Win the Fight - Whale Hunting Series: Negotiation

The deal doesn’t get won when the opportunity shows up. It gets won in the fight.

In this episode of Finding Your Innergator, RB Wright breaks down Phase Four of the Whale Hunting series: The Fight. Using the analogy of battling a big fish offshore, RB explains what really happens after the strike—and why this is where most people lose.

In business and sales, the fight is negotiation. It’s the moment where objections, questions, hesitation, and resistance show up. And how you handle that moment determines whether you win… or lose the deal.

This episode teaches you how to manage that process with control, clarity, and discipline.

What You’ll Learn

• Why the “strike” is just the beginning—not the win
• How negotiation mirrors the push and pull of fighting a fish
• The concept of controlled tension and why it matters
• How to handle objections without forcing or backing off
• Why top performers stay composed when pressure shows up

Key Takeaways

• “The fight is where deals are won.”
• “Objections are not rejection—they are requests for more information.”
• “If you push too hard, you lose them. If you back off too much, you lose them.”
• “Controlled tension keeps you in the conversation.”

Objections vs Conditions
RB breaks down one of the most important distinctions in negotiation: the difference between objections and conditions. Objections are questions that can be worked through. Conditions are non-negotiable. Knowing the difference is what separates professionals from amateurs.

Your Challenge This Week
When you face pushback, don’t panic. Stay in the conversation. Ask better questions. Listen more. Manage the tension. Because winning doesn’t happen before the resistance—it happens in it.

What’s Next
Next episode in the Whale Hunting series: Landing the Fish—closing the deal and finishing what you started.

If this episode helped you, share it with someone who needs to learn how to stay in the fight and win it.

Transcript

0:12

Hello everybody and welcome to Finding Your Innergator Podcast, where we talk about discipline, relationships, and the habits that release to greatness that is already inside of you. I'm your host, Arby Wright, and I am so glad that you're here. In each episode, we'll explore powerful lessons, real life stories, and practical strategies to help you live intentionally, build meaningful relationships, and unlock your full potential. But greatness isn't something you stumble into, it's something that is built every single day. So let's get started and begin the journey to finding your inner gator. What's up everybody, and welcome to the Finding Your Innergator Podcast. I'm your host, Arby Wright, and I am so glad you're here. I am in a really, really good mood today. I really am. Been fishing some tournaments this year, been doing a lot with the Innergator coaching. Life has been good. Life has been good. And I'm glad that you're a part of it. Listen, over the last few weeks, you and I have been building something special together, right? We've been going through this entire well hunting series. Well hunting, if you're in sales, is going after that big account, and life is going out after that big, big goal, big thing you're trying to reach. We started with a few weeks ago, research, right? You gotta research, man. You gotta know your stuff. That's the foundation for everything. Then once you get your research, you put together your plan. Then we talked about your spread. That's your presentation. That's your one shot to get the attention. Today, we're getting into what happens when it actually matters. Today we're talking about the fight. The fight, baby. That fish is saw your presentation, it saw your spread, and it hit. And in business, the fight is the negotiation. All right, picture with me if you will. You're offshore fishing. You're targeting big fish. No, we're looking for maybe Wahoo or Tuna, Mahi, or Marlin. And you've done everything right up to this point. You've done the research. You've built the plan. You put out the right spread. And then it happens. That rod bends over, the reels start screaming. It's a it's an incredible sound. Actually, my one of my alarms on my alarm clock is the real screaming. You've got a takedown. Most people think that's to win. It's not. That's the beginning of the fight. And this is where most people lose. Not because they didn't do all that work up front, but because they don't know how to handle what comes next. Let me explain how this works. When I'm fighting a fish, I'm not just reeling in as fast as I can. That's not how you land these big game fish. There's a rhythm to it. I will pull that rod back steadily. And then as I lower it, I call it bowel under rod, I wind. I'm making that line upright. I pull real, pull real. It's controlled. It's intentional. It's a process. And while I'm doing that, that fish is fighting back. It's running, it's pulling, it's trying to go to the other directions. Sometimes I feel like I'm negotiation with it. I'm negotiation with, negotiating, excuse me, with it, and I'm talking to it. I got a big wahoo on the line. I'm like, Mr. Wahoo, why don't you come on in this boat, baby? And he's running and screaming the other way, pulling that line as fast as he can. And in my mind, he's looking back at me and he's saying, Captain RB, I think I'm good right here, baby. I'm going to stay in the water. That's the fight. He wants one thing, I want something else, and we're negotiating. Here's where this becomes powerful for you. Because in business, in life, that's exactly what negotiation looks like. You've done all the work, you've got the meeting, you've made the presentation, and now what happens? Objections, questions, pushback, hesitation. Most people they panic. They really do. They panic. They get uncomfortable. They get defensive. Sometimes they start talking too much. Or worse. They back off. High performers understand something different. Objections are never a no. They're not a rejection. Objections are not a rejection. Objections are requests for more information. They're questions. That's it. That's back and forth. That's tension. That's push and pull. That's to fight. Now let's go back to the rod second. You're in that fight because this part matters. My job when I'm fighting a fish is to maintain the right amount of tension on the line. Not too much, not too little. If I put too much pressure, if I tighten that drag too much, or if I'm pulling that fish too hard, I run the risk of breaking the line. If I don't put enough pressure on it and allow slack to get in that line, that fish can throw the hook. Either way, I lose. I lose. Now think about that negotiation. If you push too hard, if you get aggressive, if you try to force the close, you lose them. If you back off too much, if you avoid conversation, if you don't address the concerns, you lose them. So what's the answer? I like to call it control tension, baby. Control tension. You stay engaged, you stay present, you stay in the conversation. You answer their questions, but you ask better questions. You're the guide in the process. You don't force it and you don't abandon it. You manage it. You manage it. That's the fight. There's something else that happens in fishing that a lot of people don't think about. And this I want you, I want you to hear me. You've been fighting that fish. He gets to the boat. And a lot of times, when they see the boat, guess what they do? They make one more run, and it's a hard run. Right when you think you've got it, it takes off again. That lion starts screaming, you got to start over. If you are not ready for that, you're gonna lose the fish. Now let's bring this into your world. You've had a great conversation. They're giving you all the signs, right? They're saying what you want them to say. Everything feels good. They're nodding, they're engaged. And then right at the end, you know, I need to think about this. I need to pray on this. Let me talk to my spouse. I'm not sure right now. That's the last run. That's not failure. That's part of the process. And the people who win, the people who don't who really get to that fish to the boat, they expect it. They know it's coming. They don't get thrown off, they don't panic, they don't disappear. They stay in the fight. Now let's talk about something important because not every fight is the same. When you're negotiating, there are two things that you need to understand. The first one we've talked about a little bit, objections. Second one, conditions. Objections are questions. They're concerns. They're things that you can be worked through. Sometimes you have to get through fifteen objections to you get to the condition. The condition is different. Conditions are non-negotiable. In fishing, that's the line breaking. Game over. When you hear that sound and you feel that tension leave the rod, it's over. Nothing you can do at that point. In business, those conditions might be that they don't qualify. The numbers don't work. The timing is not right. Or the deal simply doesn't fit. And you have to be mature enough. I I'd say you have to be disciplined enough to know the difference. If you treat a condition like an objection, you're wasting your time. And the other side is if you treat an objection like a condition, you're quitting too early. That awareness, that judgment, that's what separates professionals. Let me try and bring all this together for you. The fight is where deals with one. They're not one in the research that helped you know where you need to be. They're not one in the planning, right? You you were you were planning based on the research to make certain you're in the right spot. You've got your plan in play. They're not one in the presentation. That's what got them to strike. They're one in the fight, in how you handle the pressure, in how you respond to resistance, how you stay composed when things don't go exactly how you expected. That's where a lot of people fall apart. But it's also where you separate yourself. So here's your challenge this week. Next time you get pushback, the next time you hear an objection, the next time something doesn't go exactly the way that you had it played out in your head. We all do that. Don't panic. Stay in it. Ask better questions. Listen more. Figure out how to guide the conversation. But most importantly, manage the tension. Not too much, not too little, just enough to stay connected. I tell you every week that inside of you, you, you that is listening to this right now, there is greatness. I know it. But greatness isn't built when everything goes right. It's built in the fight. It is built in that fight. So don't avoid it. Learn how to win it. Guys, I I hope that you're enjoying this series as much as I am, and I hope that it's making a difference for you and you're figuring out how to accomplish that big deal, that big item that's on your box, that you're doing the research, that you're setting your plan, you're getting the right presentation. And today I hope this helped you with the fight and the negotiation. The next step, number five out of six, the next step is landing that fish. Right? Getting it in the boat. We got them to the boat. We figured out how to do that through negotiations. Next week, I've been in so many fights with fish. I got them to decide the boat. Only when we went to gaff them to get them into boat, we'd make a key mistake, and guess what? After everything we've done, right up to that point, we lost it. We lost it. I look forward to talking to you about that next week, and I hope this week is a great week for you. As always, thank you for being here, and I'll talk to you next week. Everybody, thank you so much for listening to the Finding Your Inner Gator podcast. You know, if today's episode helped you, share it with someone who needs to hear this message. Remember, greatness is achieved through discipline, intentional action, and optimizing the relationships around you. I look forward to getting with you next week. Now, go Gatorize your day.