What to Say When Someone Says “I Don’t Have the Money”

This week I'm talking about what to say when someone tells you "I don't have the money" on a sales call - and the two other objections hiding right behind it.

You know the call I mean. It felt like a perfect fit, the energy was there, and then the next-day email arrives saying they've decided not to do this after all. Somewhere between the call ending and that decision landing, they talked themselves out of it - and most of us have no idea what actually happened in that gap.

Three objections turn up on sales calls again and again, and each one is usually a stand-in for something else. "I don't have the money" is often "I'm not choosing to prioritise this as an investment." "I don't have the time" could be five different things wearing the same sentence. And "I need to think about it" was never something to overcome in the first place - it's a request for more certainty.

So this episode is about the questions, not the statements, that let someone find their own real answer - even when that answer is no.

Selling is being of service. When it's coming from a place of helping someone make an informed decision, it can never feel gross.

Highlights(00:32) - the sales-call objection Polly refuses to solve with a payment plan

(02:13) - why "can we split the payment?" is the worst thing to say next

(03:00) - the one question to ask instead, and the single most useful line in the whole episode

(04:24) - the five different things "I don't have the time" can actually mean

(07:45) - why "I need to think about it" isn't an objection to overcome

(09:29) - the real job of a sales call, and why "no" still counts as a win

To find out more: