Link

Regional Sales Rep

Personal Narrative

TireKicker Storytime

We know em, we see em, we smell em.

Most of the time they're not sneaky but sometimes they fly under the radar.

Typically, personally, I run into these with SMB prospies that are priceshopping.

And budgetary constraints are definitely a fact for small orgs when it comes to seeing ROI when they haven't used a solution like you or are in the market for such.

So often sharing case studies of current customers similar to them, better yet introducing them, can all be super compelling.

But these goddamn priceshoppers who dodge your disco and demo and just want an "overview" and "how much you guys cost" I don't usually ever want to spend the time with.

But I want to. And maybe it's an ego thing for me of like "fuck you guy, you're absolutely going to love this product and you're gonna buy it tomorrow," that i'm having.

But also, my company sells a premium solution and smb we're not very compensating; TCV required @ 3yr upfront for example in some cases LOL.

ANYWAYS..I know some of y'all in here are absolute killers.

if you want to share a story of how you absolutely changed the game with some of these "painless" tirekickers thru value-adds or a certain frame work you like position with them i'm all ears!

☑️ Qualification Calls

👑 Sales Strategy

11

14 comments

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js2458

Politicker

6

Enterprise SDR

Yea I mean once you give them a price, you never win. You literally cannot tell them a dollar number or they will freak the fuck out. I swear, it could even be half of market value and they still would balk at it. But, it makes sense - this is because, for the most part, the objection they are giving you has little to do with the price itself.

I used to work as a street fundraiser and I heard this objection all the fucking time. We sold monthly subscriptions to help children in need, and almost always we hit a price objection where the person claimed that they didn't want to spend the amount we were asking for (35 bucks a month). Almost everyone can spend 35 bucks a month - it's like 2 netflix subscriptions a month. Or 8 starbucks coffees. Or 1/2 of a nice, NYC meal.

I tried and tried again to to tell them that the money was worth it or that 35 dollars was nothing in comparison to what we spend on everyday shit. But, this tactic rarely worked. One day, my boss pulled me aside and taught me a pretty good way to deal with this objection: instead of talking about price, talk about the value/benefits of the service OR - and this works even better - what they lose in value/benefits they don't buy your service. Painting a picture of a starving child dying because some rich schmuck in the US didn't help out did wonders - especially since we could back this up thru pictures of specific children in the program we were running. In short - we sold them on a feeling, not a dollar amount.

I've found that this examples is true for B2B as well; it's not about free items, add-ons etc - sure they're helpful, but they won't solve the underlying issue at hand. You just gotta find a way to paint the picture of the starving child. Once you do that, the price objections fade away and people start throwing money at you.

Link

Executive

2

Regional Sales Rep

Yea I feel like I’ve just always been under the impression that people just always want to feel like they’re getting a discount so for the most part I anchor high in the beginning of nego. And then i can drop it down as I see fit when necessary. Pulling levers for trade off whether it be timeline to sign, contract length or volume adjustment.

But LOL’ing @ starving child analogy, this is all valuable stuff you’re spittin

oldcloser

Arsonist

1

💀

Yeah buddy. Everyone wants to be the guy who fed the child. You sold them who they wanted to be. Love this

oldcloser

Arsonist

3

💀

Maybe not totally relevant, but a story:

I weaseled my way into an association of car dealers at a conference once. They call them 20 groups. 2 in the group were happy clients so it was looking good. Deal was, I could come in and pitch but I had to buy the dinner after. I took the bet.

Plan was to do the demo, then get face time during dinner. Had help with me carrying contracts. I hit the high points in the pitch but the bus shows up early. Cut me off by 5 minutes. So, I didn't get to tell them I'd be in their faces while they ate.

Head dude says "Bus is here!"
Voice from the back screams: "So how much is it!?"

I say: I know damned well that there isn't one of you in this room that would offer your best price without a test drive. I'm gonna offer it, but not til you see the end of the story. We'll finish this up at dinner.

Gave them a "first 3 in" deal and closed those at the restaurant.Chased the rest and got 4 more over the next 3-4 months. Good times.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

5

🦊

🦡🧿

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Great story!

I bet you hear “bus is here!” In your dreams.

oldcloser

Arsonist

1

💀

Don’t get to do that kind of selling any more. Miss it.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

It’s been a minute here as well.

Link

Executive

2

Regional Sales Rep

Go the fuck off King 🏆, first place

oldcloser

Arsonist

2

💀

Your post rang my bell. Sometimes it just feels fucking great to slam heads. 💪

Maximas

Tycoon

2

Senior Sales Executive

My style is to kill it before they fill it -I mean your time here-,so just utilize you time wisely with other deals who may look promising or prospects who look more interested in your product that have a real problem your product has to come up with a solution for.
As I deeply believe, your thousands lead pipeline won't get hurt by letting go these,as most of em have it deep in their minds that they'll never buy unless they'll get it free based upon experience!

Link

Executive

1

Regional Sales Rep

I resonate with this but the reason I feel as though I need to entertain SMB is because I sell to the transportation industry. And sub 25 vehicle companies actually make up damn near 92% of the transportation industry in the US. But alot of orgs like mine really don’t entertain them because like you say, they’re just a few thousands lead in the pipe, but truly it’s an untapped market for my industry because they get turned away from alot of competitors.

Armageddon

Opinionated

2

Enterprise Account Executive

ooo yeah, been there. I've found challenging them on the new timeline helps. Why Q3? Is there a specific Q3 project that his is centered around? If the response is bandwidth... Makes sense, I know we are all constantly juggling a million things, can you help me understand why this project is important to the business? What impact is it going to drive to your bottom line? try to start driving at value.. if they have nothing for you, close the book and move on

Justatitle

Big Shot

1

Account Executive

Sometimes/Most of the time, honesty is great. "Hey, I understand that you want to know a price, my experience is that if I give out a price without you fully understanding the solution then there is no chance that I am going to win here. Is there a budget that you are trying to stay within for this?"

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