford it" tend to be the ones that come to mind first.

We covered everything you need to know about financial objections right here in this post.

In this article, we need to talk about another huge hesitation you will encounter when you're social selling in the DMs: we need to talk about timing objections.

WATCH THIS VIDEO: Overcoming Objections in Sales ("Now Is Not the Right Time")

This blog post (and accompanying video) are part of one big juicy in-depth series we've created all about social selling, and this is the 7th & final part. (Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |Part 6)

Timing objections sound like:

"Now just isn't the right time."

"Can I enroll later?"

"When is the next enrollment period?"

"Sounds interesting, but I think I'll join later on."

When hesitations around timing come up, you might start thinking to yourself, "I didn't pick the right time to promote my program. I never should have launched in the summer, this close to the holiday season, during mercury retrograde" - the list goes on.

It's easy to start believing it really is the wrong time for your clients - and with that, you let the conversation fizzle out and the qualified applicants slip away.

You might be thinking:

❌ I never pick the right time to promote my program. I wish I had a crystal ball!

❌ What on earth am I supposed say to this?

❌ Maybe I should just let them go.

Just like we talked about on the financial side of things, there is some bad advice out there about how to respond to objections.

If those high-pressure responses and "tips" don't sit right with you, you're our kind of people.

Remember that our foundational value for social selling is toact like a human and get really curious in your conversations. We're sticking with that as we tackle hesitations about timing.

The marketing industry at large tells us to attempt to combat objections about time by:

❌ Offering a $2,000 discount if they join NOW, today on the phone, instead of waiting a few months

First of all, this isn't going to work for us because 1. we don't do sales calls and 2. you don't need to discount high ticket to make sales!

Slashing prices at the first sign of resistance is a slippery slope we avoid at all costs - and honestly, it's not even all that effective because discounting doesn't typically get to the root of the objection anyway!

❌ Don't let someone enroll in your program for 12 months (or ever) if they don't join TODAY

Following this line of thinking, we're essentially saying "if you don't join now, you're blocked and blacklisted. I only work with people who can make fast decisions today."

Even the simple act of reading that sentence in this article is likely to make you feel all kinds of pressure! Who wants to make another person feel that way?

We have to remember that our social selling conversation is one of the first true interactions a client will have with us.

It has the power to set the tone, conveying what it's really like to work with you long before they ever sign up.

We know you don't want a reputation of being pushy or aggressive with your leads.

It's absolutely possible for them to enjoy the sales conversation and feel totally empowered as they make their decision - that is the feeling we're going for here!

✅ In the Empowering Enrollment Experience, we always get curious and ask "WHY?" Then, talk about internal motivation.

Here's a perfect example of a time-based objection that recently came up in our DMs.

A prospect told us they were totally interested in High Ticket Hybrid, but also shared that joining next month would be a better time for their schedule.

This is a true crossroads moment. Do we say, "Ok, we'll see you then" without asking any further questions, letting them go on their way?

What if joining now could actually be in their best interest, and a deeper conversation could have unearthed that fact?

The power to say "yes" or "no" is always in the hands of our leads, and we make that clear. But we also need to make sure they aren't making that decision prematurely without all the facts and details.

At the end of the conversation, this person might still feel joining next month is the best choice. But we have the ability to ask questions to see what's really going on here.

Here's an easy way to get curious and respond:

Imagine all of the different ways this person could respond.

Are they going on parental leave?

Have they just recently enrolled in another program and they are concerned about having enough time to leverage both?

Or are they totally maxed out with 1:1 clients and can't imagine having the time to dig their way out with our program?

It's crucial to understand not only why the future feels like a better time, but it's even more important to ask them what their game plan is between now and then.

It's totally typical for our prospective clients to feel like they need to "leave no stone unturned" before they join our program.

They want to spend the next 3 months trying to learn Pinterest, or create a bunch of free content, create a LinkedIn account or try to build an email list and "THEN I'll be ready."

After coaching hundreds of clients, we know that all of that stuff just isn't going to move the needle like our program will - and they could very easily spend the next 6 months on headaches and heartaches that could be avoided completely.

When our clients join us in High Ticket Hybrid, they get to take the inside track and learn what works in the most streamlined way possible.

Millions of dollars have been generated from the process we teach - it's possible to skip the fiddling around and go straight to results!

When we uncover the reason our leads think they need to wait, we can really get to the heart of their concern - and potentially help them see that the risk of waiting around outweighs the risk of taking the leap.

HOW TO SPARK INTERNAL URGENCY

So what happens if someone waits when they could have gotten started today?

Using our program outcome as an example: If today they're maxed out on clients and their calendar is chock full of sales calls, how different could their life look if they learned to scale on evergreen without sales calls?

Will they stay stuck, when forward momentum is an option?

Will they spend the next 6 months earning less money, when doubling their income is possible?

Are they going to spend another year waiting to write their book, when you could help them put pen to paper TODAY?

Yes, investing in your program is a big decision - but what does it cost them to be sitting in the exact same place 6 months or a year from now?

There's an opportunity cost our leads will incur if they stay in the same spot. So how do we get them to see that?

In order to bust tricky timing objections and spark that internal motivation, here are some questions for you to think through:

• How does your program or solution solve multiple problems at the same time, or make other problems irrelevant?

• Why does this need to become their number one priority?

• What's the best case scenario for your clients?

• What is the timeline? If they're wanting to do X by the holidays this year, what is going to happen between now and then to get them there? (show this!)

• What initial powerful shifts or changes could happen in just the next few days or weeks?

When we're conveying to our clients what exactly this could look like if they get started today, walking them through each step has the power to work wonders.

Utilizing a visual timeline can be an amazing way to help your leads step into that picture and imagine it for themselves.

Here's an excellent example from one of our clients, Sarah Doody.

In this example she helps her prospective clients (UX designers who need to build their portfolio in order to get a job) see exactly what the process will look like if they work with her:

In this case, we see a very clear opportunity cost emerge for Sarah's prospects: you could get a raise in six months instead of the process taking nine months. There's no need to miss out on two months of having that raise!

Your program on evergreen: a huge key to time-based objections

There are so many great reasons your program needs to be available on evergreen, and hesitations around timing are just one example.

Contrary to popular belief, it's absolutely possible to create genuine, authentic solid urgency for your leads even when the program is available year-round.

We've already talked about internal urgency, but we've got strategies for external urgency as well.

We love to use bonuses, such as templates or extra special workshops, to incentivize our leads to hop in sooner than later if they're sitting on the fence.

That might look like telling prospects that for this month only, our current clients get to attend a live workshop or receive extra time in the program. This opportunity makes NOW a great time to join instead of allowing complacency to take over.

When we reach the end of a social sales conversation with a lead, we might discover that now really is not the right time for them. That's perfectly okay!

But before we end the conversation, we love to get their consent to follow up in two weeks, next month or when they come back from parental leave (or whatever they told us what happening in their lives right now).

When your program is available on evergreen, we can make a plan to get back in touch and get them enrolled when the time truly is right.

We know this might feel different than the sales advice you've seen pedaled around the internet before, but we really do trust our clients to make the best decision.

At the same time, it's crucial that we dig deeper before parting ways for now.

The best part is that selling feels way better for everyone involved when we lean into a truly empowering enrollment experience instead of resorting to high stakes & high pressure.

Social selling is a game changer - but it's one piece of a bigger strategy.

If you want to learn how to create a system that sells your high ticket program on evergreen without sales calls, there's more to it than trying to swap out calls for DMs! You're invited to apply for our comprehensive, all-inclusive program, High Ticket Hybrid.

High Ticket Hybrid is our implementation sprint and mastermind for course creators, coaches and CEOs who want to scale an evergreen high ticket group coaching program without sales calls.

In High Ticket Hybrid, we show you how to:

• Create a hybrid course + coaching program that can serve hundreds of clients at a time in less than 10 hours per week

• Build the evergreen sales system for enrolling high-ticket clients year-round, without any sales calls

• Escape the launch-to-launch feast and famine and revenue roller coaster by going evergreen with your program

• Create, Launch and Evergreen your own high ticket program in our focused implementation sprint

• Optimize for a clear and spacious CEO calendar (the ultimate luxury)

• Build a simple, sophisticated, truly scalable business model that is chill, fulfilling, and profitable