The 4 As of objection handling: acknowledge, ask, adapt, answer

You are in an important meeting. There is a lot at stake, and you have come well prepared. Just as you are about to present your strongest arguments, the other person interrupts with the most irrelevant – or most damaging – question: ‘Why should I trust you?’, ‘Why should we change when the current solution works fine?’ or ‘I’ve heard it ends up costing much more than you’re telling me!’

Perhaps you panic and start sweating and stumbling over your words. Perhaps the question offends you so much that you dismiss it out of hand. Perhaps you think it is a silly question, and being challenged like that makes you a little too blunt.

Giving in to the pressure and firing off an answer straight away is a natural reaction – classic fight or flight. But questions like these can knock you off your feet and lead you to respond in ways that damage your credibility. Rather than panicking and blurting out the first thing that comes to mind, we recommend taking the time to gather information and tailor your answer to the situation.

At Rhetorica we have developed a tool to help you do exactly that – to give an answer that makes the other person feel heard while protecting your credibility. We call it the 4 As of objection handling: acknowledge, ask, adapt, answer. These are four steps you go through before you actually answer. They keep you on your feet, give you time to think and get the other person to give you valuable information about their objection.

The 4 As draw on classical rhetoric’s teaching on credibility – Aristotle identified goodwill towards the audience as one of the cornerstones of being believed – and on topics (topoi), the rhetorical discipline of choosing the ground on which a discussion takes place.

1. Acknowledge

When someone you want a good relationship with asks you a tough question, the first thing to do is acknowledge the concern. However unreasonable, irrelevant or even offensive you find the objection, it is relevant to the person raising it.

Don’t belittle the question or the thinking behind it. That only makes you seem less trustworthy. Acknowledging the concern, on the other hand, shows goodwill – and goodwill is vital to your credibility. It also makes the other person more open to your suggestions.

The easiest way to acknowledge an objection is to put it in your own words, starting with: ‘I can see why you would think/ask/be concerned about …’

2. Ask

A common mistake is to explain, in the same breath, why the other person has their objection. We advise against it. Never tell people why they think the way they do. Instead, ask them why they are raising this particular concern.

Objections reveal a great deal about a person’s values and preferences. What is making them question your credibility? Are they worried about their staff or their customers? Are they testing whether you are confident and well informed? Or are they looking for a particular outcome for themselves?

Often the questions are based on rumours, competitors’ claims or simple misunderstandings. Asking what information they have is a gentle way to bring misunderstandings to the surface – so they become open to adjusting their view, or even to a counterargument.

Listen closely to the answers. You will need them.

3. Adapt

Now it is time to use the information you gained by asking. Make sure your response fits the values and preferences of the person in front of you. If a manager questions whether you care about their staff at all, bring their staff into your answer. If they show a preference for detail and data by asking about very specific points and long-term results, give them exactly that.

But what if the objection is actually a strong argument against you? Imagine a budget holder pointing out that your solution really is more expensive than the one they use today. If that is true, how do you respond?

First: don’t deny the facts. If she is right, acknowledge it. If she is only right in some cases, acknowledge those before pointing to the cases where the picture is different.

Second: consider which field you want the discussion to take place in. In rhetoric, this is known as topics (topoi). We usually work with six fields that most discussions take place within: finance, environment, health, work, wellbeing and time. As part of your preparation, think about which field best serves your purpose – and which one the other person is likely to prefer.

A budget holder will naturally keep most discussions in the finance field – that is her job. But it is not necessarily the best field for you. If you can show how your solution improves the working day, wellbeing or quality for the people it affects, you are often in a much stronger position. And that matters to the budget holder too – after all, it is also her job to deliver the best possible quality within the budget. Use the shift between fields to help the other person see the bigger picture.

So adapting is about fitting your answer to the other person’s values and preferences – and moving the discussion to a field that suits your purpose.

4. Answer

You have now acknowledged the concern, asked relevant questions to understand where it comes from and adapted to what you have learnt. Now you are ready to answer.

The other person is far more likely to listen to, understand and accept your answer because you took the time to acknowledge their concern. That has protected your credibility. Your answer is built on a thorough understanding of both the objection and the person who raised it – and it is tailored to them and to your own purpose.

The 4 As at a glance

Acknowledge the concern – whatever you think of it yourself.
Ask why it is being raised – rather than guessing.
Adapt your answer to the other person’s values, and choose the right field for the discussion.
Answer – only now.

Would you and your colleagues like to get sharper at handling objections and tough questions? We train this in our argumentation courses and one-on-one coaching. Book a no-obligation meeting.