How to Handle EVERY Cold Call Objection

When I talk to reps most of them are going about objection handling completely wrong.

They are trying to trick the prospect into seeing their POV.

If you’re trying to “handle” objections, then you’ve already lost, and that's what I want to unpack in this edition,.

When someone says I'm not interested or just send me an email, they're not giving you a real objection. They're brushing you off. And that brush-off happens because you triggered their defensive brain in the first 10 seconds of the call.

I made this mistake for months when I started as an SDR. Then I learned a simple framework that changed everything, and it's the same one we've now taught to over 350 reps inside Outbound OS.

It’s called The AIM framework, which is based on real psychology for calming the chimp brain and turning brush-offs into real conversations.

This edition breaks down what's actually happening in a prospect's head when they answer a cold call, and the exact system for calming them down so you can have a real conversation and book more meetings. Let's get into it.

Most reps think objection handling is about having the perfect comeback and script. They think that if they just memorize the right line and every no turns into a yes.

But that's not how it works.

Objection handling is about understanding what's happening in the prospect's brain when you call them. When someone picks up a cold call, they're not thinking logically. They're reacting emotionally.

This comes from a book called The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters (I think it’s a must read for anyone in sales). It breaks the brain into three parts.

The chimp (Limbic): emotional and reactive.

The human (Frontal): rational and logical.

The computer (Parietal): habits and auto-responses.

When you cold call someone, the chimp answers first. They think “who is this?”, “what do they want?”, “why are they calling me?.”

So as a by-product they sound defensive, short, and abrupt. So instead of trying to sell to them in this state, your only job is to calm the chimp down so you can talk to the logical human.

Because only the human can actually have a conversation about whether what you're offering is relevant.

That's the entire game before you've said a single word of your pitch.

Split every objection you get into two buckets.

Category one, first 30 seconds: Brush offs like I'm not interested or who is this. Pure chimp reactions before the prospect even knows what you do.

Category two, post opener: Objections that come after you've said who you are and why you're calling, like we already work with someone or we don't have budget. Higher quality, because the human is actually engaging with you.

If you're getting a wall of category one objections, that's a you problem. Your tonality is off, you're stuttering, or your opener isn't clear enough. Fix that before you worry about objection handling.

Here's the framework for handling both.

AIM stands for acknowledge, incentivize, move forward.

Acknowledge: Aim to lower their guard by meeting the objection without pushing back on it.

Incentivize: Give them a reason to keep talking. Ask a question that helps you qualify and feels useful for them.

Move forward: Sell the next step. You're not closing them on the call, you're keeping the conversation alive.

When someone objects, their guard is up. Pitch or push straight away and you confirm their worst fear, that you're just another desperate rep who doesn't care about them.

So by acknowledging first and you show you're human, which relaxes the tension. Incentivize and the conversation feels collaborative instead of combative. Now you can move forward with a pressure free next step and it feels low risk.

The whole model is designed around getting to the next step and taking it piece by piece.

These are the objections you get the second someone picks up, before they know anything about you.

Just remember that the prospect is defensive and trying to get rid of you. The goal is simple, calm the chimp and get permission to explain why you called. Let’s get into a few examples you can use today:

I'm not interested: Understood John, can I get 30 seconds to explain why I called? If it's not relevant we'll leave it there, sound fair?

Who is this: Apologies John, this is Aaron calling from Outbound OS, did you have 30 seconds so I can explain why I reached out?

I'm busy: I figured John, I'd be more surprised if you had a ton of time honestly, but do you mind if I take 30 seconds to explain why I called?

Where did you get my number: I actually got it from XYZ. Happy to send you over their page in case you want to have it removed off there… but just so I don't bother you again, would it be alright if I quickly explained why I was calling if it’s not relevant we’ll leave it there?

Is this a sales call: You're absolutely right John, this is a sales call, but do you mind if I take 30 seconds to explain why I'm calling, and if it’s not relevant we can leave it there?

I'm in a meeting: Ahhhh my bad, John. That's the one issue we're calling. I never know when people are running out of a meeting or just heading into one. Did you have 30 seconds to hear why I was reaching out? If it's not relevant, we can just leave it there

What is this about: The reason I'm calling is I noticed you just hired four new BDRs, do you mind if I take 30 seconds to explain why that prompted the call? (change the trigger for whatever research you have on the account).

I don't take cold calls: Totally fair John, unless people don't these days, but just so I don't bother you again, would you be open to 30 seconds to hear why I'm calling?

Every one of these ends the same way, permission to go deeper because when you offer people a way out they'll usually keep talking

If you're getting a lot of objections post-opener, then you need to work on your tonality or the opener itself, as that will be the biggest bottleneck here.

Now once you’ve got past the post openers we can move onto the real objections.

These come after you've opened the call and told them who you are and why you're calling. The chimp has calmed down and the human is evaluating whether to keep listening. These are better, because they're actually engaging with what you said.

So let’s get into a bunch of these objections and the thought process behind them (if you want the exact scripts watch the video I linked earlier):

Can you just send me an email: Ask if there's something specific they want covered. A specific ask means real interest but a request for a general overview means they're trying to get off the phone, call it out and try to pull the conversation back.

We're all good right now: Give them an exit if things are genuinely perfect, but test it first. “Sounds like everything's completely perfect right now, when it comes to issue one and issue two?” If they say it's not perfect then pull that thread.

I don't handle that: Find out if it's a role issue or a priority issue. “Is that because this isn't really part of your role, or it's just not a priority right now?” A role issue means ask for a referral. A priority issue means dig into what they are focused on instead.

We don't have budget: This is usually a simple way to try and get rid of you. Ask if budget is completely frozen or just a tough process to get things approved. If it's just a tough process, keep the ask low friction, something like, would you be open to a quick look now so when timing does make sense we can go from there?

We're already working with someone: Find out who. Guess a competitor by name if you can. Then ask about something you know they do well and something you do better, did they go deep into insert capability, or is it more big picture? Never bash the competitor, it makes the prospect wonder what you'll say about them.

The key with every one of these is you're just focus on getting the prospect to continue the conversation instead of trying to overcome the objection

As I finished this newsletter talking about the tactics and what to say, I realized it wouldn't be complete if I didn't talk about tonality.

When you're trying to handle objections, tonality is 90% of the battle. A tip that I learned from Alex Hormozi, which I love, is to use humor to cut the tension.

A lot of times, reps shy away from challenging prospects and pushing back because they fear it will be awkward and want to avoid the uncomfortable situation. This is why humor is so effective.

If you add a slight jerk into it or a laugh to your tonality, it really softens it up and makes it easier for you to ask hard questions. Let me show you can example:

If a prospect says: “Can you just send me an email?”

Then you respond with a really serious, monotone approach, saying: “Is there anything specific you’d want to see, or is it more of just a general overview?”

It feels quite awkward and a little bit strange. This is what makes objection handling uncomfortable for both sides and is why most reps just accept the first no and hang up.

Now take that exact same objection:

Prospect: “Can you send me an email?”

If you laugh and you’re like, “(softer tone while you’re smirking) John… be completely honest….are you just trying to get me off the phone, hahahahaha, or is there something specific you’d actually want to see in that email to help you make a decision if this could be worth a chat?”

It's the same objection, and you've asked basically the same question, but the second one allows for a much lighter exchange, which makes it easier for you to ask the hard questions

when I started doing this, my close rates skyrocketed. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Grant Cardone, Cole Gordon talks about how Grant is a master at using humor to ask hard questions. It's such an underrated tip, and I highly recommend you do it in your course

just remember: nobody will remember your call, so have fun when you dial it. Have a laugh, make a little joke, and make yourself laugh. Some prospects will take it seriously, but who cares? It will make it a lot easier for you to actually object and handle

So we've gone through the scripts, we've explained the psychology of why people are giving you objections and we’ve gone over a few tactics and tricks round tonality. But here's what I want you to take away from this newsletter and impliment today:

Get those three right and you'll book more meetings.

Hope you found this valuable and let me know what you want to see in next weeks newsletter 💪.

Go win.