sales

We Don’t Have the Budget for This: 16 Ways to Combat Your Client’s #1 Excuse

Andrew SobelAugust 17, 2020

If you're in sales, client management, or work with clients in some other capacity, you've no doubt heard those seven fateful words: "We don't have the budget for this." This phrase is discouraging to hear. If you take it at face value it can effectively shut down the discussion. But you shouldn't take it at face value because quite often it's code for some other issue that can be overcome. When prospects or clients make the 'no budget' claim, it's usually a clue to dig deeper. You may find out something that helps reframe the issue in a mutually beneficial way or makes the return on investment for the client more compelling. Either way, money that supposedly isn't there can sometimes appear, as if by magic.

The Four Types of Objections That Derail Salespeople (and How to Deal With Them)

Jeb BlountSeptember 11, 2018

No may be a tiny word, but for salespeople it's the most dreaded word in the English language. Nothing causes your heart to sink quite like an objection from a prospective customer. This is true not just because it presages a negative impact on your income, but also because it's incredibly painful to hear. It's no coincidence that "objection" rhymes with "rejection"—and the latter is one of the deepest, darkest, most primal human fears. There's no way to avoid objections. They're going to happen. What you can do is learn how to rise above the emotional disruption they cause and, hopefully, salvage the sale...

BANT Alone Is Dead: Four Ways to Go Beyond Info Gathering and Build Real Rapport with Your Prospects

Brian SignorelliAugust 9, 2018

If you've been a salesperson for a while, there's a good chance you swear by the "BANT" approach.It may be a tried-and-true approach to qualifying prospects—but in a world where prospects usually qualify themselves, it just isn't enough anymore. Asking questions around Budget, Authority, Needs, and Timeline has long been the framework for qualifying prospects. These days, BANT alone isn't enough to make the sale anymore...