For most of my life, I SUCKED at sales - especially when it came to dealing with objections.

Sales calls are hard enough but hearing objections from a prospect used to make me uncomfortable. 

Seriously! I could barely hold it together. 

I would get all squirmy inside. My hands would get sweaty and gross. My heart rate would increase as I racked my brain to try and come up with the magical sequence of words that would make their objection go away so I could close the sale.

I'd usually end up word-spewing some random response that didn't even address their concern. If I'm being honest, my only REAL response was "How about I lower my prices?".

Spoiler alert: it rarely worked.

If you’ve felt similarly during your sales calls, you’re going to love this edition of the newsletter. 

I’m sharing 3 sales frameworks I’ve learned from the true masters of sales - frameworks that have made me better at selling my own services.

Best of all, these frameworks help me keep it together when objections are thrown my way.

Let’s get started.

Framework #1. Ledge-Disrupt-Ask (by Jeb Blount)

A couple years ago, I hosted a Fractional CFO prospecting workshop with my friend Jeb Blount. 

Jeb literally wrote the book on prospecting and sales (in fact, he’s written 16 of them).

Jeb understands how nerve-wracking it can feel to be on the receiving end of a strong objection. Especially when you’re emotionally invested in the outcome (like we all are—you want your prospect to buy!). 

So this framework is designed to let you respond coolly instead of reacting in the heat of the moment.

Step 1. Ledge

The Ledge statement is a nearly-automatic reply that is designed to help buy you time to formulate a more logical and less emotional response. This is for you if you’ve ever regretted blurting out the first knee-jerk reply that popped into your head (I know I have).

Here are some examples of ledge statements:

• “Most people think that.”
• “Yeah, that makes sense.”
• “I thought you might say that.”

These work for any objection. They don’t say much on their own, but that’s the point. They just disarm the tension and give you a moment to collect your thoughts.

Step 2. Disrupt

Sales rookies argue with prospects. Sales masters agree with them.

Judo (the martial art) teaches that you should never resist your sparring partner, but use their own momentum to take them where you want to go. This is the same idea. Don’t put up predictable resistance; redirect the conversation with an attention-grabbing pattern interrupt.

• Example: “We can’t afford a Fractional CFO.”
“You’re probably right. Most of my clients could barely afford us at the start, because their financials were so messed up and they were spilling cash everywhere. Once we got them things in order, we were able to help them find so much cash it was easy to afford our rates.”

 • Example: “I’m too busy for another monthly call.”
“I thought you might say that. If you weren’t busy, you wouldn’t need us. But isn’t that precisely why you don’t have time to get clear on your cash position and profitability? You know the state of your financials prevents you from growing, but you’re too busy to fix it yourself.”

Step 3. Ask

Jeb’s third step is to ask (again) for what you want. Ask for the sale, ask for the next meeting. 

One best practice I try to abide by is to be as specific as possible with my asks. For example, if I want to turn a short conversation into a longer appointment, I don’t ask “Are you open to a call sometime?” I ask, “Can you hop on a call with me next Thursday at 2pm?”

• Another example: “Do you mind if we review your needs to see if this service would be right for your situation?”

(For more on this framework, read chapter 10 of Jeb Blount’s book Objections.)

Framework #2. Feel-Felt-Found

This one’s a classic, and for good reason. It expresses your empathy with the prospect’s concern. Then it pivots to explain how others with the same concern still became clients. Here’s how it works.

Step 1. Feel

Affirm the reservation the prospect expressed. The basic version of this is “John, I know how you feel.” But that can easily come off as insincere. Instead, try expressing the idea without the exact word “feel.” 

• Example: “John, you’re totally justified to have that concern.”

Step 2. Felt

Link how your prospect feels right now with how your past clients felt right before they purchased. Again, you can do this with or without the word “felt.”

• Example: “I'd guess that half of our most successful clients felt the same way before we started working with them.”
• Example: “Many of our current clients expressed the same hesitation when I first spoke with them.”

Step 3. Found

Introduce a reason for the prospect to reconsider. Phrase it as what others have “found,” since this implies that they can find it out too.

• Example: “…until they found that our service pays for itself by increasing your net profitability.”

Framework #3. Acknowledge-Associate-Ask aka The AAA Framework (by Alex Hormozi)

Hormozi’s got a lot of good stuff, and this little framework is a gem. I like it because it ends with a follow-up question that digs into the prospect’s real concerns. Here’s how it works.

Step 1. Acknowledge

This is simply acknowledging what your prospect said. You can repeat it back to them in different words.

• Example: “I’m not sure we’re ready for this.”
“It sounds like you’re not sure this is the right time for you.”

Step 2. Associate

Next, associate what they said with the action of purchasing—or at least with a positive trait. 

• Example: “It’s smart to make sure it’s the right time to bring on a Fractional CFO. Many of our best clients had been thinking about it for months before they decided to pull the trigger.”

Step 3. Ask

Then ask the next question. (Your prospect can’t argue with a question!) Use the question to push past the surface-level objection and go deeper.

• For example: “How would you know if now was the right time?” 

Engage with the real issue. Maybe this prospect is about to start their largest project ever and literally don’t have the bandwidth for anything extra. But maybe they’re just wanting to postpone the decision out of uncertainty, so you can help them get clarity.

(For more on this framework, watch Alex Hormozi’s short YouTube video.)

Putting It Into Practice

These 3 frameworks for handling objections work. 

Not every time, but consistently! 

So your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to try one of these frameworks out on your next sales call. 

It doesn’t matter which one you choose, just pick the one that feels most natrual to you.

My favorite is the AAA Framework, but you do you boo.

And here’s one more tip so that you don’t go into the call cold.

Write down the last 3 objections you heard from prospects: “It’s too expensive,” “This just isn't the right time,” “I need to talk to my business partner/wife/dog.” 

Then script out your responses with your chosen framework. Say the script out loud a few times.

Yup! That's weird - but it works.