Start here: “just send me a price”
This is the objection founders and consultants hear first, often in the very first email. It is also the one where the common advice is most wrong. Ask a general AI assistant and it will usually tell you to send a price or a range, so you don't look like you are hiding something. That turns a conversation into a comparison, and in a comparison the cheapest quote wins.
The answer that closed is to not quote yet, and to give the buyer an easy, honest choice:
“I can put a price together. The problem is I'd be guessing right now, and a guess helps neither of us. Give me 20 minutes and I'll know what this is really about. Does that work, or would you rather I send a range and you see if it's in the right ballpark?”
Whichever they pick tells you something. Twenty minutes means there is a real problem to talk about. The range means they are probably collecting quotes. This is taking it off the table: you offer the less committed option yourself, so the buyer's choice shows where they really stand. Read the full page on “just send me a price”.
What each objection usually means
An objection is rarely the real reason. Most of the time it means discovery is not finished: you do not yet know what the problem costs, who decides, or whether money exists. Here is the first move for each one.
| What they say | What it usually means | Your first move |
|---|---|---|
| “Just send me a price” | They want to compare before they have told you the problem | Ask for 20 minutes, offer a range as the alternative |
| “You're too expensive” | The price is bigger than the problem they have described | Go back to what the problem costs them, not to a discount |
| “We have no budget” | Either no money, or not enough pain to move money | Ask how they have paid for things like this before |
| “We're talking to several firms” | You are one quote among many, and may be the benchmark | Ask what would make them choose, and who decides |
| They went silent | Something changed, or the deal was never real | Give them an easy way to say no |
Three rules for every objection
- Never argue. Defending your price or your method makes the buyer defend their objection. Ask about it instead.
- Find what is behind it. “Too expensive compared with what?” is a better reply than any rebuttal. The first objection is seldom the real one.
- Make no a good answer. A clear no in week one costs you nothing. A long maybe costs you a month of follow ups and a forecast you cannot trust.
Prepare before the call, not during it
Most objections can be predicted. If you sell a $2,000 to $150,000 service, you will hear price, budget and competition on almost every deal. Write down what you will say to each one before the meeting, and say it out loud once. Allin Sales Brain can play the tough buyer and raise these objections while you practise, then tell you which reply was weakest.