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Exeter, Devon | info.southwest@sandler.com

A salesperson's value is more about what information they discover from prospects, as opposed to what information they share with prospects. And nowhere is that more apparent than in budget.

Recently a client shared a story with me about how discovering a client's budget made all the difference.

He was meeting with a large potential client. He had let the individual know ahead of time that if it made sense, they would discuss budget during the meeting.

When they got to that point, he said, "Because we want to work within your budget, it's really helpful to me if you can share what you're looking at."

When he asked for the budget, in round numbers, what that person shared was six times what he thought they would say!

Then the prospect asked, "Generally how long does this take?"

He answered, "About two to four weeks."

The prospect looked surprised. "Wow, that's fast!"

Let's think about both aspects of that interaction. A budget has three major components. Money is often the one we think of, but there's also time and resources.

The first thing they talked about was money. If my client had shared what he thought they wanted first, how well do you think that would have worked?

Not very well!

If you think something is worth £6,000, and someone comes in and tells you, "Oh, that's only £1,000," don't you get suspicious? There's a huge disconnect! And that can be on either side. It can be that you're too expensive. Or that you're not expensive enough.

The second thing they talked about was the time investment. The prospect had expectations there as well. And if we don't ask questions to understand what their expectations are, we can really set ourselves up for failure.

It doesn't matter what your business is. Your prospect has some expectation of what they want to hear. If you can find that out, your chances of moving forward are far, far better.

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