Objection handling can make or break a sale. Yet, a Salesroom report found that 70% of reps struggle with it, often losing deals because they can’t address concerns effectively.
The challenge? Sales managers can’t review every call or coach every rep in real-time. That’s where AI-powered sales coaching steps in. With an AI sales coach, you can automatically analyze conversations, pinpoint weaknesses, and train reps at scale—without the manual effort.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to build two AI sales coaching apps using Fireflies to maximize productivity, train reps faster, and create a knowledge base
Why objection handling matters in sales
As you know objections are an inevitable part of the sales process. They're concerns that prospects raise about factors like pricing, timing, or product fit.
How a sales rep responds to these objections can either make or break a deal.
Effective objection handling involves:
- Listening actively (and with empathy) to understand the prospect’s actual concerns
- Asking clarifying questions to understand the core issue
- Providing evidence (such as case studies, testimonials, or data) to back up your response
- Delivering clear, to-the-point responses that directly address the concern
- Closing with the next steps to conclude the conversation
By doing this, reps can build trust, create stronger client relationships, and close more sales.
Key benefits of AI-based coaching for objection handling & sales
Traditional sales coaching (done by managers or senior reps) tends to be time-consuming, inconsistent, and resource-intensive.
It's no wonder why many sales leaders are turning to AI solutions to streamline their coaching processes.
AI sales coaching offers tons of benefits, including:
- Eliminates the need for manual call reviews: Managers don't have to spend time listening to dozens of calls. With AI, they can get insights into every rep’s performance across multiple conversations.
- Allows for targeted coaching: AI helps managers pinpoint exactly where each rep struggles so they can provide personalized guidance.
- Enhances sales performance: When reps get clear & structured feedback, they can learn faster and handle objections more confidently.
- Improves relationships with potential customers: By handling objections effectively, reps can build trust, show empathy, and create stronger relationships with prospects.
The two apps we'll teach you how to build on Fireflies:
1. Sales Coach App
2. Objection Handler App
1. Building a Sales Coach App
The AI sales coach app will evaluate sales meetings with prospects, assess reps, and provide scores based on five key performance areas:
- Rapport building
- Product positioning
- Objection handling
- Closing
- Professionalism & communication.
You can also customize and add more criteria that align with your coaching strategy, such as negotiation and active listening.
To build an AI Sales Coach you'll follow the 5 simple steps below:
- Access & customize the app
- Update meeting settings
- Integrate with your work tools
- Preview the output
- Create the App
Step 1. Access & customize the app
- On your Fireflies dashboard, click AI Apps from the navigation bar.
- Under Sales, select the Sales Coach App.
(Note: AI apps on Fireflies use AI credits. You'll need to buy these credits additionally as an add-on. Learn more about AI credits here.)
💡Tip: To find the app quickly, type "sales coach" in the search bar.
- Click on the app, and a new pop-up window will appear. Select Edit to set the parameters for the AI app.
- Here, you can customize the instructions in the prompt box to better fit your team’s specific needs.
For example, you can refine the criteria or add extra focus areas for evaluation.
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- Next, choose from any of these three AI Models to generate your output:
- GPT Basic: Best for short summaries and action items. (Uses 1 AI credit/prompt/meeting)
- GPT Advanced: Ideal for more detailed summaries and comprehensive notes. (Uses 3 AI credits/prompt/meeting)
- GPT Advanced Large: Great for extensive meeting summaries and capturing detailed discussions. (Uses 5 AI credits/prompt/meeting)
Step 2: Update meeting settings
- Click Select Meetings to choose between:
- All meetings – The AI app will run on all upcoming meetings.
- Meeting title – The AI app will only run on specific meetings based on their title.
- If you choose the Meeting Title option, you can type keywords in the box & create a custom meeting.
You can also filter titles using four conditions: is, is not, contains, and does not contain. Once you're done, click Save.
- Select which meetings you want to enable the AI app for. You have two options: Only my meetings & All workspace meetings.
- You can also change the visibility setting to determine who can access the app's output. It can be set to Private, Teammates, or User Groups (a custom list of users/teammates in your Fireflies Workspace).
Step 3. Integrate with your work tools
- This next step involves connecting the AI sales coach with your work apps. By doing this, each output will automatically be sent to your desired platform.
- You can choose to send the coach's output to your email and 10 other apps, including Google Docs, Notion, Slack, and ClickUp. To find these apps, click Connect.
Step 4. Preview the output
- Head over to the preview section. Here, you can see how the app's output will be generated. It also shows whether you should refine your instructions before finalizing.
- Click Select a meeting and use the search bar to find a specific meeting.
- Select Preview Notes.
After a few seconds, you'll see a detailed evaluation of the meeting transcript between your rep and a potential customer.
Step 5. Create the app
- Once everything is set, click Create App.
- After it's been created, the AI sales coach will be automatically added to My Apps in the AI apps dashboard.
2. Building The AI Objection Handling App
In this section, you'll learn how to build a second AI sales coach that automatically:
- Evaluates reps’ objection-handling performance with structured Yes/No responses
- Delivers responses in a clear Q&A format
- Provides timestamps for each evaluation point
- Sends outputs to work apps like Slack and Hubspot
The objection handler app follows the same simple 5 steps as the Sales Coaching App except with different inputs.
Here are the 5 steps:
- Access & customize the app
- Update meeting settings
- Integrate with your work tools
- Preview the output
- Create the App
Step 1. Access & customize the app
- Go to your Fireflies dashboard and click on AI Apps from the navigation bar.
- Under the Sales section, choose the Objection Handler app.
Tip: To find the app quickly, type "objection handler" in the search bar.
- Click on the app, and a new pop-up window will appear. Select Edit to set the parameters for the AI app.
- Here, you can tweak the instructions in the prompts section. For example, you can add more questions tailored to your team's needs.
- You can choose any of the three available AI Models to generate your output: GPT Basic, GPT Advanced, GPT Advanced Large.
Step 2. Tweak meeting settings
- Next, click Select Meetings to choose between All meetings & Meeting title.
- For the Meeting Title option, type keywords in the box & create a custom meeting.
Filter titles using four conditions: is, is not, contains, and does not contain. Click Save when you finish.
- Next, select which meetings you'd like to enable the AI app for: Only my meetings & All workspace meetings.
- Edit the visibility setting to determine who can access the app's output. You can set it to Private, Teammates, or User Groups.
Step 3. Integrate with your work apps
- Next, connect the objection handler with your work apps.
- You can send the objection handler's output to your email apps like Google Docs, Slack, and HubSpot. Click Connect to find these apps.
Step 4. Preview the output
- Go to the preview section to see the app's output and adjust the instructions if needed before finalizing.
- Click on Select a meeting, then search for a specific meeting in the bar provided.
- Click on Preview Notes.
Now, you can see answers to every objection-handling question, with timestamps for each response.
Step 5. Create the app
- Once you've added everything you need, click Create App.
- It will be automatically added to My Apps in the AI apps dashboard.
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Wrapping up
Improving your reps' objection-handling skills requires targeted & consistent feedback, which may be challenging with traditional coaching techniques.
But AI makes things easier. It provides reps with structured guidance and the ability to learn from every call—without extra work for managers.
Using Fireflies, you can set up two AI sales coaches that track your reps' performance in objection handling, rapport building, and more. Plus, insights from these apps integrate seamlessly into your workflow!
This way, reps can get the support they need to enhance their sales skills and close deals faster.
