SADNESSLieutenant

Officer of ♥️

How do you handle: How much is it? on a first cold call?

So I'm getting traction on the dials, obvi.

I've had a couple people mention price and I gave them ballpark ranges, but the conversation didn't go further. theres obvi a better way to do this right?

For context, we spoke about some of there needs and I told them it depends on a variety of factors but typically it looks like x or z, if thats something thats in their ballpark and what it includes, I could definetly refine the pitch more.

I know some people avoid this question like the plague and get them on a 30 min. demo before talking anything pricing. I want to avoid the whole 'not telling you' convo, but at a point it also makes sense for them to learn more about what they would actually be getting than to quote the price and elevator pitch for them.

I'm thinking of saying instead something like

"I'd love to quote you a price but that might be a disservice to you without jumping on a quick call to determine what exactly you need because we may be able to provide more context as to what exactly is offered, how we can discount based on your needs, or ways we can meet in the middle' and then following up with a question like, 'how much have you budgeted to the person you are onboarding to do this role?" or "how much are you comfortable with for a service like this?"

Context: offering is a consultant style gig that plugs into your organization and scales with you either on retainer for a few hours a week up to 20 hours a week, we also do one time jobs, or hire someone to fill the role, or train someone.

HELP ME OUT FAM!!

2 calls - 2 connects today, hopefully the 3rd is the book

Much love,

The fucking kid

🔎 Prospecting

📞 Cold Calling

15

21 comment

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braintank

Politicker

10

Enterprise Account Executive

I've found a lot of time when people ask "how much is it?" they actually want to understand pricing/licensing model more than they want a specific number.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

5

☕️

Exactly this. Quality what they want: the actual cost or how your model works. If they want the second then I’d take that as a sign that they are actively researching similar solutions or have recently enough.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

1

Officer of ♥️

Right Right.

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

1

Burn Towns, Get Money

I agree.

Usually I'll say, well this is how it works... and simply describe the license model. I'll provide them with the licensing documentation as an email follow-up and write out the example we talked thru during the call.

From there, I'll ask for a baseline number of whatever metric we use to license.

Some of the stuff I sell is super complex and the answer to the metric question takes them time to respond to (e.g. How many TB's of data do you need to scan, protect, and govern in your cloud environment?). Other stuff is pretty simple (e.g. How many developers do you need to license?).

IF they pin me down and force a price, I give them an example at list and mention that we can work on discounting as we continue to learn more about eachother. I use this as a platform to ask for their price tolerance.

I don't want to negotiate against myself, so I try to get the metrics I need to understand the ballpark, then go back to qualifying and trying to get the technical win.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

5

SaaS Eater

Pricing isn't a differentiator for us even though we are the same or less expensive than our competitors so if someones asks, we are super transparent and just tell them. 99% of the time they are pleased and we just move on in the convo.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

1

Officer of ♥️

mmmmmm I see, I guess I should prolllly find out some competitor pricing

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

5

SaaS Eater

You should know more about your competitors than you do your own product

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

1

Officer of ♥️

Big brain moment.

TennisandSales

Politicker

4

Head Of Sales

So i like your framework and idk if I would change it.

I may add a few questions back to them. I like how you ask if its in their ball park/something they are comfortable with.

Then I would ask, "just curious, are you asking about price because you have a specific amount of budget you could allocate to something like this?"

(they will prob say 'no just wondering')

Then I would say: "yeah no problem. I ask because most people I speak with bring that up a little later after they really understand what the true scope of the work will be. Thats also when its easier for me to give you a more exact figure. With that being said you mentioned that (valueprop XY and Z) were interesting. I think it would make sense to chat a little more in depth next week so we can share more details and learn more specifics about what you need. would you be open to that?"

i was forced as an SDR to do the whole (lets get on a call to talk about price) bull shit and I hated that.....if they think its $20K and its really $200K....no point in talking.

what are your thoughts?

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

1

Officer of ♥️

yeah I like that too, good adds, thanks

CuriousFox

WR Officer

4

🦊

Keep it general saying you will be able to give pricing once you discuss their exact needs at your meeting.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

1

Officer of ♥️

okiiiiiiii

funcoupons

WR Officer

2

👑

I give a range. Work to qual out people that absolutely cannot afford the product early on, and shows I’m not going to avoid talking price until the final hour. Follow it with a “but to give you accurate pricing I’d need to learn more about your needs blah blah blah” and schedule a follow up.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

1

Officer of ♥️

yeah definetly. like that

Phillip_J_Fry

Opinionated

2

Director of Revenue

Not sure why people get so weird about talking pricing. If they've got a 10k budget and your product is 75k, find out upfront, and don't spin your wheels qualifying/demo'ing just for their head to explode when they find out the price.

Explain pricing model and give ballpark numbers. Ask them if it's in range for this project.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

0

Officer of ♥️

Just did this with a prospect and got them to the meeting

TreTime

Catalyst

1

Account Executive

The sooner you can talk about price - the easier the proposal review at the end is. There's a ton of great insights already here. I'll add:

You could also toss in a Use Case stating - at XYZ company very similar to you the ballpark is between $X-$Z. Contextually you add a little more value by introducing a customer having success and okay with your price.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

0

Officer of ♥️

Love it. 'this worked for facebook, should work for you'

DragonTiger

Good Citizen

0

VP of Sales

“I have yet to see that someone who wants to work with us haven’t been able to based on our license prices. We have clients from SMB to Enterprise and some pay 10k and other pays 100M. You won’t pay 100 or 10 if you don’t see that the investment will bring ROI for your company and it is my job to guide you in this process and by the end of it I hope you see the benefit and become clients.” And then dig in to metrics.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

0

Officer of ♥️

Thats fire

thadeuce

Opinionated

0

SDR (Sales Development Rep)

I tell them the cost. It’s a simple as that, price shouldn’t be a secret. If they have a large team we charge by the seat I mention there can be some discounts but I’m not at liberty to disclose. Typically people just want a ballpark idea so they know what they are getting into. It’s almost never stopped an interested party from taking a meeting from me.

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