Dealing with objections involves four steps a manager should take after a customer has said “that’s too expensive”, “I’ll think about it” or “I’ve seen it cheaper”: listen to the end, clarify exactly what lies behind the remark, address that specific reason directly, and check whether the doubt has been dispelled. Arguing with the customer or offering a discount in the very first response are not included in this list.
Imagine a small online shop selling orthopaedic mattresses and pillows. The owner, Oksana, sells via Instagram and her website. Enquiries from the website are followed up by managers Taras and Sofia, who also respond to direct messages. Over the course of a month, dozens of deals with the status “thinking about it” have accumulated in the CRM. Oksana doesn’t know what’s behind them: do the customers genuinely need time, or do the managers give up after the first “no”? Using her example, let’s move from typical objections to a check that can be carried out within a week.
Contents
- Dealing with objections begins with asking what the client is missing
- Six objections a mattress shop hears every week
- A pause and a clarifying question before giving any answer
- Examples of responses to “that’s expensive”, “I’ll think about it” and “I’ve seen it cheaper”
- In Direct, objections are made more briefly and at a later stage
- Weekly audit of calls and correspondence
- Errors that are already apparent in the third entry
- Some of the replies in the chat may be handled by an AI manager
- Frequently asked questions
Section: AI for business
Dealing with objections begins with asking what the client is missing
An objection means that the customer still has an unanswered question or a doubt that they haven’t fully articulated. Someone who doesn’t need a mattress usually simply doesn’t reply. Someone who says “that mattress is too expensive” has already considered the purchase and has focused on the price.
Therefore, objections should be interpreted as clues. The word “expensive” may stem from a comparison with a marketplace, a budget the customer does not wish to disclose, or a lack of understanding as to why this mattress is better than a foam one. The responses to these three reasons vary, and a sales manager who responds to everything with a discount will, at best, get one of them right.
Excuses are a different matter altogether. “I need to think about it” often masks another reason that the customer doesn’t want to voice: they don’t trust the shop, aren’t sure about the size, or aren’t making the decision themselves. It’s easy to check: once you’ve addressed an openly stated objection, the conversation moves on. If you offer an excuse after responding, it will simply change to another one.
Six objections a mattress shop hears every week
The list of objections varies from niche to niche, but in small-scale retail it is the same week in, week out. Here is what Oksana has noted down from Taras and Sofia’s last ten conversations:
- “That’s expensive” or “Is there anything cheaper?” – that’s what I hear most often, both on the phone and via direct messages.
- “I’ll think about it” at the end of the conversation, when everything has already been said.
- “I’ve seen the same thing cheaper” with a link to another shop or marketplace.
- “I need to discuss it with my husband” (it’s not the person on the phone who makes the decision).
- “What if it’s not the right stiffness?” and questions about returns.
- “This is the first time I’ve heard of your shop” or “Are you sure you’ll send it?”
This list is the draft of your checklist. Working through objections as a team starts with ensuring that every manager has your specific list on their desk. A generic checklist from a training course won’t be much help here: the sixth point, for example, is rarely heard of in a shop with thousands of reviews, whereas for a new Instagram shop, it ranks among the top three.
A pause and a clarifying question before giving any answer
The most common mistake during a call happens in the first second after the objection. The sales manager hears “it’s expensive” and immediately starts talking about spring assemblies and the warranty. The customer listens for a minute and says, “Right, I’ll think about it.”.
This behaviour is clearly evident in the data. Gong Labs, the research division of the call recording and analysis service, analysed 67,149 recordings of sales conversations (Chris Orlob, March 2018, updated in March 2026). Managers with average results speak more quickly after a challenge, their pause before replying is shorter, and they launch into a monologue lasting an average of 21.45 seconds. Successful managers, on the other hand, pause for longer than they would during the normal course of the conversation and respond to objections with a question.
For Taras, this boils down to a simple set of steps:
- listen to the customer’s sentence right to the end and pause for a second or two;
- ask one clarifying question: “What are you comparing it to?”, “What exactly do you want to consider: the size or the budget?”;
- respond only to the reason given by the client;
- Ask again: “Does that clear things up?” or “What else is stopping us from resolving this now?”.
The fourth step is the one most often skipped. Without it, the manager does not know whether the objection has been resolved, whilst the customer, in the meantime, feels that they are being pressured and becomes defensive.
Examples of responses to “that’s expensive”, “I’ll think about it” and “I’ve seen it cheaper”
It’s easier to learn how to handle objections in sales through real-life conversations than through techniques with specific names. Below are three excerpts from the same conversation about a double mattress: how people usually respond, and how it’s better to respond.
“Expensive”
The usual response: “But the quality’s great! I can knock a bit off.” The customer gets the impression that the price was too high and asks for a further discount.
That’s better. Sofia: “I see. Tell me, what are you comparing it to? Another shop, or were you simply expecting to pay less?” If the customer was expecting to pay less, Sofia shows her a cheaper model with the same firmness and explains why it’s simpler. If she’s comparing it to a specific shop, we move on to the third example.
“I’ll think about it”
The usual response: “Right, think about it, give us a call.” The deal disappears into “under consideration” status for good.
That’s better. Taras: “Of course. To make things easier for you: what exactly do you want to think about? Firmness, size, price?” It often turns out that the customer isn’t sure about the firmness. In that case, there’s something to offer: exchange terms during the trial period, if you have them, or a photo of a cross-section of the mattress. If the person really isn’t making the decision on their own, Taras agrees on a specific day when he’ll ring back and notes in the CRM who they’re consulting with and exactly what caused their hesitation.
“I’ve seen it cheaper”
The usual line: “We’ve got the genuine article, but theirs is a fake.” It comes across as an attack on the customer’s choice, and even if it’s true, it’s impossible to prove over the phone.
That’s better. Sofia asks for a link and looks at it with the customer: is it the same model and size, or a similar one; is delivery included; and who provides the guarantee. If the only difference is the price, be honest and say what you can offer instead of a discount: faster delivery, a replacement within a certain period, or advice on choosing the right item. If another shop really is cheaper for the exact same item, it’s sometimes better to let the customer go and not undercut your own price for the rest of your customers.
In Direct, objections are made more briefly and at a later stage
In correspondence, customers rarely say “it’s too expensive for me”. They ask for a price, receive a reply and then disappear. Silence after a price quote is also a rejection, just without words, and in direct messages it happens more often than any other phrase.
The second difference is the timing. On a phone call, any objection is raised straight away, and the manager can clarify the matter. In a direct message, a customer writes at 11.00 pm, “What if it’s not the right stiffness?”, but she may not read the reply, which arrives at 10.00 am the next day: she’ll have had time to look at three more shops overnight.
The third difference concerns trust. In written correspondence, a manager’s bare assurances come across as weak: the customer cannot see the person they are speaking to or hear the tone of their voice, so the phrase “everything is done officially” is less convincing than it would be over the phone. Evidence that can be shown has a stronger impact: a screenshot of a review, a photo of an order that has already been prepared, or a link to saved chat histories containing reviews. Prepare these materials in advance so that the manager doesn’t have to search for them during the conversation.
We looked at how to address such objections in a chat without putting pressure on the customer, using the example of a shoe shop in the article about, How the bot responds to “that’s expensive” and “I’ll think about it” in a conversation.
Weekly audit of calls and correspondence
The script itself does not reveal whether it is being used. The actual work involved in addressing customer objections is only evident in the records and correspondence. To identify which objections the team is failing to address, Oksana needs just one week and around three hours.
Select 20 conversations that ended without a sale: 10 call recordings and 10 Direct messages. Choose interactions from different days and involving different managers, so as not to end up with just one unlucky Monday. For each conversation, note down what objection was raised, or at which point the customer stopped replying, and how the sales manager responded. Then cross-check the responses against the table.
| Objections | Completed, if the manager | Not completed, if the manager |
|---|---|---|
| “Expensive” | asked what they were comparing it to, suggested an alternative or explained the difference | either offered a discount straight away or moved on to the product specifications |
| “I’ll think about it” | clarified what exactly needed to be considered, and agreed on a date for the next meeting | replied, “All right, we’ll wait,” and didn’t note down the reason |
| “I’ve seen it cheaper” | I asked for a link and compared the terms and conditions | said it was a forgery, or silently agreed |
| “To seek advice” | found out who makes the decisions and what matters to him, and provided the material to be forwarded | ended the conversation without taking the next step |
| Silence after the price is quoted | wrote a single post containing useful information in a few hours | didn’t write anything or sent a reminder every day |
After 20 conversations, the picture usually becomes clear: there are one or two objections that the team consistently misses. These are the ones that need to be practised first, using real recordings as examples, and there’s no need to completely rewrite the script for this. After a month, repeat the audit on a further 20 calls.
Errors that are already apparent in the third entry
The first mistake is to argue. Saying “No, we’re not expensive” puts the customer in a position where agreeing would mean admitting they’re in the wrong. They refuse to agree and walk away.
The second is offering a discount as the first response. It closes one deal but teaches the manager that “expensive” can only be remedied by lowering the price. A month later, you notice in the CRM that almost everyone is asking for a discount, and the margin is shrinking.
The third mistake is only visible in the CRM. The manager hears the reason for the refusal, but the deal card says “the customer will think about it”. When the reasons aren’t recorded, you don’t know, At which stage of the sales funnel do customers drop out? and exactly why. Add a mandatory “reason for refusal” field to your CRM with five or six options from your list of objections, and in a month’s time you’ll have statistics without needing to carry out any audits.
The fourth mistake is more subtle: the manager gives the right answer, but fails to check the result. The customer nods out of politeness, but their doubts remain, and the conversation still ends without an order being placed.
Some of the replies in the chat may be handled by an AI manager
Objections raised via direct message fall into two categories. The first type can be resolved by providing facts: the price including delivery, return policy, availability of the required size, warranty, or a cheaper model with the same specifications. The second type requires a conversation: a family decision, mistrust, or a non-standard order.
The first type can be handled by an AI manager. Marichka AI’s sales manager responds via Instagram Direct or the website widget day and night, drawing its answers solely from the shop’s knowledge base and never inventing discounts that aren’t actually available. A customer who asks about exchanges at 11.00 pm receives the terms straight away, whilst she is still comparing shops. If a question goes beyond the scope of the knowledge base, the AI manager forwards the conversation to Taras or Sofia along with the entire chat history, and the manager can see which objections have already been raised.
People are left with phone calls and difficult conversations – exactly what you were checking during the audit. So, your team’s work on handling objections will begin with 20 conversations this week: the table will show which objection is costing your team the most. If the missed messages include late-night enquiries via Direct about price, delivery and returns, you can reply to them without delay as early as tomorrow evening.
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Frequently asked questions
How should you respond to a customer who says "that’s too expensive"?
First, clarify what the customer is comparing it to: another shop, their budget or their expectations. The response depends on this: explain the difference in the product, suggest a cheaper model or an instalment plan. Offering a discount right from the off encourages customers to say “it’s too expensive” every time.
How many times can you address the same objection?
Clarify the matter once and respond once. If, after that, the customer repeats the same thing, they are either not ready to buy at the moment or are hiding another reason. In that case, it is better to arrange a follow-up and note the reason in the CRM than to press the issue a third time.
Is it possible to have a bot in the chat handle replies to objections?
To some extent. The AI manager handles objections well when a fact from the knowledge base is required: price including delivery, return policy, availability, warranty. Objections relating to trust, family decisions or non-standard conditions are best referred to a human, along with the chat history.
