How a Top AE Wins the Conversation Before It Starts
Most sellers prepare for the meeting. Top sellers prepare for the objections.
One of the biggest takeaways from our conversation with André was that Top sellers prepare for the objections, currently #1 AE in his segment (of 23 AEs 🤯) at Doctolib, averaging 140% of monthly quota each month so far in 2026.
What stood out most was his discipline before the conversation even starts.
If you walk into a meeting already knowing:
-
what the prospect might push back on,
-
what has changed in their business,
-
where the real opportunity sits, and
-
how your solution connects to their situation,
you stop sounding like a seller giving a presentation and start sounding like someone who actually understands the account.
That is exactly where André’s preparation stands out.
Don’t prepare your pitch. Prepare their objections.
According to André, strong objection handling starts long before the objection is ever voiced.
His goal is to go into each meeting with clear hypotheses about the prospect’s situation.
And that starts with research.
André’s Objection Checklist
Before a conversation, André looks at a prospect from multiple angles:
Pro Tipp💡: Each step can be automated with an AI Automation to keep this data updated and tidied up in one document or in the calendar blocker for your own view only. We recommend using this Checklist as a prompt extension.
1. Existing customers and end users
He checks:
-
Which similar companies already use the solution
-
Where their end users are located (end users is key, not just the customers themselves)
-
Whether there are regional overlaps or especially high usage rates in that same region
This gives him relevant proof points and helps him make the value feel real to their situation.
2. Old conversations going warm again
He checks:
-
Whether the company has spoken to the business before
-
What happened last time
-
Which objections came up
-
Why the deal did not move forward
Past objections are often future objections. If you know what stopped the conversation before, you can prepare for it before it appears again.
3. New stakeholders
He checks:
-
Whether new relevant contacts have joined the company
-
Whether decision-makers have changed roles internally
A new stakeholder can completely change the timing, urgency or openness of a conversation.
4. Regulatory or market changes
He checks:
-
Whether new laws or regulatory changes affect the business
-
Whether there is now a stronger reason to revisit the conversation
Why this matters: A “no” from six months ago may simply have happened before the urgency existed.
5. New product features
He checks:
-
Whether there are new features that are especially relevant to that segment
-
Whether those features help address objections that came up previously
Sometimes the objection is not wrong. Sometimes the product simply wasn’t ready yet. New capabilities can reopen old opportunities.
6. Offline meetings and field planning
He checks:
-
How to combine meetings geographically
-
How to reduce travel time and make the day more efficient
Great selling is about Time Management!
The mindset shift that matters most
Before the conversation, André asks himself the following questions:
If I was this prospect...
-
Why should I spend money on this?
-
Why should I put my team through a change right now?
-
Why should I ask my customers or patients to adapt to something new?
The better you can answer their unspoken concerns in advance, the calmer and more convincing you become in the meeting.
Where AI fits into this
André’s view on AI is refreshingly practical:
AI should make preparation more efficient, but the seller’s experience, judgement and individual assessment are still what make the real difference.
That means AI can help you:
-
summarise previous conversations,
-
organise account research,
-
surface possible talking points,
-
cluster likely objections,
-
draft hypotheses before a meeting.
But AI does not replace thinking! It accelerates it.
This is exactly what we're discussing LIVE with 2 of the Top AEs in DACH.
Together with Harry and Svenja from Doctolib, we’re taking you behind the scenes of the daily sales routines of an AE in the age of AI to find out what defines great sales in 2027, what doesn't, and what they've learned along the way.
From AI workflows and time management hacks to closing techniques, we're sharing practical best practices you can steal for your own sales process.
👉 Register now and join us on December 2nd
We're very excited to see you there!
Your Sales in DACH Team ✨
Antworten