“Many of your customers do not have a budget for what you’re selling. You need to create so much value, so much need, so such a problem that they find the money. And if you do that, they always will.” – Shari Levitin in today’s Tip 1464
How about you? Do you ask this question?
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Shari Levitin Virtual Training
Shari Levitin on LinkedIn
Heart and Sell: 10 Universal Truths Every Salesperson Needs to Know
The Sales Development Playbook Book
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Shari Levitin. Shari helps sales teams bridge the gap between beating quota and selling with an authentic, heartfelt approach. LinkedIn recognized her as a Top Ten Voice in Sales and Salesforce distinguished her as a Top 20 Global Sales Expert. Here she is:
Shari Levitin: The worst question, like cringy question I hear salespeople ask, and this drives me absolutely insane, particularly when they’re selling a non-sought-after good. You may be selling a software, you may be selling some a service that the customer doesn’t even know they’re need. And one of the worst questions you can ask is, “What’s your budget?”
What’s your budget? First of all, even if it is a sought-after good, they’re not going to tell you what their budget is. And if you’re selling a non-sought-after good, they probably don’t have a budget for it. As my friend Trish Bertuzzi says in her book, if you’re selling a trip to Mars and you say to somebody, what’s your budget for a trip to Mars? They’re going to go, I don’t have a budget for a trip to Mars. I never thought I had a problem or needed to go to Mars.
So it’s a really cringy question. And as sellers, what we have to do is create a need before we can ask what their budget is. So you might want to say, hey, did you hear the world’s blowing up? Everything’s going to blow up on Tuesday. And if you don’t have a ticket to Mars, you’re going to blow up and you’re going to be dead. Now all of a sudden I find the money.
But the point is, this analogy is true for a lot of your products and services. We ask them what their budget is thinking, A. They’re going to tell us the truth, and B. Thinking they even have one.
Many of your customers do not have a budget for what you’re selling. You need to create so much value, so much need, so such a problem that they find the money. And if you do that, they always will.
Scott Ingram: For links to plenty more from Shari, and a link to Trish Bertuzzi’s book, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1464. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!