Objections & Plays
A living reference of objections raised by prospects and the counter-plays that moved deals forward. Source: Sales Call Notes — March.md. See also Sales Pipeline — Overview.
Objection 1 — "Our POS already has inventory — why a separate tool?"
Raised by: Urban Kitchen (Procurement lead Doyeon Kim) Sales Call Notes — March.md
The concern: The prospect felt their existing POS system already handled inventory, making an additional tool seem redundant.
The play:
- Clarified that POS inventory only deducts on sale — it does not handle ordering, expiry tracking, or cross-store comparison.
- Ran a cross-store dashboard demo on the spot to make the gap visible.
Outcome: Objection overcome. Prospect agreed to a 2-week pilot in 3 stores. Sales Call Notes — March.md
*"Our POS already has inventory — why a separate tool?"* — Doyeon Kim, Urban Kitchen Sales Call Notes — March.md
Objection 2 — "My staff won't adopt a new tool"
Raised by: Green Mart (CEO Hyunwoo Jung) Sales Call Notes — March.md
The concern: A hands-on CEO worried about change management and low adoption among store staff.
The play:
- Emphasized voice and photo capture features that allow entries to be organized with minimal training.
- Positioned the tool as low-friction, not a process overhaul.
Outcome: Objection softened. Next step shifted to a spoilage-baseline measurement to build an ROI case rather than immediate adoption pressure. Sales Call Notes — March.md
*"My staff won't adopt a new tool"* — Hyunwoo Jung, Green Mart Sales Call Notes — March.md
Pattern Summary
General Principles (from these calls)
- Show, don't tell: A live demo (cross-store dashboard) was more effective than explanation alone against the redundancy objection. Sales Call Notes — March.md
- Reduce friction first: For adoption concerns, lead with the easiest capture methods (voice/photo) before discussing full feature depth. Sales Call Notes — March.md
- Make the cost visible: For low-urgency prospects like Green Mart, a concrete spoilage report that quantifies losses creates urgency better than feature pitches. Sales Call Notes — March.md
Competitive Context
| Competitor | Account | Note |
|---|---|---|
| StockFlow | Urban Kitchen | Evaluated but considered priced too high Sales Call Notes — March.md |
| Spreadsheets (status quo) | Urban Kitchen | Current free solution; cross-store comparison gap is the wedge Sales Call Notes — March.md |
| None specific | Green Mart | Status quo / gut-feel ordering; low urgency is the main hurdle Sales Call Notes — March.md |