You might already be experiencing scenarios where clients have concerns about generative AI, are questioning your services and/or your pricing. However, there are plenty of ways you can reframe your clients' world-views and get in front of their concerns or objections.
Below, we've outlined a few objections you might be facing with clients, along with some suggested approaches to handling these objections. Remember, no client is the same, and there is no blanket approach to handling objections, so you'll need to adapt your approaches.
Objection: "I can create blogs just as quickly now, why do I need to pay you?”
How to Handle: Explain to them that while tools like ChatGPT are easy to use and provide fairly remarkable outputs, there are risks and implications to simple copy/paste behavior. One way you can show them is by generating a blog article in ChatGPT, then pasting the article back into ChatGPT and asking the tool, "Did you write this?" ChatGPT will respond with "yes."
Explain to the client that ChatGPT pulls data and information from across the internet. As a result, since the internet contains both accurate and inaccurate information (some of which can be biased or inappropriate), it's essential to emphasize the importance of fact-checking, verifying, and adding a human element to the process.
You can also focus on the topic of plagiarism. Since ChatGPT is pulling information from sources on the internet, there is a high chance that they risk plagiarizing, which could result in legal issues.
From there, you can double down on the value you provide with your services. While generative AI tools can improve efficiency, your services still require a hands-on approach that involves reviewing, editing, fact-checking, and weaving in personalized content.
Objection: "I’m paying you X, but I know you can use AI now, so can I see a reduction in pricing?”
How to Handle: This is similar to the objection above, and you can leverage many of the same objection handling responses from above. The focus here should be on emphasizing the value of your services and how you leverage generative AI, but it still requires time and human resourcing to ensure effectiveness.
It's also essential to be transparent with your clients from the beginning about your use of generative AI within your process, so they understand it from the start.
Objection: “I don’t trust AI and I’m worried you’re using it with us”
How to Handle: With this objection, you'll want to first listen to their concerns and validate them. You can be transparent with them that this is a rapidly changing space with a lot of unknowns, but as an expert professional services business, you've been spending time learning and following best practices.
You can explain that you are using good judgment, reviewing local laws and regulations, and only using products that are well-vetted, safe, and secure. Explain to them that their data is safe and walk them through how some of the products work, and share any documentation around privacy and security.
Ultimately, if they're still uncertain, you may need to follow their wishes. Assure them that if they do not feel 100% confident, you will honor their wishes by not using generative AI for their projects.
Objection: “I’m worried about AI generated content and its effects on SEO.”
How to Handle: With this objection, you can start by sharing the most recent news from Google's I/O conference, where they shared some perspective on the future of search. Explain the new approaches that organizations will need to take, such as diversifying channels, doubling down on quality, and adapting to conversational formats. Find and share relevant articles such as this one.
While there are certainly more objections you'll hear, we hope this gives you some guidance in preparing for how you might steer the conversation should objections arise.