cmkim9112 profile picture
cmkim9112 profile picture

cmkim9112

Business Development Manager

Valued Contributor
Opinionated
Fire Starter
+2

Have you been in a situation where you could not answer a client's question on a Zoom call?

If so, it would be great if you could elaborate on the situation!


Also, do you think not being able to answer a client's question lowers your chances of closing?

Choked on zoom call?

Attached poll
*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.
🔎 Prospecting
📞 Cold Calling
📈 Closing
24

33 comments

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Mobi85
Politicker
12
Regional Sales Manager
I wouldn’t say I choked, but I have had situations where I didn’t know the answer. My response with not knowing the answer was: “That was a great question and I am not 100% sure of the exact answer and I want to make sure you are given correct information. Let me find out the answer and I will get back to you on that.”
I think saying “I don’t know” will actually build credibility with your prospect, they can see through BS and knowing that someone wants to get them the right answer goes further than BSing an answer.
jefe
Arsonist
4
🍁
Exactly this. Doesn't hurt at all. Nobody at an organization knows everything, least of all the salespeople.
cmkim9112
Valued Contributor
0
Business Development Manager
do you think not being able to answer your clients' questions lowers your chances of closing a deal at all?
CharmingSalesGal
Politicker
4
Account Executive
No, I think it absolutely gives you the opportunity to bring more of your team on and encourage them to bring more of their team on to get everyone on the same page. I've honestly seen this help more than hurt deals!

I'll even go as far as to pretend not to know all the answers and bring in a Sales Engineer to help drive the deal. Builds credibility from my experience. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Fletch
Opinionated
6
Full-Time AE/Side-Hustle Owner
"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I heard my manager talking about that the other day. Let me send her a message because I want to be able to answer that while it's top of mind."
hh456
Celebrated Contributor
0
sales
Great answer
cmkim9112
Valued Contributor
0
Business Development Manager
do you think not being able to answer your clients' questions lowers your chances of closing a deal at all?
Fletch
Opinionated
2
Full-Time AE/Side-Hustle Owner
Personally, I’d rather be seen as a dummy than a liar. I can easily say yes or no and sound awesome doing it. But being caught in a lie is something that most people won’t forgive.
I’d also argue that you can use not knowing to prop up your prospect. “You know, I take these calls every day and I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that. What made you run into a situation where X is necessary?”
Establishes yourself as the expert while reminding them that they are unique in the best of ways.
bandabanda
Tycoon
0
Senior AE Mid Market
I do something similar to this. "I'm not exactly sure and I don't want to give you an answer I'm not 100% confident in. Let me fire off a quick message to my team to see if we can get an answer while we're still on the phone/call."

Has worked great for me!
Diablo
Politicker
4
Sr. AE
Many a times I don't have an answer and it's better to own it but assure to connect back with the complete and correct info. Prospects do appreciate that.
cmkim9112
Valued Contributor
0
Business Development Manager
do you think not being able to answer your clients' questions lowers your chances of closing a deal at all?
Diablo
Politicker
2
Sr. AE
Not at all. Infact they feel positive about transparency
thatdocumentguy
Member
0
VP Growth
Agree with Diablo - doesn't hurt at all. In fact it can help, because now instead of rushing to answer you ask "great question... I don't know the answer to that.... Why is that important to you?"

I've lost deals by answering questions that I didn't know why they were asking (Where is this hosted? Amazon! Well I'm not spending a single cent that goes towards Jeff Bezos) 

Had I not known it would have been: Where is this hosted? I'm not sure - why is that important? I don't support anything hosted on Amazon. Well I better not say we're hosted on Amazon then eh!

TL;DR - it's more important to know why they are asking the question, than knowing the answer.
CaneWolf
Politicker
3
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
If you act like you know the answer to every question, you are a fucking liar.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
It’s no different than being in a f2f meeting. Say I’m not sure let me find out for you then put it in the recap email. 
draculina
Fire Starter
2
process development specialist
Oh plenty. Not only that, there were questions I was unwilling to answer, because I knew what they were asking wasn't gonna happen, but my sales guy was too keen.

I would do what @Mobi85 said. "Oh, I don't want to say yes or no without consulting all the relevant teams involved -- such as IT. I would hate to say no to something we can do, or yes to something we can't. Let me clarify it, and get back to you in our revision." 

I don't think it lowers your chances. Prospects are human as well, they have things they don't know at the top of their head. If you deliver on your promise to get back on them, it should be fine. 
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
1
Inbound Closer
Like Scar Be Prepared
https://media4.giphy.com/media/jxzEhHBMmH7tm/200.gif
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
I’m in sales. I don’t know the answer to every highly technical question I’m asked. I usually try to have the relevant experts on the line when I’m working with a customer or prospect, but sometimes it’s just me, and I will have to get back to them.
Wellss
Tycoon
1
Channel sales
This probably happens a couple times a week for me. If you're selling a technical product, everyone looks at things differently and might have questions come to mind that you've never even thought of. It's totally okay to say, I'm not 100% sure & don't want to feed you wrong information, so let me check with the right people and get back to you. Just be sure you hold true to that follow up!
WomenWantMeFishFearMe
Politicker
1
AM
It happens. Just say the standby, " I don't have an answer right now, but I will get you that info ASAP."
SaaSguy
Tycoon
1
Account Executive
Loop in an SE on your calls or take the questions to them after and post meeting send an email addressing the questions. 
mitts2
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Didn't you just post this quesiton:

https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/not-knowing-the-answer-to-the-customer-s-questions-how-bad-is-it
whodis
Valued Contributor
1
Irrelevant
Not choked, that’s different, but not know an answer? That’s a daily thing. I sell a software that touches every single business unit of every single industry and is ridiculously technical…my SE partner and I easily say “hm, great question, let me find out and get back to you” once per meeting each…at least…
Flippinghubs
Opinionated
1
Account Executive
Just be honest, mr/mrs prospect let me get back to you on that one as I dont want to mispeak etc 
ryan_howard
Politicker
1
Director, Business Development
There’s nothing wrong with not having all the answers.
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
0
Inbound Closer
..
cw95
Politicker
0
Sales Development Lead
All the time, all the time.
I just say ‘look I don’t want to say yes nor no and give you a false fact or promise so I’ll have to get the answer for you afterwards’ they always appreciate the honesty. Saying yes when you don’t know just screws you over in the long run.
aiko
Politicker
0
Sr. Account Executive
Not knowing the answer only slows down the deal, but it doesn't completely stop it from closing. 
crusherdestroyer
Fire Starter
0
account executive
Once, i LITCHERALLY choked on a zoom call after a pitch. Took a sip of water that went down the wrong hole and couldn't breathe or talk. Face turned red. Deal didn't close.
AssistantToTheRegional
Politicker
0
Enterprise Account Executive
There is nothing wrong with not knowing the answer...just tell them you'll take it as an action item and boom now you have a baked in follow up.
TheKing
Good Citizen
0
CEO
No one is an expert on everything.  If you are asked a question that you do not know the answer to, the right reply is "Excellent question.  Frankly, I do not have that information.  Let me check and get back to you, as I do not want to get it wrong".

That displays integrity on your part.  Frankly, it could be a blessing.  It could be a great segue into introducing another member of your team into the equation.

Your prospect now knows you will not BS them, you have access to additional expertise, that you are taking their query seriously, and that you follow through.

Tell me:  what's the downside to that?
LordOfWar
Tycoon
0
Blow it up
"That is a great question. Because I can see you are knowledgeable in this area and we both value honesty, I will need to check that and get back to you." *takes note*

Remind them of the question and that you're looking into it at the end of the meeting - provided the question is not leading to a negative.

Try to answer them the same day and use that response to lock in next steps.

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