Last week discussing how to approach the topic of budget and basically how to not make the conversation of money awkward, was really giving me some cringe worthy flash backs. About three weeks ago my business partner and I had an intimidating sales meeting with a store that was interested in buying our product to sell on their shelves.
I will be the first to admit my business partner and I are not perfect salespeople. We knew that the topic of money was going to come up; money had to come up in order to get the deal. But lets all be honest, discussing money in a sales conversation is uncomfortable and really turns people off.
After our nerves settled down and we started talking, the conversation was going amazing, honestly could not be any better. Then the manger of the store blurts out, “yes we would love to have your product”. Okay yay, internally celebrating which quickly turns to panic because I have no idea what do next. Do I just blurt out how much it will cost? Like what the heck do I say…cue awkward silence with my partner and I just looking at each other.
I should have asked the manager questions that would ease into the conversation of budget and getting a range, threshold and a real number using good budgeting questions. Like saying, “Have you thought about what something like this might cost? That unfortunately did not happen, instead I just said how much the product cost and how much we had on hand to give. Which ended up with me offering below what I should have, the manger picked up on that and gave a higher price. That was awkward for me, but knowing what I know now, this awkwardness around money will not that happen again. But at least on the bright side we got into the store. But, take a lesson from me and ask good budgeting questions to get a range, threshold and a real number and move forward from that.
testacr22
Money talk is a tough double bind for us; on the one hand, talking about having more money than somebody, or just having a lot available, is seen as boastful and potentially wasteful. On the other hand, talking about having less money than somebody or not having much available is embarrassing and places you in a weak position, which nobody likes.
That would be a really tough situation to be in! I can only imagine the squirming feeling during the silence after the manager said he wanted your product. Real experiences like this, especially around money are a great way to learn and it sounds like you are on the right track!
Great real life business scenario. It is definitely a daunting to bring up money in a sales conversation. I like how the prospect actually offered a higher price for your sake. I like how you brought up that it is good to ease into a budget conversation with questions that narrow down what the prospect expects the price many be. Great post.