Objection Handling Cheat Sheet

The 20 Objections That Kill the Most Deals — Feel / Felt / Found + Reframe

How to use: Feel-Felt-Found buys you empathy and time without sounding defensive. The Reframe is the sentence that actually moves the conversation. The Follow-up Question hands control back to you. Don't recite all three verbatim — internalize the logic, then say it in your own words.

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1. "It's too expensive."

• Feel/Felt/Found: "I get why price is front of mind. Most of our best customers felt the same way looking at the sticker price alone. What they found is the comparison only makes sense against what the problem is already costing them."
• Reframe: "Compared to what, exactly — the status quo, or another vendor?"
• Follow-up: "What would this need to return for the investment to be a no-brainer?"

2. "We don't have budget right now."

• FFF: "Totally fair. A lot of teams feel that way before they've built the internal case. What they've found is budget shows up once the cost of the problem is clearly quantified."
• Reframe: "Is this a timing issue or a priority issue — because those need different plans."
• Follow-up: "If the ROI case is solid, is there a path to reallocate, or does this wait for next cycle?"

3. "We're happy with our current vendor/solution."

• FFF: "Makes sense — if it were broken you'd already be looking. Other happy customers felt the same until something specific changed. What they found was a gap they hadn't noticed until they saw the alternative."
• Reframe: "Happy overall, or happy compared to not knowing what else is possible?"
• Follow-up: "What would have to change for 'happy' to become 'actively looking'?"

4. "I need to check with my team/boss."

• FFF: "Smart move, and most serious buyers do the same. What's worked well for others is bringing me into that conversation directly so nothing gets lost in translation."
• Reframe: "Let's make sure I give you the ammunition they'll actually ask for."
• Follow-up: "What's the first question they're going to ask you?"

5. "Send me some information and I'll follow up."

• FFF: "Happy to. I've found that generic info alone rarely gets read — what's helped others is a 2-minute version specific to what we just discussed."
• Reframe: "Rather than a generic deck, let me send exactly what applies to your situation."
• Follow-up: "What specifically would you want that document to answer?"

6. "This isn't a priority right now."

• FFF: "Understandable — priorities shift fast. Others have felt the same right up until the cost of waiting became visible. What they found is priority often follows evidence, not the other way around."
• Reframe: "What would need to happen for this to become a priority?"
• Follow-up: "Is there a date or event that would force this back up the list?"

7. "We tried something like this before and it didn't work."

• FFF: "That's a valid scar. Others have felt burned the same way. What they found was the failure was usually in implementation or fit, not the category itself."
• Reframe: "What specifically went wrong — the tool, the rollout, or the use case?"
• Follow-up: "If we ruled out that failure mode specifically, would it be worth another look?"

8. "I've never heard of your company."

• FFF: "Fair — we're not the household name yet. Plenty of buyers felt that hesitation before checking our customers or results. What they found made the name irrelevant."
• Reframe: "Would proof matter more to you than brand recognition?"
• Follow-up: "Want me to connect you with a customer in a similar situation?"

9. "How are you different from [Competitor]?"

• FFF: "Great question — buyers evaluating both often feel like it's a coin flip on paper. What they found is the real difference shows up in [specific differentiator], not the feature list."
• Reframe: "The difference that actually matters is usually in how it's used, not what's on the spec sheet."
• Follow-up: "What's the one thing that would decide it for you if the two looked equal?"

10. "We're already talking to [Competitor]."

• FFF: "Good — this should be a fair fight. Other buyers running a parallel process felt the pressure to rush a decision. What they found was worth slowing down to compare on."
• Reframe: "Let's make sure you're comparing the same thing, not just the same category."
• Follow-up: "What's been most compelling about their pitch so far?"

11. "I don't see the ROI."

• FFF: "That's a fair place to pause. Others felt the same until we built the numbers with their actual data instead of averages."
• Reframe: "Let's build the ROI with your numbers, not ours."
• Follow-up: "What inputs would make this credible to your CFO?"

12. "This looks complicated to implement."

• FFF: "Understandable concern. Other teams felt the same going in. What they found was the complexity was front-loaded and mostly on our side, not theirs."
• Reframe: "What would 'simple enough' look like for your team specifically?"
• Follow-up: "Who would own implementation on your side, and what's their bandwidth like?"

13. "We can build this ourselves."

• FFF: "Some teams could. Others felt the same and started down that path. What they found was the maintenance cost, not the build cost, is what killed it."
• Reframe: "The real cost isn't building v1, it's maintaining it every quarter after."
• Follow-up: "Who owns that maintenance long-term, and is that the best use of their time?"

14. "Your contract terms are too rigid."

• FFF: "Noted, and that's come up before. What's worked for other customers is telling us specifically what's rigid — most terms have more flexibility than the standard doc shows."
• Reframe: "Which specific term is the blocker — term length, exit clause, or payment terms?"
• Follow-up: "If we solved that one term, is everything else workable?"

15. "I need to think about it."

• FFF: "Of course — this is a real decision. Others have felt the same, and what's helped is naming the specific open question rather than a general 'thinking about it.'"
• Reframe: "Let's separate what needs thought from what's actually a concern."
• Follow-up: "What specifically do you need to think through?"

16. "Can you just give me a discount?"

• FFF: "I hear that a lot. What other buyers have found is trading term length or scope for price gets a better outcome than a flat discount ask."
• Reframe: "Discounting the price changes the number — let's talk about what changes the value instead."
• Follow-up: "Is price the actual blocker, or is it a negotiation habit — what would make the current price work?"

17. "We had a bad experience with a similar vendor."

• FFF: "That's a legitimate scar to carry. Others felt the same caution. What they found was naming exactly what went wrong helped them evaluate us on the right criteria."
• Reframe: "What specifically went wrong, so I can show you how we're built differently?"
• Follow-up: "What would make you trust a new vendor in this category again?"

18. "Legal/procurement will take months."

• FFF: "Common concern. Other buyers felt the same and found starting legal/security review in parallel with evaluation — not after — collapsed the timeline significantly."
• Reframe: "Let's start that clock now, in parallel, not after you decide."
• Follow-up: "Who owns that process, and can we get on their calendar this week?"

19. "I'm not the decision maker."

• FFF: "Appreciate you being upfront. Others in your seat felt the same and still ended up being the reason the deal happened — because they carried it internally."
• Reframe: "You may not sign it, but you can be the reason it gets approved."
• Follow-up: "Who does make the final call, and what do they care about most?"

20. "Call me back next quarter."

• FFF: "Understood. Others have said the same, and what's worked is using this quarter to build the case quietly so next quarter is a fast yes instead of a cold restart."
• Reframe: "Let's use this quarter to prep, so next quarter isn't a standing start."
• Follow-up: "What changes between now and then that would make the timing right?"