“Before we get started, I think it is important for you to know that we are on a very tight budget. We aren’t a big company, so we can’t afford to pay what you are charging those big company logos that you have on the screen right now [referring to the brag slide where he’d listed a “who’s who” of his company’s clients]. I really don’t want to waste your time if this is outside of our budget. So why don’t you walk us through the costs we can expect.”
Then BAM – like a bass hitting a lure—he took the bait and ran. He stuttered through a vague and non-committal answer that sounded defensive. That’s when the demo and the sales call unraveled.
My Vice President of Learning and Development hit him with, “We’re going to need you to be more specific than that. Sounds like you aren’t giving us the whole story.”
More stuttering and sputtering. The AE was talking in circles, sounding gambling data india more defensive each time he opened his mouth. His defensiveness and argumentativeness served only to create more resistance.
My team pushed him harder. It turned into a feeding frenzy. They challenged him about the stability of his company, getting references, why he wasn’t showing us logos of companies that were our size, and on and on.
He attempted to gain control and get back to the demo, but it was too late. We were exasperated with his defensiveness, had lost trust, and were bumping up against other scheduled meetings. We politely declined and moved on with our day.
You must avoid getting drawn in by red herring objections at all costs. A red herring is something your stakeholder says that diverts your attention from the objective of your sales meeting.
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