Executive TLDR
Not all objections are rejection — many are concerns
Listen empathetically before responding
Restate objections to uncover the real issue
Practice objection handling consistently
Use proven language like “feel, felt, found”
Confirm resolution, then transition smoothly
Video Summary
Steve Rizza emphasizes that strong sales skills are essential for success in Primerica. Starting his career in 1993, he quickly realized that mastering sales was necessary for growth. He immersed himself in personal development, studying leaders like Tom Hopkins to sharpen his abilities.
He outlines the “anatomy of overcoming objections.” First, distinguish between excuses and legitimate concerns. Excuses are resistance; concerns can be addressed. The first step is empathetic listening — allowing the client to feel fully understood without interruption.
Second, restate the concern in question form. For example, instead of reacting defensively to “Is this a pyramid?”, ask, “What do you mean by a pyramid?” This invites clarification and deeper understanding.
Third, determine the importance of the concern by asking how significant it is to them.
Fourth, answer the concern using proven frameworks. Rizza directs reps to Keith Otto’s objection training resources on Primerica Online. But knowledge alone is not enough. Practice is required. He compares this discipline to Michael Jordan, who mastered his craft through repetition before and after practice.
He uses the tool belt analogy: having multiple objection-handling techniques is critical, but applying the correct one matters just as much. The worst mistake is not using the tools at all.
He introduces phrases like “so in other words” to clarify understanding and the “feel, felt, found” framework to connect emotionally and transition effectively. After addressing a concern, always confirm resolution before moving forward.
Finally, use neutral transition phrases like “by the way” to change gears and guide the conversation toward action, such as scheduling an FNA or getting started.
His message is clear: objections are opportunities. With structure, empathy, and repetition, you can control the conversation and increase your effectiveness.
FAQs
What is the first step in overcoming objections?
Listen empathetically and fully understand the concern before responding.
Why restate objections as questions?
It clarifies the real issue and prevents defensive reactions.
Where can reps learn structured objection responses?
Through training resources on Primerica Online, including sessions led by Keith Otto.
What is the “feel, felt, found” method?
A framework that acknowledges feelings, relates shared experience, and explains positive outcomes.
Why is practice emphasized?
Because sales skills improve through repetition and disciplined rehearsal.
Glossary
Empathetic Listening – Listening in a way that makes the other person feel understood and validated.
Objection Handling – A structured method of addressing client concerns to guide decision-making.
Feel, Felt, Found – A sales communication framework for building trust and overcoming hesitation.
FNA (Financial Needs Analysis) – A structured review of a client’s financial situation and goals.
Tool Belt Concept – The idea that sales techniques are tools that must be practiced and applied correctly.
Video Summary
00:00
I’m glad I got the opportunity to go a little bit after Shari, because I’m really going to piggyback on what she talked about. If you noticed in the fundamentals, it’s very important to have sales skills. Now, when I came on board, you know, May of 1993 was my first meeting, and I used to work in the field of television production, and I never wanted to be a salesperson, but I did realize early that was one of the skills I was going to need to develop. So I immersed myself in that. And went to a lot of personal development programs, and one of them was that went several times was Tom Hopkins. Back in the day, he was the premier sales trainer.
00:45
And what I want to do over the next short while is talk to you about some things perhaps that you can use to help improve your sales skills on a daily basis. So let’s get right into it. So we’re going to talk to you about the anatomy of overcoming objections. Now, let me just share this with you really quick. If someone is objecting, there’s probably not a whole lot you can do to overcome that person, because all they’re really doing is making excuses on why they shouldn’t try to be different than everybody else. But when someone has legitimate areas of concern, questions, you could help overcome those to help them make a decision that’s in their best interest. So there’s steps to the process. So the first step when someone has a legitimate area of concern is you really need to hear people out.
01:41
Okay, we heard about it before. The best type of listener that you could be is an empathetic listener. What is an empathetic listener? Well, the person you’re speaking with says to themselves, wow, I sincerely feel that person feels the way I feel. That’s how you need to listen. So you need to develop the discipline of waiting until you’re sure you’re hearing the real concern. Don’t interrupt people. And then what you want to do, if possible, is to try to bypass that concern until the end of your presentation. For example, I understand your concern, Jack, if it’s okay, can I make a note of that and make sure I cover it by the end of my presentation? Because a lot of times you will answer the concern. But remember this, if they bring it up again, that’s a problem. You need to address it.
02:41
Second step is you need to feed it back. Restate their concern in the form of a question. Make them elaborate, explain, defend, or clarify their concern. For example, is it a pyramid? What do you mean by a pyramid? A lot of us right away, Is it a pyramid? You put up your dukes and you’re ready to fight? Okay, what do you mean by a pyramid? Well, it’s one of those things where you have to get people. Is that something that you’re comfortable with right away? We assume that they’re not comfortable with that. But what if they were looking for an opportunity because they knew someone who was very successful in a business like that? What if they want to get people and get paid off their efforts? So you don’t want to just stop that just because you think it’s bad.
03:30
The next step is you need to question the importance that is to that person, that concern. Ask how important this concern really is. For example, to continue on, this same concern is whether or not you have to get people a major concern for you. And by the way, once you have this formula in your head on how to do this, it doesn’t really matter what the objection is. You can go overcome anything. Then you need to answer the concern. Now, you must choose from your menu of overcoming objections that is most suitable for this concern. Right? You have a whole menu of how to overcome objections. Well, where do you find this? Well, you go to Primerica Online, you go to the on Demand section, and our leader, Senior national sales director Keith Otto, has a whole video on every objection you could get.
04:24
So guess what you do? You go there, but you don’t just watch it. You know what you do? You get together with someone else and you practice the objections. You practice them. See, once you have the skills and you have the tool belt with the skills in them, so to speak, you need to practice and do it right. Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player that ever lived. Right? Other people could shoot just as well as him. Others could run faster. Others maybe could jump higher. But you know what others didn’t do? Others didn’t show up an hour before practice and stay an hour after practice. They didn’t do that. Right? So you need to put in the time, practice, drill, rehearse, and then you need to use the skills correctly, right? Imagine a carpenter, a handyman, or a handy woman.
05:12
They have a tool belt. Maybe there’s a hammer in the tool belt. Maybe there’s a screwdriver in the tool belt. Or imagine you go into screw a screw into a piece of wood and you just take the hammer and keep hammering it instead of, no, that doesn’t work. Or what if you’re putting in tiles on a roofing tiles, you’re supposed to hammer. Instead, you take out your screwdriver and you try and screw. No, that doesn’t work. So you need to have the tools and the skills and you need to use them properly. The worst thing you could do though, is to not use them. That’s the worst. Okay, so you must pick from your array of overcoming objections. Now, here are a couple of terminologies you want to keep in your tool belt. Number one is the word so in other words.
05:59
And the other is feel, felt, found. Let me give you a couple of examples. Examples. So in other words, if you could make money without having to get people involved, you’d give it a try. I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I got started. But what I found out is building a team is fun and exciting and your coach is going to help you every step of the way. So if we can help you make money and build a team, you’d give it a try. And then you need to confirm the answer that gives you permission to go on, so to speak. So after you answer the concern, always confirm the fact you’ve answered the question or surprisingly, they’re going to bring it up again. For example, don’t you feel better about that now?
06:42
Or you feel better about that now, don’t you? And lastly, change gears. You need to use mentally take people elsewhere by using the mind neutralizing words for changing to a new subject. And that is the words. By the way, examples. By the way, why don’t we schedule your fna? By the way, all we need to do is get started. All we need to do to get you started is to log into Primerica website. By the way, who’s the most ambitious person that you know that you’d like to be on your team? So anyway, I just want to thank you guys for the opportunity. Stay focused, pay attention, let it rip.
