This week on Windshield Time, hosts Chris and Chris talk about DISC Profiles and Objections. By using the L.E.A.P. and STEAM techniques in conjunction with DISC profiles to understand customers and their behaviors, your technicians will increase their chances of successfully overcoming any objections.
What is L.E.A.P?
L.E.A.P stands for Listen, Empathize, Ask questions and Problem solve. L.E.A.P is a persuasion principle based on ethics. This technique is uniquely designed to help someone make a decision.
You can use L.E.A.P to lead you through any kind of objection. For example, say you tell a customer that you need to do a whole home plumbing inspection. The customer, however, objects to this by saying they don’t want you going around the house and that they would prefer if you just fixed the problem they called you out to address in the first place. Now, you can L.E.A.P through that!
After listening to the customer described above, a L.E.A.P response would look like the following:
“I understand it was probably unexpected that I was going to provide this extra value to you by checking your entire plumbing system. Let me ask you this: since you already have a licensed and qualified plumber in your house, and most people only have them check up on them every 3 to 5 years, wouldn’t it make sense for me to check this stuff while I’m here? It won’t take long.”
In this example, the technician listened to the clients’ objections, empathized with their feelings, and then asked a question aimed at finding a solution.
Most Common Objections
In the home service industry, there are five types of objections that we tend to hear a lot. These objections include:
- A spouse needs to be consulted before a decision is made.
- The customer wants to think about it first.
- The service or project is too expensive.
- The customer can’t or doesn’t know if they can afford it.
- The customer wants to receive multiple bids or a second opinion.
All of these objections can be summarized by the acronym S.T.E.A.M. That stands for Spouse, Think about it, Expensive, Afford it, and Multiple bids. Being familiar with these common objections is incredibly important as you can prepare yourself or your salespeople ahead of time with L.E.A.P answers to help them work through all of the different types of objections.
How DISC Profiles Object 
High D
High D profiles are direct and bold. They want to be in charge and are typically prepared with knowledge before an appointment and ready to make a decision. It is not often that they will go back on their word after a choice has been made. A high D likes to identify a problem, figure out a solution and then move on as quickly as possible.
If a high D does object to you, it will most likely be in response to them finding out new information during your appointment that they weren’t prepared to make a decision about. Often they will take the time to think about the new variable and then come back at a later time with a choice. This, however, doesn’t include if they say that something is too expensive. If a high D tells you something is too costly that means they have done their research and seen cheaper alternatives or it truly is something that they can’t afford.
High I
High I profiles care a tremendous amount about what people think about them and their perceived status. They tend to dislike routine and value people that can be flexible and work with them. They absolutely fear a loss of prestige and need to like a person in order to do business with them. A high I profile likely will have done their research by talking to as many other people as possible and gathering a census of opinions.
High I’s won’t often object by saying they need to think about a decision for themselves. If they are unsure about what action to take, more often than not they are going to talk it out with you. They also are unlikely to object to something being too expensive or unable to afford it – whether that is really the case or not. That’s because they don’t want to lose their prestige or value in front of the technician. The most common objection from a high I will be that they want to receive multiple bids and more often than not that is either a smokescreen for not being able to afford the service or they don’t like you.
High S
High S profiles are value-oriented people who often have many other people depending on them to make decisions. They are often mothers or caregivers and want to avoid conflict at all costs. A high S profile will have done their research by going online and talking to their spouse or other important people in their lives. Their decisions are going to be dependent on how the other people in their household will be affected.
The most common objection you will hear from a high S profile is going to be that they need to talk to their spouse or take some time to think about it. This is because they deeply value the judgment of their partners and other family members. High c’s are going to be afraid to tell you that something isn’t affordable and more often than not when they hear a high number not backed by their research they might fear that you are trying to take advantage of them. If that is the case, instead of questioning you in order to avoid conflict they are going to object by saying something is too expensive.
High C
High C profiles are precise and accurate. They value preciseness and accuracy in all realms of their lives. Their greatest fear is the embarrassment of not knowing or understanding something. C profiles will have completed exhaustive research from multiple sources in order to learn as much about the problem as possible. They are incredibly deliberate when it comes to making decisions.
High profile c’s are not afraid to ask questions and object. They are likely to want to talk to their spouse first if they haven’t already. If there is any kind of analysis about the decision that needs to be made then they won’t be afraid to let you know that they need more time to think about it. C profiles are not afraid to tell the truth, even if it hurts your feelings. When it comes to a high c, more than any other DISC profile they are the most likely to want to receive multiple bids. It is important for them to be very accurate and precise about the decision they are making and reassured that they are making the right one.
In Conclusion
Understanding DISC profiles object and introducing L.E.A.P and S.T.E.A.M into your customer process can help to increase your sales proficiency! If you’d like to learn more about DISC profiles and other helpful skills to help you maximize your service calls and visits, we encourage you to come to our PRESS PLAY course for techs this April!
We’ll see you in the next episode of Windshield Time!
