Latest / Closing the Deal with Fexingo: Sales, Negotiation, and Revenue Conversations for Operators / How a Rep Won by Asking for a Verbal Commitment First
Transcript
- Lucas: You send the contract, the buyer says 'looks good, I'll review it with legal.' Then silence. Three weeks go by. Sound familiar? Luna: Oh, painfully familiar. I've seen deals sit in that limbo for months. The rep is afraid to push, the buyer is busy, and the momentum just evaporates. Lucas: Right. And there's a simple technique that prevents that whole scenario. It's not new, but most reps skip it because they think it's pushy. I'm talking about asking for a verbal commitment before you ever send the contract. Luna: So, you're saying get them to say 'yes' out loud first? Lucas: Exactly. Not just a head nod or a 'sounds good' in an email. A clear, spoken yes. And I want to walk through a specific case where this saved a deal worth about $240,000 in annual recurring revenue. Luna: I'm all ears. Lucas: So, the case is a SaaS company selling a project management tool to a mid-market logistics firm. The rep had done all the right discovery, built a champion, the buyer said they wanted to move forward. But the rep had been burned before by verbal agreements that fell apart, so she was tempted to just send the contract. Luna: Which is exactly what most reps would do. You want to close the deal, you send the paperwork. Lucas: Right. But instead, she scheduled a call with the buyer and said, 'Before I send over the contract, I want to make sure we're aligned on everything. Can you confirm that you're ready to move forward with this solution at the pricing we discussed?' Luna: And the buyer said yes? Lucas: He said yes. And then she said, 'Great, I'm going to send the contract now. I'll also loop in your legal team on the email so we can get them up to speed.' And that simple step changed the dynamic. Now the buyer had publicly committed. He had skin in the game. Luna: I can see how that works psychologically. Once you've said 'yes' out loud to someone, it's harder to back out or drag your feet. It's the commitment bias in action. Lucas: Exactly. And there's actually research on this. In a classic study, people who agreed to a small request were much more likely to agree to a larger one later. It's called the foot-in-the-door technique. But here, the verbal commitment is the small ask, and signing the contract is the larger one. Luna: And it's not just about psychology. It also surfaces objections early. If the buyer hesitates or says 'I need to check with someone,' you know there's still an issue. Better to find that out before you send a twenty-page contract. Lucas: Exactly. The rep in this case told me that if the buyer had hesitated, she would have dug in right there. But because he said yes, she could confidently move forward. And here's the kicker — the contract came back signed in three days. Not three weeks. Luna: Wow. Three days vs. the industry average of two to three weeks. That's a massive difference. Lucas: Right. And the buyer later told her that because she had asked for his verbal commitment, he felt more accountable. He personally followed up with legal and procurement to make sure it got done. He owned the deal. Luna: That's the shift. You're turning the buyer from a passive recipient into an active advocate for the deal internally. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a theme on this show. If these conversations have helped you rethink your approach, even in small ways, consider supporting the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's what keeps us ad-free and independent. Luna: Yeah, it's really appreciated. And we mean it — no pressure, just if you've gotten value from something like this verbal commitment tip, a coffee's worth it. Lucas: So, back to the technique. The key is how you frame the ask. You don't say 'are you ready to sign?' That sounds pushy. You say 'I want to make sure we're aligned before I send the paperwork. Can you confirm you're ready to move forward?' Luna: And you want to do it on a call, not over email. Tone matters. You need to hear their voice. Lucas: Right. And if they say 'yes' on a call, you can even say 'I'm going to send a quick note to you and your team summarizing what we agreed. Does that work?' That creates a written record of the verbal commitment. Luna: That's smart. It's not a contract, but it's a paper trail of intent. And it makes it easier for the buyer to forward that note to legal themselves. Lucas: Exactly. And there's a version of this for larger enterprise deals where you have multiple stakeholders. You can ask each key person for a verbal commitment individually before you bring them all together. That way, when you have the group call, there's no silent dissenter. Luna: I've seen that work. It's like pre-wiring the deal. Each person has already said yes to you, so they're less likely to cave to pressure from a naysayer in the room. Lucas: Right. And the technique scales down too. For a $5,000 deal, it's just as effective. The buyer says 'yes' on the phone, you send the invoice, and they pay within the week. Luna: So what holds reps back from doing this? It sounds so simple. Lucas: Fear of seeming desperate. Or they think it's redundant. 'They already said they want to buy, why do I need to ask again?' But the casual 'we want to move forward' is not the same as a deliberate, explicit verbal commitment. Luna: It's like the difference between someone saying 'I'd like to go to the movies sometime' versus 'do you want to go see the new Marvel movie this Friday at 7?' One is vague, the other is specific and actionable. Lucas: Exactly. And the specific ask creates a moment of truth. If the buyer is genuine, they'll say yes. If they're not, you'll know. Either way, you save time. Luna: And time is the one thing you can't get back in a sales cycle. Lucas: Right. So the action item from this episode is simple. Before you send your next contract or proposal, schedule a call. Ask for a clear verbal commitment. If you get it, send the contract with confidence. If you don't, you've uncovered an objection you can address. Luna: And if they say yes, don't forget to loop in the stakeholders yourself. Make it easy for the buyer to champion you internally. Lucas: Exactly. One verbal yes can save you weeks of waiting. Try it on your next deal and see what happens. Luna: I think a lot of listeners will be surprised by how well it works. I know I was when I first tried it. Lucas: Same here. It's one of those techniques that seems too simple to be effective, but it consistently cuts deal cycles short. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back with another episode tomorrow.