Get the Budget - Skip a Wild-Goose Chase

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Testing the follow-up on great content-marketing campaigns: Most companies fall flat - By Richardson

Before you expend days on that complex proposal or jump on a flight again to see your client or prospect, find out about the budget. While knowing client needs is paramount to maximize opportunities, knowing the budget is also vital. Certainly budget should not be the first question to ask but learning about the budget early on helps you target opportunities with potential and bring solutions that are doable to clients.

Soon after you understand needs, the decision process, and compelling event, get to the budget. You can comfortably ask about budget by positioning your request from a client need perspective such as, "So I can understand your parameters to meet your needs, what are?" However, some clients, in spite of how often you ask about the budget, avoid the subject. Perhaps they don't know. Perhaps they are withholding the information as a negotiation ploy. Either way a lack of budget information can spell trouble for you.

If the client avoids giving budget data to you, especially if the client is more junior or tends to be close fisted, suggest for a range. For example, after you've asked about budget and have not been successful in getting the information you need, ask: "I know you don't have a specific budget at this stage. To help me gauge my thinking, is it under X or over Y? Or is it between A or B?" Based on the size of the opportunity and your knowledge of the client's needs, you can fill in the range. Of course, suggest ranges only as a fallback. Clients usually respond when you give them a range and this will give you the parameters you need to help you gauge the opportunity and the client's commitment. When clients continue to refuse, even with wide parameters that can tell you a lot about how real the opportunity is.

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Testing the follow-up on great content-marketing campaigns: Most companies fall flat - By Richardson

About the Author: Richardson

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Linda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web
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