The real objection isn't the objection, it's this

I've sold $9M+ in sales myself and I've coached hundreds of closers on getting their numbers up. I did an hour long group coaching call where I went closer by closer, question by question. No fluff. Just real objections from real calls. Here's what came out of it.

Stop treating every objection the same

A closer on my call was selling a dog training program, $1500 to $2000, and kept running into "I'm not sure this will work." She wanted one magic line to handle it.

There isn't one.

"There's no like one thing to say to get everyone who says that across the line because everyone's going to have different concerns."

The move is to ask what's actually coming up for them. Someone who got burned by a past program is a totally different conversation than someone who thinks your product doesn't fit their situation. You can't script around that. You have to dig.

Here's the real split I use:

• If they say "I don't think it'll work," you're not done discovering. Go back and find the real problem.
• If it's genuinely a money objection, isolate it. Take money off the table and ask if they'd do it regardless.
• If it's fear, that's different again. More on that below.

Get them to admit they're the problem

This is the one line that changes everything in my calls.

"If I can't get them to admit that they are the problem, you can't even help them because they don't think anyone can."

Think about it. If someone tells you their dog just "snaps" and that's it, there's nothing to sell. But if they tell you they're doing something wrong that's not correcting it, now we've got a problem I can solve.

Same thing with weight loss. If somebody says "I just have bad genetics," you can't sell that person anything. Genetics isn't a problem you fix with a coaching program.

The fix is in your problem awareness questions. Use a comparative frame, then ask an internal question. Something like:

"We work with tons of clients in high powered jobs, doctors, lawyers, working 16 hours a day, and they're able to find something that works. So what do you feel like might be missing in your current approach?"

That question has a built in implication. If they answer it, they're admitting the gap is on them, not the economy, not their genetics, not their ex-agency.

Fear and logic are not the same objection

A closer asked me why I treat fear so differently than a logical objection like uncertainty about a mechanism.

Simple answer. If someone is confused about how your product works, throwing mindset talk at them does nothing. You're not solving confusion with motivation.

"If somebody says I don't know if this is going to work for me and then we just start handling with mindset, but they're just unsure on the mechanism, you're getting nowhere."

Skill number one is just knowing what you're actually handling. Is this logic or is this fear. Once the value is agreed on, the money is agreed on, and they still won't pull the trigger, now you're dealing with fear. That's when you stop digging and you go straight for the leap.

Long calls are not a problem, they're a signal

One of my closers had a call run an hour and a half past the scheduled time. He felt like he was failing. I told him the opposite.

"I've been on calls for three hours before. It's fine. As long as the conversation is staying productive, it's not just you versus them."

If you've got room on your calendar and the conversation keeps moving forward, stay on it. The only time you cut it short is if you've got back to back calls and this one isn't going anywhere, or your next call is more likely to close. Otherwise, ask yourself the real question:

"Do you want to make the sale? Do you want to help this person? If the answer is yes, do whatever it takes."

If it's happening on every single call, that's a different conversation, you're probably chasing the wrong objections instead of the real one. But once in a while, it's just what that person needed.

Your perception in their head decides what they hear

This one gets skipped by most closers. During objection handling, how the prospect perceives you changes everything you say, even if the words are identical.

"If they perceive you as just trying to get them over the line, just trying to sell them, it doesn't matter what you say, you're going to be seen as a salesperson."

Where's your focus actually sitting. Is it on helping this person or is it on "I need this sale." People pick up on this subconsciously through tiny things you can't even control. Micro expressions. Tone shifts. They can't tell you what tipped them off, but they feel it.

Don't take objections personally either. One closer got visibly dejected when a prospect said he only made $12k a month after mentioning the price.

"None of this is personal at the end of the day. He did not hop on this call thinking, I'm going to have an open conversation with you and then stick it to you and tell you I don't have the money."

People have their own reasons in their head, same as you'd have reasons if the roles were flipped. Put yourself in their shoes, stay on their team, and keep going.

Use the responsibility question even when there's no competition

A guy on the call sells a totally unique offer, no competitors. He thought that meant he couldn't use responsibility based reframes in solution awareness. Wrong.

When a prospect says "I've never heard of this before," that's not a wall, it's an opening.

"If you've been in this job and known you wanted to get out and do something more meaningful for the past three years, whose responsibility is it to go out and actually look for ways to do that?"

Then ask what's prevented them from looking. You'll usually land on fear or a limiting belief. Clarify it, find out how long they've felt that way, and ask if that way of thinking is even worth keeping. This works no matter what you sell.

The bottom line

Objection handling isn't about scripts you memorize word for word. It's about identifying what you're actually dealing with before you open your mouth. Logic needs digging. Fear needs leverage. Both need you to stay out of your own head and focused on them.

Get them to admit the problem is theirs. Ask the internal question after you compare them to people who figured it out. Don't rush a call that's still moving forward. And watch your own energy, because they can feel it before you say a word.

That's an hour of real coaching. Go put it to work on your next call.