Latest / Sales Leadership with Fexingo: Quota Carriers, Sales Managers, and Revenue Teams / The One Question Top Sales Reps Ask Every Discovery Call
Transcript
- Lucas: There's a question I hear top performers ask on almost every discovery call, and most reps never use it. Luna: Okay, I'm listening. What's the question? Lucas: 'What happens if you do nothing?' It sounds simple, but the way you phrase it at different stages of a deal changes everything. Luna: I've heard versions of that. But I think a lot of reps are afraid to ask it because they worry it'll give the prospect an out. Lucas: Right — they think, 'If I remind them they can walk away, they will.' But the research says the opposite. When you ask a buyer to articulate the cost of inaction, they often realize it's higher than they'd admitted to themselves. Luna: So it's not a closing question. It's a discovery question. Lucas: Exactly. I was talking to a rep at a cloud infrastructure company — let's call her Sarah — who had a $2 million deal stalled for six months. The technical evaluation was done, the security review was done. The prospect just kept saying 'we're still discussing internally.' Luna: Classic 'analysis paralysis' scenario. Lucas: Yeah. So Sarah finally asked the VP of Infrastructure, very directly: 'If you decide not to move forward with us this quarter, what's the impact on your team?' And the VP paused and said, 'We'll have to hire three more engineers to maintain the legacy system, and we'll miss the Q4 migration target our board set.' Luna: She got him to quantify the status quo. Lucas: Right. That one question surfaced a cost of inaction — roughly $400,000 in additional hiring and a missed board-level commitment — that nobody had written down. The deal closed three weeks later. Luna: So the key is making the 'do nothing' option concrete. Not just 'things stay the same' but 'here's exactly what stays the same and here's what it costs you.' Lucas: That's exactly it. And the phrasing matters. Early in a deal, I've seen reps ask it as: 'Just to understand your timeline — if you postpone this decision for six months, what changes?' Later in the deal, it's: 'Help me understand the downside of not moving forward this quarter.' Luna: I've also heard a version used in negotiation: 'If we can't reach an agreement on price, what's your backup plan?' That one's a bit sharper. Lucas: It is. And it's very effective because most buyers don't have a solid backup plan. They might say 'we'll build it in-house' but they haven't costed it. So you're exposing risk that's already there — you're not creating it. Luna: There's a behavioral economics concept behind this, right? Loss aversion. Lucas: Exactly. People feel the pain of a loss about twice as intensely as the pleasure of an equivalent gain. So when you ask them to talk about what they'll lose by not acting — time, money, competitive position — that's more motivating than talking about what they'll gain. Luna: So the question works on two levels: it surfaces real information for you, and it reframes the decision for them. Lucas: Right. And I want to be careful here — this isn't about manipulation. It's about helping the buyer make a fully informed decision. A lot of times, they haven't stopped to think through the cost of inaction because they're busy putting out fires. Luna: One trap I've seen: reps ask the question once, get a vague answer, and move on. They don't push for specifics. Lucas: That's a great point. If the prospect says 'we'll fall behind competitors,' you need to follow up: 'How would you measure that? Is it market share? Customer churn? Revenue per account?' You need a number. Luna: Exactly. Vague answers are useless. You want something you can put in a business case. Lucas: I saw a rep do this really well with a mid-market manufacturing company. The prospect said 'if we don't upgrade our ERP system, we'll have inefficiencies.' The rep said: 'Can you give me an example of one inefficiency and what it costs you per month?' Turned out they were spending $12,000 a month on overtime because the legacy system couldn't handle scheduling. Luna: Suddenly the cost of doing nothing is $144,000 a year — that's real money for a mid-market firm. Lucas: Right. And that number became the anchor for the entire ROI conversation. The rep didn't have to fight on price because the buyer already knew that inaction was expensive. Luna: So the question is especially powerful when the prospect is price-sensitive. It shifts the conversation from 'your product is expensive' to 'your inaction is expensive.' Lucas: Exactly. And it works at every stage of the sales cycle. In prospecting, you might ask: 'What's the cost of not addressing this problem for another year?' In qualification: 'If you don't solve this, what happens to your team's Q4 goals?' In negotiation: 'If we can't find a way to work together, what's your alternative?' Luna: I want to circle back to something you said earlier — about reps being afraid to ask. I think the fear comes from not wanting to sound aggressive or pushy. Lucas: That's real. But the tone matters. You're not saying 'so are you going to buy or not?' You're saying 'help me understand the implications if nothing changes.' It's a curious, collaborative question. Luna: I've seen it work really well when the rep frames it as part of their due diligence. Like: 'To make sure we're the right fit, I need to understand what happens if you stay on your current path.' Lucas: That's a great framing. It positions you as a consultant, not a vendor. And it also subtly communicates that you have standards — you're not going to sell them something they don't need. Luna: There's a flip side, though. Sometimes the answer is 'nothing bad happens.' The prospect is genuinely fine with the status quo. Lucas: And that's valuable information. If they can honestly say 'we're okay for another 12 months,' then you know this isn't a qualified deal — at least not right now. You can put them in a nurture track and move on. Luna: Better to discover that early than six months later. Lucas: Exactly. So the question is as much a qualification tool as a closing tool. It saves you time on deals that aren't going anywhere. Luna: I've noticed something else: when the prospect answers this question well, they often become your internal champion. They've already made the argument to themselves. Lucas: That's a really important insight. By articulating the cost of inaction, they're essentially rehearsing the pitch they'll need to make to their own boss or procurement committee. You're giving them the language. Luna: So the question doesn't just help you sell — it helps them sell internally. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's the mark of a truly great sales question. It serves both of you. Luna: Hey, before we wrap, I want to mention something. If these conversations have helped you think about your own sales approach in a new way, there's a simple way to support the show and keep it ad-free. Lucas: Yeah, we don't do sponsors or commercials — that's intentional. Listener support is what makes that possible. If you've gotten value from an episode, you can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: No pressure, obviously. But if it's helped you close one deal or reframe one conversation, that's what we're here for. Lucas: Okay, back to the question. I think the real power of 'what happens if you do nothing' is that it respects the buyer's intelligence. It says 'I trust you to make the right decision, and I want to make sure you have all the information.' Luna: That's a good note to end on. It's not a trick — it's a tool. Lucas: Exactly. Try it on your next call. And if you get a good answer, you'll know you're in a real conversation.