Objection Map — what they say vs what they mean

Objections are rarely what they sound like. "Too expensive" usually means "I don't believe it will work for me" — against certainty, almost any price looks reasonable. Teams that answer the stated objection keep meeting it again. The map finds the real objection underneath and answers that, once, everywhere it matters.

Inputs

• Raw objections from anywhere — call notes, lost-deal reasons, reply threads, review complaints: $ARGUMENTS
• From marketing-brief.md if present: the existing objections & beliefs section, the offer (price, risk reversal), recorded proof and results, and the language bank. The map updates the brief, so read what is already there first.

Do this

1. Collect and keep verbatim. List every objection from $ARGUMENTS and the brief in the buyer's own words. Paraphrase destroys the diagnostic detail.
2. Sort stated from real. For each, name what is actually being said underneath. Four roots cover most of it:
   • Don't believe the result is real.
   • Don't believe it works for my case.
   • Don't trust you yet.
   • Don't feel any urgency. Tag each objection with its root — the response is written to the root, not the wording.
3. Rank by revenue impact. Which objections appear in the most — or the biggest — stalled and lost deals? The top three get the deepest work.
4. Write the answer-first response to each: the direct answer in one sentence, then the reframe, then the proof — from the brief only. Where the proof does not exist yet, log it as a proof debt to go create; never fabricate it.
5. Assign each objection a kill point: where it should be pre-handled — landing page FAQ, email sequence, ad copy, sales call. An objection answered before it is voiced converts better than one handled live.
6. Write the library to marketing-brief.md. Update the objections & beliefs section under The customer: verbatim objection, real objection, rank, response, proof used, kill point — dated. The brief entry is the durable artefact; the chat output is just the readout.

Output

The objection library, ranked: what they say, what they mean, the answer-first response, the proof behind it, and where to kill it. Plus the proof-debt list — objections that lack the evidence a confident answer needs. All written into marketing-brief.md for every future session and skill to draw on.

Rules

• Evidence over invention: a confident answer with fabricated proof loses the deal twice — now, and again when they check.
• Answer first, context second. Buyers read the first sentence and skim the rest.
• An objection that keeps surviving a good answer is an offer or targeting problem wearing a wording costume. Say so.
• Some objections are disqualifiers. Do not write clever responses for buyers who should be politely released.