Should you as a prospect, “What’s in your budget?” You know, a lot of sales training programs tell you that it’s very, very important to qualify your prospects. And if they don’t have money in their budget, then you need move on because that’s a sign of whether or not they are going to actually buy.
Let me give you an example that I think refutes this entirely.
Recently, I got a call from Lauren. She does website and social media stuff. She happened to look at my website and noticed that I was missing some very important things from a social media perspective. She sent me an email, told me what was missing, and asked if I was interested in learning more. I was surprised and my curiosity was piqued. I thanked her for the insights, and asked if she did any work in that area. She said she did – then she asked me what my budget was.
That was not the right question to ask me! I had no idea what her value was worth or the time it takes to solve the problem. She was creating a box for herself and she got me flustered because I didn’t know how to answer the question.
Now, my normal reaction would be to throw out a low ball number. This would make her upset because she would feel her time is worth more and that she couldn’t afford to do that.
She shouldn’t have asked the question at all. She should have focused on the need, found out a little bit more, and suggested what it would cost so I could find out if it was worth spending the money on.
If she’d have done that, she’d have gotten a sale a whole lot faster.
