🚀 How to handle sales objections?

Tactical startup advice from OpenAI’s CPO, Lightspeed’s Founding Partner, Higgsfield’s founder and more

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3 tactics to handle sales objections

🧭 See objections as signals

• Treat each pushback as an opportunity to reveal what matters most to the prospect, and show where clarity, value, or trust is missing

  • “We already use a competitor” → sharpen differentiation

  • “Call me next quarter” → show urgency or missed opportunity

• Use objections to test your pitch, refine your messaging and uncover hidden needs:

  • Log every objection and categorize by type (timing, price, trust, relevance)

  • Identify patterns: which objections repeat, and when they appear in the conversation

  • Adjust messaging to address the top recurring objections upfront in future calls

  • Ask follow-up questions to dig deeper (e.g. “What about your current solution is working well for you?”)

⏩ Handle with a rhythm

• Every objection handling should follow a simple rhythm:

  • Agree → Address → Accelerate → Act

• Agree: put yourself in your prospect’s shoes (whether they’re an investor or a potential customer) and acknowledge why they might not want to move forward

• Address: address the objection, and tailor the value you bring to the table based on your prospect’s objections

• Accelerate: accelerate the process by creating urgency. You want to convince your prospect why they need to act quickly

• Act: close your prospect with a clear call to action, such as booking a 5-minute call with you via your calendar link

📄 Personalize existing templates

• Use existing templates as a baseline:

  • “We’re already using your competitor.”

    • Totally with you. My last client just came from Competitor XYZ, and they said the exact same thing. Let’s grab 30 minutes next week so I can show you why they made the switch.

  • “Follow up next week.”

    • Totally fair, but just a heads-up, my calendar fills up insanely fast. Let’s pencil something in now for Tuesday or Thursday, just to make sure I can hold a spot for you. What works best?

  • “[Competitor] is cheaper.”  

    • Absolutely! They’re cheaper, and so are five others. But I’m not here because we’re the cheapest. I’m here because we actually solve [problem] better. Let’s set aside time next week so you can see the difference.

  • “Call me next quarter.”  

    • Totally get it. Some of our pricing is actually going up next quarter so I’d love to get you in before that happens. Let’s get something on the calendar now.

  • “We’re happy with the current setup.”  

    • So was your neighbor [Company X], until something broke and they had to make a rushed decision. It’s better to evaluate solutions before there’s a fire. Let’s grab 20 minutes next week.

  • “We don’t buy from startups.”  

    • My last client said the same thing, until they saw how fast we move compared to the big guys. Innovation doesn’t wait. I don’t want you left behind while competitors move faster. Let me show you what’s coming next week.

• Show empathy by personalizing your message, based on research of this person’s publicly available information 

  • Check out their latest social media posts

  • Check out what social media posts they most recently interacted with

  • Check out their website (if any)

2 traps to avoid

🚨 Over-relying on templates

• Don’t just use the template; over-relying on templates can come across as disingenuous

• Add additional context where relevant and personalize your message to the specific person you’re corresponding with

  • E.g. I noticed that you value [following best practices in your industry] in your latest [LinkedIn] post, so I want to show you how we’re already helping the top 3 players in your industry like [X, Y and Z] achieve [A goals] while also saving [10x] with our solution

🚨 Optimizing too much for a deal close

• Your job isn’t to win the deal on the first call, but to earn the next 20 minutes instead

• Prove your value and show you’re worth more time; every objection is a test, and you pass it by showing you’re confident, helpful, and worth a deeper conversation

1 tool to leverage

📖 Best practice on handling sales objections

• 90% of prospects have objections, but objections don’t mean a sale is impossible 

• 60% of buyers say “no” at least four times before saying “yes”, yet only 12% of founders follow up more than three times

• Leverage tools like Clari for real-time insights, analytics, and cue cards to guide and handle objections

Bonus: 1 trend to spark startup ideas

📈 Tokenized stocks are redefining global capital markets

• Tokenize securities, both public and private, are heating up and no longer confined to crypto-native platforms (Robinhood launched tokenized shares in Europe and Kraken launched 24/7 blockchain-based stock trading) 

• Regulated institutions, asset managers, and broker-dealers are starting to build real rails for blockchain-based equity markets

• Tokenized stocks unlock:

  • 24/7 trading (or close to it)

  • Fractional ownership at lower entry points

  • Global access to markets often closed to retail investors in emerging economies

  • Programmable, instantaneous settlement that can interact with DeFi protocols

• Huge opportunity for agentic investing: market making, trading, clearing, and brokerage move from human to AI agents, operating in real-time on global, permissionless markets