# New-Hire Objection Handling Onboarding Toolkit

> A 10-working-day, day-by-day ramp plan that takes a new rep from zero to certified on objection handling: scripts, roleplay drills, grading rubrics, and two hard-gate quizzes included.

Free toolkit for sales managers. Topic: [Objection Handling](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/topic/objection-handling/). Published by PeerLab in the [Sales Enablement Resource Library](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/). Source: https://www.peerlab.ai/library/new-hire-objection-handling-onboarding-toolkit/

## How to use it

Print the Day 1 handout and grading rubric, run the roleplay drills live with a manager scoring each rep against the rubric, and treat the two quizzes as hard gates, a new hire does not take unsupervised live calls until both are passed.

## What's inside

- Day-by-day 10-day onboarding schedule (Day 1 through certification Day 10)
- The 6 Objection Families reference card
- The A-L-E-R-T rebuttal framework with a word-for-word script skeleton
- 5 fully-scripted roleplay drill scenarios, one per objection family
- A 4-criteria roleplay grading rubric (1–4 scale)
- An Objection Log tracking template with required fields
- Week 1 written quiz, 10 questions plus answer key
- Certification quiz, 15 questions plus answer key
- 30/60/90-day manager check-in script

A 10-working-day (two calendar week) ramp plan. Manager runs it; new hire works through it. Nobody takes an unsupervised live call until they pass Day 10 certification.

## The 6 Objection Families (hand this out Day 1)

1. **Price / Budget**: "too expensive," "no budget for this"
2. **Trust / Risk**: "never heard of you," "what if it doesn't work"
3. **Timing / Priority**: "not right now," "call me next quarter"
4. **Authority**, "I need to check with..."
5. **Competitor / Status Quo**: "we already use X," "we're fine"
6. **Stall / Vague**: "send me info," "let me think about it"

Every objection a rep will ever hear collapses into one of these six. Memorizing the family is step one, it tells you which response pattern to reach for.

## Core Framework: A-L-E-R-T

| Step | What it means | Script skeleton |
|---|---|---|
| **A**cknowledge | Validate without apologizing or arguing | "That's a fair point / I hear that a lot." |
| **L**abel | Name which family this is, out loud if useful | "Sounds like the real question is about [price/timing/proof]." |
| **E**xplore | Ask ONE open question to isolate the real objection | "When you say X, is that the only thing holding you back, or is there more?" |
| **R**espond | Reframe + one proof point, matched to the family | "Here's what similar teams found..." |
| **T**rial-close | Check the objection is actually gone before moving on | "Does that answer it, or is there still a piece I haven't covered?" |

## Day-by-Day Ramp Schedule

**Day 1, Orientation.** Hand out the 6 Families card. New hire shadows 3 live/recorded calls, logging every objection heard in the Objection Log (template below). No talking on calls yet.

**Day 2, Framework + Drill 1 (Price).** New hire must recite A-L-E-R-T from memory before starting. Manager runs Roleplay Scenario 1 five times back to back, scoring each rep with the grading rubric.

**Day 3, Drill 2 (Trust).** Roleplay Scenario 2, five reps. Plus: shadow 2 more calls, logging only Trust-family objections.

**Day 4, Drill 3 (Timing).** Roleplay Scenario 3, five reps.

**Day 5, Quiz #1.** Written, 10 questions (below). Must score 8/10 to proceed to Week 2. Below 8/10: repeat Day 2–4 drills over the weekend before continuing.

**Day 6, Drill 4 (Authority).** Roleplay Scenario 4, five reps. New hire shadows with a side-channel (chat) coaching feed from the manager during a live call.

**Day 7, Drill 5 (Competitor / Status Quo).** Roleplay Scenario 5, five reps.

**Day 8, Drill 6 (Stall) + first live calls.** Roleplay a stall scenario, then new hire takes their first 1–2 live calls with the manager silently listening in.

**Day 9, Live call review.** Review 2 of the new hire's own calls against the grading rubric. New hire self-scores first, then compares against the manager's score.

**Day 10, Certification.** Cold roleplay: 5 back-to-back objections, unscripted, drawn randomly from all 6 families, graded on the rubric. Plus the 15-question certification quiz. Passing both = eligible for Bronze certification (see the *Objection Handling Certification Rubric*).

## Roleplay Drill Scenarios (word-for-word customer lines)

**Scenario 1: Price:** "Look, this all sounds great, but there's just no way we have budget for this right now."

**Scenario 2: Trust:** "Honestly, I've never heard of your company before this call."

**Scenario 3, Timing:** "This looks interesting, can you just follow up with me in Q3?"

**Scenario 4: Authority:** "I like it, but I'd need our VP to sign off on this."

**Scenario 5, Competitor:** "We've been using [Competitor] for three years. It's fine."

## Roleplay Grading Rubric (score each 1–4)

| Criterion | 1, Skipped | 2, Weak | 3, Solid | 4, Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge (no defensiveness) | | | | |
| Isolate (confirms it's the real objection) | | | | |
| Reframe (uses proof/story/data) | | | | |
| Trial-close (verifies resolution) | | | | |

**Certification threshold:** average ≥3.0 across all 5 scenarios, AND no single criterion scored below 2 on any scenario.

## Objection Log Template

| Date | Call / Deal | Objection (verbatim) | Family | Response used | Outcome | Manager note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

## Quiz #1, Week 1 (10 questions)

1. What does the "A" in A-L-E-R-T stand for? a) Argue b) Acknowledge c) Avoid d) Assume, **Answer: b**
2. "Just send me some info" belongs to which family? a) Price b) Stall/Vague c) Trust d) Authority, **Answer: b**
3. True/False: You should isolate an objection before responding to it. **Answer: True**
4. Which of these is NOT one of the 6 objection families? a) Timing b) Authority c) Personality d) Trust, **Answer: c**
5. What is the purpose of a trial close after responding to an objection? **Answer: to confirm the objection is actually resolved before moving forward**
6. Fill in the blank: "I hear you: and if I'm honest, most people say something similar before they see ______." **Answer: the results / how it actually works**
7. A prospect objects on price. What should you do FIRST? a) Discount b) Isolate c) Walk away d) Escalate, **Answer: b**
8. True/False: an unresolved stall objection almost never means the real objection has surfaced yet. **Answer: True**
9. "We already do this in-house" maps to which family? **Answer: Competitor / Status Quo**
10. Write the correct order of A-L-E-R-T. **Answer: Acknowledge, Label, Explore, Respond, Trial-close**

## Certification Quiz, Day 10 (15 questions)

1. Name all 6 objection families. **Answer: Price/Budget, Trust/Risk, Timing/Priority, Authority, Competitor/Status Quo, Stall/Vague**
2. True/False: reciting a memorized rebuttal word-for-word is sufficient at Bronze level. **Answer: True (Bronze only, Silver requires adaptation)**
3. What question isolates whether price is the ONLY objection? **Answer: "Is that the only thing holding you back, or is there more?" (or equivalent)**
4. A prospect says "send me a proposal." What should you ask before sending it? **Answer: what specifically they want the proposal to address (price, fit, proof, etc.)**
5. What's the risk of responding to an objection without isolating it first? **Answer: you may resolve the stated objection while the real one goes unaddressed**
6. True/False: a stall objection that recurs after being "handled" once was likely never actually resolved. **Answer: True**
7. Give one example of a proactive (preventive) objection response. **Answer: naming the price range in a voicemail before the prospect asks**
8. What should a rep do if the same objection resurfaces a second time in a call? **Answer: change the proof point/angle rather than repeat the same rebuttal**
9. Roleplay (graded live): handle an unscripted Price objection. 
10. Roleplay (graded live): handle an unscripted Trust objection.
11. Roleplay (graded live): handle an unscripted Timing objection.
12. Roleplay (graded live): handle an unscripted Authority objection.
13. Roleplay (graded live): handle an unscripted Competitor objection.
14. What is the passing threshold on the roleplay rubric? **Answer: average ≥3.0, no criterion below 2**
15. What resource governs your next certification tier after Bronze? **Answer: the Objection Handling Certification Rubric (Silver/Gold)**

## 30/60/90-Day Manager Check-In

- **Day 30:** "Walk me through the last 3 objections you handled: what family, what response, what happened?"
- **Day 60:** "Which objection family still trips you up? Let's roleplay it right now."
- **Day 90:** "You're eligible for Silver certification, let's schedule your assessment."