When a buyer says, “I need to run this by my boss,” don’t hear it as a brush-off or a yes. Hear it as a coaching moment. Your real job is to find out whether they can explain the pain, impact, and recommendation when you’re not in the room.
🎯 Try this today: Ask one buyer, “When you bring this up internally, what part do you think will get the most pushback?”
When a buyer says “we already use X,” don’t attack the incumbent. That just makes them defend their decision. Use the Incumbent Wedge:
1. Label: “Sounds like you’ve already got something in place.”
2. Respect: “Makes sense — switching for the sake of switching is rarely worth it.”
3. Probe for strain: “Where does it work well, and where do teams still create workarounds?”
4. Quantify: “How often does that happen, and who feels it most?”
5. Earn comparison: “If that gap is worth solving, would it be useful to compare how others handle it?”
This borrows from Never Split the Difference: lower resistance before asking for the truth.
🎯 Try this today: Write your 5-line response to “we already use a vendor” and include one question about workarounds.
When a prospect says, “We already have a vendor,” don’t attack the vendor. That makes them defend a decision they probably helped make.
Instead, respect the incumbent and question the fit against today’s reality: “Makes sense. What’s changed in the business since you picked them?”
🎯 Try this today: Write a one-line response to your “we already use ___” objection that starts with agreement, then asks what has changed.
Most reps answer objections too early. Use the 3-Beat Objection Reset before you defend anything:
1. Cushion: “That’s a fair concern.”
2. Clarify: “When you say implementation risk, do you mean timeline, IT bandwidth, or adoption?”
3. Convert: “If we could show a low-lift rollout plan, would that address the concern—or is there another blocker?”
Objections get easier when you stop reacting to the headline and uncover the real fear underneath.
🎯 Try this today: Take one common objection you hear and write your Cushion → Clarify → Convert response in three lines.
When a prospect says, “We’re not prioritizing this right now,” don’t rush to prove ROI. That often sounds like you didn’t hear them. Use a Chris Voss-style label first: “Sounds like this feels important, but not urgent enough to displace what’s already on your plate.”
🎯 Try this today: Write one label for your most common objection, then use it on your next call before asking any follow-up question.
SOAP Answer — four lines that keep exec Q&A under 30 seconds
1. Statement: give the straight answer first (“Yes, we can ship by 6/30.”)
2. Outcome: name the metric or risk at stake (“Hits FY churn target—saves ~$140k.”)
3. Approach: one sentence on how you’ll make it true (“Pulling two contractors onto QA, nightly regression kicks off Monday.”)
4. Proof: a concrete data point or precedent (“Same swap cut bug backlog 23 % last quarter.”)
🎯 Try this today: Pick one hard question you expect in your next leadership meeting—draft its four-line SOAP Answer and rehearse it once before you log on.
Executives don’t fear your idea’s cost—they fear being stuck with it. Add an explicit rollback clause: “If churn isn’t down 2 % in four weeks, we revert in under 30 minutes with zero customer impact.” You’ve turned a one-way door into a swing gate, and risk-averse brains relax enough to say yes.
🎯 Try this today: Draft one ask you’ll make today and append a single sentence that names the success metric, the deadline, and the exact reset step.
M.I.N.T. — a four-step snap check for turning “I’ll think about it” into “Deal.”
1. Motive — open with how it advances THEIR goal (“Cuts your ticket backlog 25%”).
2. Impedance — remove the friction (“My team handles the rollout; you just review the doc”).
3. Norms — show peers already on board (“Ops and Legal signed off yesterday”).
4. Tradeback — offer a give they value (“You’ll get first dibs on the beta metrics”).
🎯 Try this today: Draft your next ask as four bullets labeled M, I, N, T. If one feels thin, bolster it before you hit send or speak.