What they actually mean
The objection is not about you and it is not really about the product. Someone made a promise, took money, and did not deliver — and your pitch is now being heard through that.
Which means enthusiasm is a liability. Every confident claim sounds structurally identical to the one that cost them, and matching that energy proves their point.
The move: Slow down and go concrete
Ask what happened. Actually ask, and then be quiet — the specifics tell you which promise you must not make, and being heard is a large part of the repair.
Do not defend the last vendor and do not distance yourself from them with adjectives. Anyone can say we're not like that; it is what the last one said too.
Then be different structurally, not verbally. Smaller commitment, checkable milestone, an exit that doesn't require a fight. Trust is rebuilt with terms, not tone.
How it sounds
“We paid for something like this two years ago and got nothing out of it.”
You“What happened? — I'd rather know what I need to not do than tell you I'm different.”
Why it works. It asks instead of asserting, and it explicitly refuses the claim they are braced for. The refusal is the proof; the question is the repair.
What loses the deal
“I completely understand — but we're really not like those other companies.”
Word for word what the last one said. You have used your one chance at differentiation on a sentence that cannot be checked.
Practise this one
Reading it is not running it. Closer drills you on trust against an AI prospect that holds its position and only opens when you earn it — then a coach walks the transcript back and shows you where the call turned. There are 4 trust plays in the library, recast around your own offer and price.