EP. 253 You Can't Overcome False Objections- Truth #16

What Is a False Objection?

A real objection means the buyer is engaged enough to evaluate something specific. They may have a concern about price, timing, risk, implementation, functionality, or whether your recommendation is actually the best option.

They want an answer.

A false objection is different. The buyer is often looking for a way to avoid the conversation before they have enough information to evaluate the recommendation at all. Tom describes examples like “send me some information,” “we already have a provider,” or being redirected to someone else in the organization. The buyer may not be saying those things because they have concluded your solution is wrong. They may simply be trying to exit the interaction politely.

That behavior makes sense when you consider the buyer’s experience. Many people have learned that showing even a little interest to a salesperson can create pressure. The conversation gets longer. The seller starts arguing. The prospect feels obligated to respond again later. Eventually, avoiding the conversation feels easier than entering it.

So buyers develop escape routes.

“Send me something” sounds better than “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“We already work with someone” creates a cleaner exit than inviting a debate about why the incumbent might not be good enough.

The seller’s job is not to expose the excuse. It is to understand what is actually happening underneath it.

Why Traditional Objection Handling Makes It Worse

When a seller hears a false objection, the natural instinct is often to prove why the buyer should not feel that way.

If the prospect says they already have a vendor, the seller explains why their company is better. If the prospect asks for information, the seller insists that five minutes would be more useful. If the buyer redirects them to someone else, the seller explains why the executive really should stay involved.

Logically, those responses may make sense. Emotionally, they create exactly the wrong result.

The buyer was already trying to avoid pressure, and now the seller is applying more of it.

“The goal is not to win the argument. The goal is to create an environment where they’re willing to talk to you.”
— Tom Stanfill

This is one reason receptivity sits at the center of ASLAN’s Other-Centered® Selling approach. Influence depends on whether someone is emotionally open to being influenced. When a buyer is closed, the quality of the seller’s argument becomes far less important than the environment the seller creates.

First, Agree With the Buyer

The first move is counterintuitive: agree.

If the buyer says, “We already work with another provider,” resist the urge to attack the incumbent. Acknowledge that relationship. If they say, “Send me something,” tell them that makes sense. Agreement lowers the temperature. It also creates surprise because the buyer is often preparing for resistance. They expect the seller to challenge the objection, defend the company, or argue for the meeting.

When none of that happens, the conversation changes.

The goal is not to pretend the objection is valid. It is to remove the tug-of-war. Once the seller stops pulling, the buyer no longer needs to pull back.

Then, Drop the Rope®

After agreeing, give the buyer genuine freedom to choose.

At ASLAN, we call this Drop the Rope®. Rather than gripping the outcome and trying to force the conversation forward, the seller makes it clear that continuing is the buyer’s decision.

That might sound like acknowledging that you do not know yet whether they need another provider, whether a backup resource would ever be useful, or whether another conversation would actually be worth their time.

That freedom matters because false objections are often generated by the expectation of pressure.

Remove the pressure, and you may remove the need for the objection.

The seller is still proactive. They are simply separating leadership from control.

Give Them a Reason to Talk for Three More Minutes

Dropping the rope does not mean ending the conversation.

The third step is explaining why continuing for another few minutes may actually benefit the buyer. That is the question sellers often miss. They are so focused on getting the meeting that they forget to articulate why the buyer should want the meeting.

If the prospect asks you to send information, for example, you might agree and then explain that you have several different resources and do not want to send something irrelevant. Asking two or three questions first would allow you to send something more useful.

Tab shared an example almost exactly like that. A prospect who already knew ASLAN still responded with the familiar “send me something” request. Rather than pushing back, Tab agreed, explained that he wanted to make sure whatever he sent was relevant, and asked permission to ask a couple of quick questions.

Those couple of questions turned into a 30-minute conversation.

“It just drives home the point that it’s an emotional response... we just gotta get them receptive.”
— Tab Norris

The prospect had not necessarily rejected the conversation. He simply was not receptive to it yet.

That is an important difference.

False Objections Are Often About Receptivity

A false objection can appear even when the lead is warm.

The buyer may know your company. They may have asked to connect. They may even genuinely have a need.

But if they are distracted, overwhelmed, skeptical, or expecting pressure, they can still default to an automatic response that shuts the conversation down.

That is why memorizing the perfect rebuttal is not enough.

Sellers need to recognize the emotional state behind the response.

When the buyer is unreceptive, the first objective is not to communicate more information. It is to help the buyer become open enough to engage with the information at all.

This Is One Part of Selling Worth Scripting

ASLAN generally does not advocate turning sellers into people who simply recite memorized scripts.

False objections are an exception.

They happen quickly. They are awkward. And sellers often feel their own tension spike when a buyer immediately tries to end the conversation.

That pressure makes it easy to fall back on one of two bad responses: push harder or give up.

Tom recommends preparing language for the false objections you hear most often so the response becomes almost automatic. That preparation reduces the seller’s own anxiety and makes it easier to respond calmly and naturally.

You do not need ten complicated scripts. Start with the two or three objections your team hears constantly and develop an Other-Centered® response to each.

The words can vary. The principles stay the same.

Remember ADAPT

In his book UnReceptive, Tom Stanfill goes deeper into why people become emotionally closed to influence and how sellers can create receptivity instead of triggering more resistance.

The book also includes scripts for several of the most common false objections and introduces an easy framework for remembering how to respond: ADAPT.

The framework begins with Agree, followed by Drop the Rope®, then answering the question the buyer is really asking: Why is talking with you worth my time? Finally, ask permission for a few more minutes of conversation.

The acronym is useful, but the principle underneath it is more important. You are not trying to defeat the objection. You are creating enough safety and value for the buyer to decide for themselves that continuing the conversation might be worthwhile.

For sellers and leaders who want to go deeper on the psychology behind buyer resistance, UnReceptive provides the broader framework behind this approach and practical language for applying it in real conversations.

Prepare Before the Objection Happens

False objections are difficult partly because they arrive before the seller feels ready for them.

That makes preparation especially valuable.

Ask your team to identify the three false objections they hear most frequently. For each one, develop a response that agrees with the buyer, removes pressure, and gives them a clear reason to continue the conversation for another few minutes.

Then practice it until it sounds natural.

The goal is not to manipulate the buyer into staying on the phone. It is to remove the pressure that may be preventing them from hearing you in the first place.

Because you cannot overcome a false objection.

But you can create the conditions that make it unnecessary.