Latest / Closing the Deal with Fexingo: Sales, Negotiation, and Revenue Conversations for Operators / The Rep Who Won by Asking the Buyer to Fund a Pilot
Transcript
- Lucas: So yesterday I was on the phone with a friend who runs sales for a mid-market SaaS company, and she told me about a deal that nearly died because the buyer kept saying yes but never actually moved forward. Sound familiar? Luna: Pilot purgatory. The yes that isn't a yes. I've been there. Lucas: Exactly. But she tried something new. Instead of asking for a fully funded pilot, she asked the buyer to fund a small piece of it. Ten percent. And that tiny ask changed everything. Luna: Ten percent. That's so small it almost feels symbolic. But I bet it wasn't symbolic to the buyer. Lucas: Right. And before we dig in, if these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's the kind of thing that makes a real difference to us. Luna: Yeah, it really does. Even a small amount adds up. Lucas: So back to the deal. The company sells a workflow automation tool, and the buyer was a VP of operations at a logistics firm. They'd been in discussions for months, but every time they got to the pilot stage, the buyer would say, 'We're not ready to commit resources yet.' Classic stall. Luna: So what did she do differently? Lucas: She proposed a pilot with a total budget of fifteen thousand dollars. But instead of asking the company to cover it all, she asked the buyer to contribute five thousand. A third of the cost, as a kind of commitment fee. Luna: And the buyer said yes to that? Lucas: That's the surprising part. He didn't just say yes, he said yes within a week. And when she asked him why, he said that putting even a small amount of money on the table forced him to take the pilot seriously internally. It gave him a reason to champion it. Luna: So the five thousand wasn't about the money. It was about the signal. Lucas: Exactly. In negotiation, asking for a small investment changes the psychology from 'we're evaluating you' to 'we're co-investing in this.' It's a classic commitment and consistency principle, but it's surprisingly rare in pilot conversations. Luna: And it also filters out the tire kickers. If they won't put up five thousand, they were never going to buy. Lucas: That's the brutal truth. A buyer who can't or won't invest even a token amount is telling you they don't see enough value yet. The five thousand is a test of willingness, not ability. Luna: But isn't there a risk it backfires? Some buyers might see it as nickel and diming. Lucas: There is a risk, and it depends on the relationship. In this case, the rep had already built significant trust over several months. She framed it not as a fee but as a shared risk. She said, 'We're both going to learn something here. Let's both have some skin in the game.' Luna: That framing is key. If you just say 'we need you to pay for part of this,' it sounds like you don't believe in your own product. Lucas: Right. And she also made it easy by proposing a specific number. Not a range, not 'whatever you can contribute.' A specific five thousand. That gave the buyer a concrete decision to make. Luna: What happened after the pilot? Lucas: They used it, they saw real efficiency gains in their dispatch process, and they signed a full contract three months later. The pilot was the turning point because it forced them to actually use the tool, not just talk about it. Luna: So the small ask unlocked the real test. And that test led to the deal. Lucas: Yeah. And the rep told me she's now using this technique in every pilot conversation. She asks for a small contribution, and if the buyer hesitates, she knows they're not serious. It's saved her weeks of wasted cycles. Luna: What about the size of the ask? Is ten percent always the right number? Lucas: It's a good starting point, but it depends on the deal size and the buyer's budget process. In enterprise deals, even five percent can be a meaningful amount. The key is that it's small enough to feel non-threatening but large enough to require a decision. Luna: And what if the buyer says they don't have budget for that? Lucas: That's actually a useful answer. If they don't have five thousand in a discretionary budget, they probably don't have the authority or the urgency to move forward. You can then ask, 'What would it take to get this funded?' and see if they escalate. Luna: So it's a diagnostic tool as much as a negotiation tactic. Lucas: Exactly. And it also changes the conversation from a vendor pitch to a partnership. When both sides contribute, the buyer is more invested in the pilot's success, not just the rep. Luna: I've seen the opposite too, where vendors offer free pilots to win deals, and then the buyer never uses it. There's no ownership. Lucas: Right. Free pilots often get deprioritized because there's no cost to ignoring them. A small investment creates a mental stake. Luna: So how do you bring this up without feeling awkward? I imagine some reps are nervous about asking for money upfront. Lucas: The rep in this case said she just framed it as a way to ensure both teams are committed. She said, 'We want this to succeed, and we think a small contribution from your side will help your team prioritize it.' That makes it about their benefit, not your revenue. Luna: And if they push back, you can always walk it back and offer to start without funding. But you've at least tested their conviction. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the beauty of it. Even if they say no, you've learned something important about where the deal really stands. Luna: What about the risk that the buyer feels like you're nickel and diming them, as you said earlier? Lucas: It can happen if you ask for a large percentage or if you haven't built relationship capital. But if you keep it small and frame it as shared risk, most buyers see it as reasonable. In this case, the buyer actually thanked her for giving him a reason to take it seriously internally. Luna: That's a great sign. He was looking for a reason to move forward, and the small ask gave him one. Lucas: And that's the deeper lesson. Sometimes the buyer wants to say yes, but they need a legitimate excuse to convince their own organization. A small financial commitment can be that excuse. Luna: So if you're a rep stuck in pilot purgatory, maybe the fix isn't to make the pilot cheaper. It's to make it more committed. Lucas: I think that's the takeaway. Next time you're proposing a pilot, consider asking the buyer to fund even ten percent. It might be the nudge that turns a maybe into a yes. Luna: And if they won't? At least you know before you spend six months chasing a ghost. Lucas: Exactly. That's the power of a small ask. It reveals the truth early. And that's worth more than any pilot.