Sales Methodologies
The objections that actually kill a sale
Gaultier Beauchesne
CSO & Co-founder @Eagr
Key takeaways
Across 61 teams analyzed, objection handling is the weakest skill: 46/100 on average, below discovery, pitching and closing.
"It's not the right time" shows up in 24% of calls; the price objection in just 12%. Price comes far behind.
Calls that hit an objection score slightly above average: an objection signals an engaged prospect.
Deals are lost on the soft objections (timing, "let me think", a third-party decision-maker) that get accepted without being reopened.
Every soft objection has a question that reopens it: that's what a manager should coach first.
We analyzed tens of thousands of sales calls across 61 sales teams. One skill consistently sits at the bottom of the ranking: objection handling. 46 out of 100 on average, measured team by team across 24 teams. Below discovery, pitching, closing, everything.
In other words, reps are weakest exactly where the sale is decided.
And when you look at which objections actually lose deals, two results run against what most teams believe.
Price comes far behind timing
Price is the objection teams prepare for most, drill in training, dread in meetings. In the data, it comes far behind.
On teams that track both, "it's not the right time" appears in 24% of calls. The price objection, in 12%. Half as often. Timing, "let me think", and looping in a third party all come up more often than price.
Price has one quality: it's loud. The prospect states it plainly, the rep has a ready answer, the exchange happens. The most frequent objections are quieter. They pass for politeness, and that's exactly why they kill.
An objection signals an engaged prospect
Here's the result that surprises most. Calls that hit an objection score, on average, slightly above the rep's own average.
It makes sense: an objection means a prospect engaged enough to object. The danger lies in the response to the objection, which happens to be the least-mastered skill in all of selling.
The conclusion fits in one line. Deals are lost on the soft objections that get accepted without being reopened. Here are the five that come up most, and the question that reopens each.
Method note. Figures are aggregated across 24 to 61 teams depending on the measure. The objection phrasings below are typical, anonymized wordings. No names, no companies.
1. "It's not the right time" (the timing objection)
The most frequent of all, and the easiest to let slide, because it sounds reasonable.
What it hides. Two very different things under the same sentence: a real calendar issue, which can be rescheduled; or a polite "no" that has nothing to do with timing. The average rep treats them the same and files the deal under "follow up later."
The question that reopens it. "What would need to change between now and then for it to be the right time?" If the prospect has a concrete answer, the timing is real and you've got the next step. If the answer is vague, it was never about timing.
2. "Let me think about it" (the deliberation objection)
The favorite escape hatch. Polite, airtight, empty.
What it hides. A specific objection the prospect doesn't want to voice: price, a doubt about usefulness, fear of making a mistake, a third party to consult. "Let me think" is the wrapping. The rep who accepts it leaves the box closed for the competitor who opens it.
The question that reopens it. "Of course. When you say think it over, what specifically comes to mind? The budget, the timing, whether it's useful for you?" You name the options and make the vagueness hard to hold.
3. "I need to run it by..." (the third-party decision-maker)
Very frequent, and badly played. The reflex is to accept and wait. The prospect then becomes the rep's salesperson to someone you'll never meet, with no pitch and no desire.
What it hides. Sometimes a real decision process. Often a comfortable way to avoid deciding themselves.
The question that reopens it. "If you had to present this to [that person] tomorrow, what would convince them?" You arm the prospect, or you discover they aren't convinced themselves. Either way you learn what you needed to know, and you can offer to get everyone in the room.
4. Price
Less frequent than people think, and rarely the real issue. Price is often the word people put on something else.
What it hides. A lack of perceived value rather than a lack of budget. "It's expensive" almost always means "I don't yet see why it's worth that."
The question that reopens it. "Besides price, is there any reason we wouldn't work together?" It's one of the questions top reps ask: if the answer is no, everything hinges on value and you return to the cost of inaction; if another objection surfaces, you've just found the real blocker.
5. "We already have a solution" (the incumbent)
The objection that makes average reps back off: they attack the incumbent tool and put the prospect who chose it on the defensive.
What it hides. Rarely full satisfaction. Almost always a gap the prospect has learned to live with.
The question that reopens it. "What's missing today with your current solution?" You tear nothing down. You let the prospect point to the gap themselves, and that's where you plug in.
What this means for a manager
The reflex, with a team stuck on objections, is to drill the price rebuttal. The data says that's the wrong target. Price is rare and loud; deals are lost on the soft, frequent, silent objections that no one reopens.
Coaching the price rebuttal moves nothing. Coaching the detection of soft objections, and the reflex to ask a question instead of filing the deal, closes the biggest skill gap in all of selling: 13 points between this skill and the top of the ranking. It all starts with strong discovery.
An objection is a door the prospect leaves ajar. Top reps push it open with a question. Others close it politely and call it a follow-up.
FAQ
What's the most common objection in sales? "It's not the right time." It shows up in 24% of calls, twice as often as the price objection (12%). It's also the easiest to let slide, because it sounds reasonable.
Is price the main objection? No. In the data, price comes far behind timing, "let me think", and looping in a third party. It's mostly louder, which makes it easier to handle.
How do you respond to "let me think about it"? Name the options: "When you say think it over, what specifically comes to mind, the budget, the timing, the usefulness?" You make the vagueness hard to hold and surface the real objection.
How do you handle an objection without putting the prospect on the defensive? Ask a question instead of arguing. On "we already have a solution," ask "what's missing today?" and let the prospect point to the gap themselves.
Sources
Eagr data (
eagr_call_intelligence): calls from 61 B2B and B2C sales teams, April 2025 to June 2026. Objection-handling score 46/100 (24 teams), "it's not the right time" 24% vs price 12%. Aggregated and anonymized.
Methodology
Analysis of calls from 61 B2B and B2C sales teams recorded between April 2025 and June 2026. Each skill is scored out of 100, calibrated on the team's playbook. The skill ranking is computed as a per-team average (one vote per team, 24 teams for objection handling), to neutralize the weight of large teams. Objection frequency is measured on the teams that track each type. All data shown is aggregated and anonymized.
This analysis was produced by Eagr: we identify the behaviors that produce results, and make them replicable across the whole team.
