Sales Just Got Harder — Here’s How to Handle “Let’s Push This Out, Put This On Hold” Objection
In today’s climate, sales is tougher than ever. Decision makers are anxious. Budgets are under scrutiny. Priorities shift weekly. And that all-too-familiar objection is showing up more often:
“We need to postpone this.”
“Let’s revisit in a few months.”
“ We need to pump the brakes on this project/ proposal until the economy settles.”
“ Let’s get together in a few months when the dust settles.”
Or worse… total ghosting…not replying or agreeing to discuss orders we expected and agreed on, but have not come in.
But here’s the truth:
When a customer delays, it’s not always about timing—it’s often about uncertainty, lack of urgency, avoiding risk, or unclear value.
At a basic level, it is about fear. When we become afraid, the creative and critical thinking parts of our brains turn off, and we move into fight-or-flight mode. Our singular focus is on how to handle fear. How do we mitigate risk?
Research shows we have two types of decision makers: To and Away. Buyers who want to be innovative and see challenges as opportunities for growth represent 25% of buyers. Away buyers are focused on reducing risk; they represent 75% of buyers. The majority of buyers focus on making decisions that involve the least risk. Therefore, in uncertain times, this group of decision makers often chooses to do nothing or wait until they feel safe.
As we meet with organizations, we are hearing common fears like…
Will reciprocal tariffs drive our economy into a recession?
World events have interrupted the supply of critical minerals we need for our products. How will we meet our customers’ needs?
How will the economy and world events impact our customers? ..and their customers?
Will we experience supply chain interruptions, and how will that impact our customer satisfaction?
What can we control in this uncertain VUCA environment?
How long will this last?
What do we need to do to weather the storm?
What do we need to do to come out of this stronger?
Sales Just Got Harder!
If we want to close sales in this environment, we can’t wait for the fog to lift. We need better strategies and skills. Here are five ways to handle buying delays and keep deals moving forward.
- Lead with Empathy—But Don’t Disappear
The first rule? Don’t push harder. But don’t vanish either. Untrained sales reps who pitch slap customers and prospects to win orders will do more damage than good. What does every decision-maker want to avoid? A pushy sales rep is more concerned with hitting their sales quota than helping create an impact. In our handling objections sales training, we train salespeople to handle objections professionally and not try to overcome them.
Acknowledge their concern:
“I totally understand—many of our clients are navigating uncertainty too.”
Then transition with value:
“That’s why many choose to move forward with [solution]. Can I share how they’re approaching this decision despite the current climate? And share some early success stories?”
This positions you as someone who understands and can help them lead through complexity.
- Quantify the Cost of Waiting
Decision makers rarely calculate the cost of inaction. When we conducted win-loss interviews, we discovered that sales logged in the CRM as lost to a competitor were lost to no decision. More sales are lost to no decision than to competitors. When trained salespeople conduct discovery calls, they gather customer goals and desired outcomes. As salespeople, we must help customers see it:
- “What’s the monthly impact of this problem if left unaddressed?”
- “What opportunities might be missed during the delay?”
- “ When we first met, you shared that fixing this issue would save your organization $120,000 per year, right? So, every month we wait, it costs your organization at least $10,000 ( probably more)…
- In our first meeting, you shared that your team needed more leads that turn into conversations and ultimately revenue. This would be a great time to kick off the lead gen project when your competitors are waiting for the dust to settle.”
- “What happens if competitors act while you wait?”
- “ Have you experienced that in the past? What happened? How long did it take to recover?”
Don’t threaten—just guide them to recognize that postponing might actually increase their risk. We train salespeople to build and deliver a strong business case. Sales must share outcomes and impact the customer’s desired goals.
- Break the Decision Into Smaller Steps
Sometimes, the full commitment feels too heavy. When we train salespeople, we refer to this as “chunking it.” In the current climate of fear and risk avoidance, large commitments are even harder to win. As the zeros grow on the investment, so too does hesitation. I suggest you chunk your solution into smaller, less-cost, less-risk commitments.
Offer a lower-friction path:
- A pilot program
- A discovery workshop to determine smaller steps to the desired outcome
- A phased rollout
- A conditional agreement pending specific events
- A performance-based agreement
- If a Consumer Product offer financing
Reducing the perceived risk often unlocks stalled deals. Chunking investments into bite-sized agreements keeps sales moving to a close.
- Use Value Conversations
If they’re ghosting or stalling, shift the conversation away from the proposal and toward a conversation to collaborate. We aim to make suggestions and listen to the customers’ advice and coaching to help them.
“Let’s forget about the proposal for a second—what’s happening inside your org right now?”
Or:
“If you had to make one move this quarter to protect growth, what would it be?”
These value-led conversations often rekindle interest and remind customers why you’re different from the other vendors they’re ghosting. When all the other untrained sales reps fill your customers’ emails and voicemails with pushy sales tactics, you ask them to reset and work together to help them and their businesses navigate this challenging time.
- Create a Mutual Action Plan
If delay is truly necessary, don’t leave the next steps vague. In some cases, we are hearing spending freezes directed from the C Suite. Assuming we have created a strong business case that demonstrated a strong ROI and a short payback period, and they share that they cannot invest now, keep the conversation moving.
Instead, co-create a simple action plan:
- What milestones will we revisit and when?
- What needs to be true for this to move forward?
- Who else needs to be involved?
Putting a delayed deal on track—even a slow one—keeps it from falling off completely. Untrained salespeople will quit and move on. We train salespeople to understand the customers in discovery and qualifying, and if the timeline is extended, we adjust our follow-up cadence, not disappear. Untrained salespeople quit too often and too early.
Final Thought: Deals Don’t Die from “No”—They Die from “Not Now”
In tough times, the best sellers don’t just chase interest—they create momentum. They replace pushiness with patience and structure. They don’t retreat when they hear “delay”—they lean into deeper discovery.
Have your salespeople received sales skills training?
Does your sales team have strong discovery skills to keep conversations moving to a commitment?
Can your salespeople have value-based outcome conversations?
Do your salespeople know how to design and deliver a business case to create a budget?
Because the reality is: selling in uncertain times isn’t just harder—it’s different. And the reps who adapt their approach will be the ones who win in the long run.
Let’s schedule a call if you want to know if your sales team has the skills and mindset to navigate and close sales in uncertain times.