This sales pitch went down last night after I picked up my 13-year-old from baseball practice. It started near the bleachers at approximately 8:47 pm, carried through the parking lot, and followed us out of the Oak Grove Baseball Complex.
Son: Chipotle?
Me: No. You had Chick-fil-A after school.
Son: That was five hours ago.
Me: One fast food meal per day. That’s a rule.
Son: No, it’s not. Get a soft taco. You love that.
Me: No.
Son: C’mon, Dad. I’m starving.
Me: Nope.
Son: How about a cookies and cream shake?
Me: Chipotle doesn’t do shakes.
Son: No, at Chick-fil-A.
Me: Hmmm.
Son: Say yes.
Me: Twice in five hours?
Son: Can I have the cherry?
At 9:03 pm, we were ordering from Chick-fil-A.
Ignore the parenting for a moment and look at the salesmanship.
My son shrugged off six objections. He appealed to my self-interest (I do love the Chipotle soft taco), pivoted to another restaurant, then attacked my weak point: the Cookies & Cream Milkshake.
If you have kids—or once were one—you know they’re natural salespeople. They navigate around objections instinctively.
Adults?
Not so much.
Even though objections are predictable, few sales pros script authentic, practiced responses.
Here is what I wrote in chapter 12 of The Air Raid Sales Offense (audiobook on sale today for $9.95).
| The good news is there hasn’t been an original buying objection in a thousand years. Objections—any concern a customer or prospect raises that slows or halts the buying process—are well known. “Not interested.” “Too busy, can’t talk.” “It’s not in the budget.” “Your price is too high.” “We don’t buy that here.” “Can you call back in a month?” “It’s not a priority at the moment.” “I’m not the right person to talk to.” “We’re happy with our current provider.” “Can’t. Switching ERP systems right now.” “We used you once before and it ended poorly.” “Just send over your pricing and I’ll take a look.” |
| Even though sales pros can rattle these objections off, most don’t have crisp responses at the ready. In our sales workshops, pros with decades of experience still stumble when navigating around these objections. This means you can stand out immediately. In Air Raid, I share a potential response and the reasoning behind the four most common objections. Here’s one example: ⚑ Objection #3: “We’re happy with our current provider.” Response: “I get it. And if you’re truly happy, maintaining the status quo may be your best option. What I can offer you is a second opinion—just a quick review of the value we provide compared side-by-side with your current supplier. It’s a no-risk, no-commitment, brief evaluation to make sure through all the market changes we’ve experienced that you’re still getting the most value and no one is getting complacent. Would you be open to a second opinion? It requires less than nine minutes. Want to schedule it now?” Breakdown: It’s quite possible this prospect is happy with their current provider. Acknowledge that. Then, by mentioning the phrase “maintaining the status quo,” you’re hinting they might be clinging onto the past while the market is changing. And things are changing all the time. Is it possible your prospect was getting a great deal and now isn’t? You’re introducing doubt and encouraging a thoughtful examination of their partners, something good leaders are always doing. The best medical advice I ever received was “Always get a second opinion.” (Saved me six months of agony with a torn labrum in my throwing shoulder.) That is what you are offering here. And do companies ever lapse into complacency serving their existing customer base? Yes. All. The. Time. Sliding that into the conversation, alongside a small ask of nine minutes, has proven effective for thousands of sales pros we’ve worked with. |
| Pick one objection from the list above and write your response. Then read it out loud and share it with your manager for feedback. Bonus: Paste it into ChatGPT and ask for feedback along with ten alternative responses. |
| Now, the interesting thing about my son’s pitch? He won the sale without even hitting upon my real objection: I didn’t want to get out of the car. No drive-thru at Chipotle. Wasn’t gonna do it. Way too late. I don’t leave the vehicle for food after 7 pm. That’s another rule. Such is the power of persistence, creativity, and intelligent responses. You don’t always need to solve every objection—you just need to stay in the game long enough to win. Thanks for reading. I’ll be back next Thursday. P.S. Yes, there’s a money-back guarantee on The Air Raid Sales Offense audiobook! Buy it now and go on offense on your ride home today. |
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