Latest / Closing the Deal with Fexingo: Sales, Negotiation, and Revenue Conversations for Operators / How Asking for a Price Cut Revealed the Real Budget
Transcript
- Lucas: So we all know the feeling: you've built a strong case, the buyer seems engaged, and then they hit you with 'can you do better on price?' Today we're looking at a rep who took that moment and turned it into the most revealing question of the whole deal. Luna: I love that. So often price pressure is the end of the conversation, not the beginning. What did she do differently? Lucas: Her name is Dana, and she sells a workflow automation platform to mid-market manufacturing companies. She had a prospect, a plant operations director, who was genuinely interested but kept saying the budget was tight. So instead of defending her price, Dana asked a simple question: 'What would you cut from the project to hit your target number?' Luna: Bold. And I bet the buyer didn't expect that. What happened next? Lucas: The buyer paused and said, 'Well, we could drop the reporting module.' Dana asked, 'And what would that mean for your team's daily visibility?' And the buyer started to talk about how they'd lose real-time tracking of downtime, which was actually the whole reason they were shopping for software in the first place. Luna: So by asking what they'd take out, she got them to articulate the value of what's in. Lucas: Exactly. She didn't have to argue for her price. The buyer argued for it themselves. That's the power of the 'takeaway' question. It flips the negotiation from defense to offense. Luna: And I bet that conversation revealed more than just which features were sacred. Did they ever talk about the actual number? Lucas: Right. Dana followed up by asking, 'Is the budget a hard cap, or a reflection of what you think this should cost?' And that's when the buyer admitted their CFO had given them a number, but it was based on a different kind of solution they'd seen at a trade show. They hadn't benchmarked against a platform with this level of integration. Luna: So the 'budget' was a guess, not a constraint. Lucas: Precisely. Once Dana understood that, she could reframe the conversation around the cost of not solving the problem. She walked through the cost of unplanned downtime at their plant — which their own numbers said was about three hundred thousand a year — and then compared it to her price, which was a fraction of that. Luna: And that's when the deal changed. But she still had to get them to move off the number, right? Lucas: Exactly. Dana didn't just dismiss the number. She validated it, then asked, 'If we could get you to your number, what would that require us to take out?' And the buyer said, 'Nothing, we want everything.' That's when Dana knew she had the deal — they just needed to build a business case for their own finance team. Luna: So she helped them sell internally. That's smart. It's not about winning the argument; it's about arming your champion. Lucas: Right. She gave them a one-pager with the downtime math and the ROI projection, and they went back to the CFO and got approval. The final deal was at full price, and they even added a maintenance contract she hadn't originally proposed. Luna: Beautiful. So the key takeaway: when someone asks for a discount, don't jump to adjust your price. Ask what they're willing to give up. That reveals what they truly value. Lucas: And it also reveals whether they're serious. If they can't answer what they'd cut, the price objection might just be a stalling tactic. But if they can, you've got a real path to agreement. Luna: I've seen this work on the flip side too. When I was in procurement, we'd always ask sellers to itemize their quotes. We wanted to see where we could trim. Some reps would get defensive, but the ones who asked us what we were trying to achieve — they were the ones who kept our business. Lucas: That's a great point. It's not just about cutting costs; it's about aligning with the buyer's actual goals. Dana's story is a perfect example of that. Luna: It's also a reminder that price is rarely the real issue. It's often about perceived value or a budget landscape that's based on outdated assumptions. Lucas: Exactly. And that's something we've touched on before, but the 'takeaway' question is a concrete tool you can deploy tomorrow. If you're in a negotiation and someone pushes back on price, ask them what they'd remove. Luna: And if they say 'nothing'? Then you know they want it all, and you can work on the business case together. Lucas: Right. Dana's story is a great reminder that sometimes the best move is to lean into the objection and find the truth behind it. Luna: And honestly, that's what we try to do here — give you tactics that are practical and real. If today's episode gave you a new idea or a fresh perspective, that's exactly why we do this. Lucas: And if it was useful, the way we keep the show ad-free is through listener support. If you feel like buying us a coffee, you can do that at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping us keep the conversation going. Lucas: Exactly. So, back to Dana. After she got the full-price deal, she also asked the buyer for an internal champion — but this time, it was for a different reason. She wanted a reference account for her own sales process. Luna: Smart. So she turned one good deal into a tool for future deals. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the takeaway: the 'takeaway' question isn't just about handling price objections. It's about discovering what your buyer truly values, which is the foundation for any successful negotiation. Luna: So next time you hear 'can you do better on price?', try asking what they'd cut. You might be surprised what you learn. Lucas: That's the show. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you in the next episode.