7 Postcard Sales Objections and Exactly How to Answer Them

Hey, real talk. Every operator hits the same wall around slot five or six. The pitch is fine, the neighborhood is good, and then a business owner says "how many customers will I actually get?" and you freeze. You do not have an answer, so you mumble something about impressions and the deal dies right there. Here is the thing. There are only about seven postcard sales objections in this entire business. Seven. You will hear the same ones over and over for the rest of your career. Once you have a real answer for each, the whole thing gets dramatically easier. Let me hand you all seven with the exact responses that actually close, including the ones I give members directly.

This is the reference post. Bookmark it and come back before every call.

Objection 1: "How many customers will I get?"

This is the hardest one for beginners because you cannot guarantee anything, and you should not try.

The move is to redirect to social proof instead of promising a number. If you have not mailed a card yet, borrow proof. That is not a trick, it is exactly what I tell members to do before their first card.

Here is the sequence I give someone on card #1:

1. Join Our Local Spotlight so you have a real partner network behind you.
2. Tell the prospect: "We've got partners doing this all around the country. This is just our first time doing it in this location."
3. Ask other operators in the community for testimonials and results you can reference.
4. Deliver it like this: "Over on the [Town] card, they had a limousine company that got 45 calls the first weekend cards went out. Because it's our first month in this specific location, you get first dibs to own your industry before it becomes a battle."

That last line is the whole play. You are turning "I have no track record here" into "you get to be first."

Once you have run a card, you use your own proof. Lucy's Amish butcher left her a voicemail she still uses. His actual words:

Yes, this is Mike. I just wanted to let you know that the ad or the flyers that we ran are working. I had six phone calls today. I was able to sell half a beef and half of a hog and some other meats. I really think it's gonna work. I appreciate the effort you put in.

Ryan's dumpster rental client booked 3 jobs in days. Those jobs paid for the ad spot 7 times over, and the client immediately asked when the next mailer was going out. Darin had an advertiser trace a full furnace purchase and installation to a single 6.5-cent impression.

Never promise customers. Promise exposure and then show them what exposure did for somebody else. Proof closes. Predictions get you in trouble.

Objection 2: "It's too expensive"

The most common objection, and the easiest to handle once you stop apologizing for the number.

Go straight to the unit math. Jp's entire close on this is one line: "Then I sell the 10 cents per house price." $500 across 5,000 homes is a dime a door. Say it exactly that way. "It works out to about 10 cents per household. You cannot mail a single letter for that."

Do not discount. My standing advice on this: I encourage you not to discount your prices unless you are really getting desperate. The one exception is a genuinely well-known business in town that you can use as social proof to tell every other prospect they already joined. That is worth a discount. Nothing else is.

But be honest with yourself about real budget limits. Some businesses simply do not have the money. Some go through rough months just like everyone, and $500 would be too much to risk. That is okay. Do not pressure someone into a spot they cannot afford, because they will resent it and never renew.

Down-sell instead of discounting. This is one of my favorite moves. If someone cannot do $500 on the 9x12, offer them a community card slot instead. It keeps them in your ecosystem at a price they can handle, and they often graduate to the 9x12 once they see it work.

Objection 3: "I already do Facebook ads"

Do not attack digital. Position the card as the thing digital cannot do.

The frame: digital is a renter's game. The second you stop paying, you disappear completely. A 9x12 sits on the kitchen counter or the fridge for weeks. It is sticky physical real estate that keeps working after the spend stops.

Here is the script I give members, originally written for an "uncertain economy" objection but it handles the digital-ads pushback just as well:

Sounds like a great time to utilize a tried and true marketing strategy while consumers are still willing to spend, before it's too late. If all this uncertainty is true, surely you don't want to be sitting in an empty store 3 months down the line regretting not focusing on sticky marketing efforts like this 9x12 to build a customer base that will last through tough times.

And it works in practice. Pamela pitched a roofer who was already running Facebook ads. He bought an entire postcard from her on the spot.

The other half of the answer: "Keep running your Facebook ads. This isn't instead of that. When someone sees your ad on Facebook and then gets your coupon in the mail, that's two touchpoints instead of one. The businesses that do best are the ones showing up in multiple places."

Objection 4: "I tried postcards before and they didn't work"

Almost always, what they tried was a coupon pack. Your job is to separate your product from that entirely.

My reframe, verbatim:

As a business owner I know I'd prefer to be on the 9x12 rather than that thing that's just full of like 50 different ads. Our 9x12s are pretty, uncrammed, and give a proper amount of exposure. That thing is just a jumble of ads. It's not about the size of the card, it's about the motion in the promotion.

The math argument is simple. Coupon packs drown a business among 30 or more competitors. Your card has 16 slots with one business per industry and real category exclusivity. Different format, different math, different result.

If you want to close it hard, put the two side by side physically. Bob closed a pizza place at $500 by doing exactly that. He held up a coupon pack next to a 9x12 and let the owner look. The comparison did the selling for him.

Objection 5: "Let me think about it" / "Send me more info"

This one kills more deals than any actual "no," because operators treat it as a soft rejection and walk away.

Do not let warm leads die in the inbox. My follow-up line:

Hey, just circling back on that community postcard going to 5,000 homes in your area. Still have a couple spots open if you're interested.

And the mindset: these are very busy people. If they disappear for a bit, it is just because we are such a small part of their busy business. You have to keep following up.

The sale almost never closes on the first touch. It closes on the second, third, or fourth follow-up.

Brett is the proof. His lead came in on February 7th. He replied immediately, then followed up four more times across three weeks and heard nothing. On February 28th, the prospect emailed him out of nowhere asking for a double-ad mockup. He closed it March 1st after 7 ad tweaks, and the front of his card sold out.

When someone has verbally committed but is stalling on payment, use this phone script:

Hey [Name], you mentioned you wanted to join the card this month. I'm giving you a call out of courtesy because we're experiencing a lot of demand at the moment. I don't want you to lose the slot to one of your competitors before you commit, since this is exclusive like we talked about. Did you get the invoice I sent you, or should I send it over again?

That is respectful, it is honest, and it reintroduces the scarcity that made them say yes in the first place.

Objection 6: "Not interested"

The flat no. Here is the mindset shift that makes this easy.

Turn that mindset around. You should look forward to that first "no, not interested." Because every single time you get one, you are that much closer to a yes.

Tactically: do not argue. Ask for a referral instead.

And before I let you go, who do you know that might benefit from this?

That single question turns a dead call into a lead more often than you would think. The person who just said no has no reason to protect their competitor down the street, and they often feel a little bad about the no.

The one exception worth flagging is the "I'm on the National Do Not Call list" line, which realtors use constantly. My honest read on that: a realtor on the National Do Not Call list is the funniest and most ironic thing I have ever heard. He probably hears it all the time and decided to use it on you, and probably is not even on there. But just note that number to never call again and you will be fine. Do not fight it.

Objection 7: "What's the price?" (asked too early)

This one is a trap, and how you handle it depends entirely on the channel.

In email, do not give the price in the first message. The email-only pitch is a question, not an offer. You are asking if they would be interested in being on a community mailer. The price comes after they respond with interest. Leading with $500 in a cold email gives them a reason to delete it before they understand what they are getting.

On the phone, give it. If they ask on a call, answer immediately and pair it with exclusivity, the way Ben does in his script: "$550 to reach 10,000 houses, and it's exclusive." Dodging a direct question on a live call makes you sound shady.

Either way, when you do give the number, lead with reach first and price second. "Your ad goes to 5,000 homes, every door, and you'd be the only [their industry] on the card. The slot is $500." By the time the number lands, they have already valued it higher.

The objection cheat sheet

Full transparency, the full objection library with the situational variations lives inside the 9x12 Method community, along with real call recordings where members work through these live. You do not need to join to use the seven answers above, which cover the overwhelming majority of what you will hear. The community is the support layer for the weird ones that do not fit the pattern.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I say when a business asks how many customers a postcard will bring?

Never promise a number. Redirect to social proof from other operators instead. If you have not mailed yet, borrow results: "Over on the [Town] card, a limousine company got 45 calls the first weekend. Because it's our first month in this location, you get first dibs on your industry." Once you have your own results, use them. Lucy's butcher got 6 calls the day the card landed and sold half a beef and half a hog.

How do I handle the $500 is too expensive objection?

Go to the unit math immediately: "$500 across 5,000 homes is about 10 cents per household. You cannot mail a single letter for that." Avoid discounting, since it teaches every future prospect your pricing is soft. If the business genuinely cannot afford it, down-sell them to a community card slot instead so they stay in your ecosystem and can graduate to the 9x12 later.

What if the business says they already run Facebook ads?

Do not attack digital. Frame it as complementary and emphasize what digital cannot do: "Digital is renting. The second you stop paying, you disappear. A 9x12 sits on the kitchen counter for weeks." Then add that multiple touchpoints beat one. Pamela pitched a roofer who was already running Facebook ads and he bought an entire postcard from her on the spot.

How do I respond to "I tried postcards before and they didn't work"?

Separate your product from coupon packs, which is almost always what they actually tried. Coupon packs cram 30 or more competing businesses onto one piece. Your card has 16 slots with one business per industry and real category exclusivity. If you can, show them physically. Bob closed a pizza place at $500 by holding a coupon pack next to a 9x12 and letting the owner see the difference.

How many times should I follow up on "let me think about it"?

At least four touches across three weeks, and often more. The sale almost never closes on the first touch. Brett's lead came in February 7th, he followed up four more times over three weeks with total silence, and on February 28th the prospect emailed asking for a mockup. He closed March 1st and the front of his card sold out. Log every follow-up date in a CRM so warm leads do not get forgotten.

What should I do when someone says they're not interested?

Do not argue. Ask for a referral instead: "And before I let you go, who do you know that might benefit from this?" The person who just declined has no reason to protect a competitor and often feels a little bad about saying no. Also reframe the no itself. Every "not interested" you collect puts you measurably closer to the next yes, so the goal is volume, not a perfect record.

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That is the whole objection list. Seven answers cover almost everything you will ever hear in this business. Print them, keep them next to you on calls, and stop freezing when a business owner pushes back. The pushback is not rejection. It is just the part of the conversation where they decide whether you actually know what you are talking about.

Keep stacking wins. Let's go.