Handling technical objections

The old Feel‑Felt‑Found pattern still works because it does something specific: it acknowledges the concern (feel), normalises it (felt — others have raised this), then resolves it with evidence (found), rather than contradicting the buyer directly, which triggers defensiveness. For genuinely technical objections, add a step zero: confirm you understood the objection correctly before responding — technical people, more than most, disengage fast from someone answering a question they didn't ask.

Competitive positioning, done ethically

Never disparage a named competitor directly — it reads as insecurity to a sophisticated buyer and it's a fast way to lose credibility with a technical evaluator who may respect that competitor's engineering. Instead:

• Position on fit, not superiority — "here's where we're strongest for a business shaped like yours"
• Ask questions that surface real differentiators through the buyer's own evaluation, rather than asserting them
• Know competitors' genuine strengths, not just their weaknesses — it's the only way to be credible when a smart buyer already knows those strengths
• Watch for "landmines" — capabilities or requirements you can truthfully highlight that a competitor structurally can't match, seeded early enough to shape the decision criteria (Module 06) before the RFP is even written

Keep a living battlecard per major competitor — their strengths, real weaknesses, typical objections raised against you, and your best proof points — built from actual win/loss history, not assumption. Template at Template 7. For a structured way to go deeper than Feel‑Felt‑Found on a technical objection, see the sheet that follows this module.