Latest / Closing the Deal with Fexingo: Sales, Negotiation, and Revenue Conversations for Operators / How Asking for a Pilot Program Won the Enterprise Deal
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this story I keep coming back to, and it's about a rep who was stuck in a six-month enterprise negotiation that was going absolutely nowhere. The buyer kept saying they loved the product, but every time it came to signatures, something came up. Budget review, new CFO, internal reorg. Sound familiar? Luna: I've been there. It's that 'death by a thousand delays' phase. What did this rep do differently? Lucas: They stopped pushing for the full contract and asked for something much smaller. They asked the buyer to run a pilot program. Not a proof of concept, not a free trial, but a structured, time-boxed pilot with clear success metrics. Luna: A pilot isn't new, but the way they framed it made all the difference. What did they say exactly? Lucas: The rep said something like, 'I understand you need to be certain this is going to work before you commit to a full rollout. So let's run a pilot for ninety days with your team, on a specific use case, and we define what success looks like upfront. If we hit those numbers, we move to a full contract. If we don't, you walk away.' Luna: That's brilliant because it flips the dynamic. Instead of asking for trust, you're offering evidence. And it gives the buyer an exit ramp, which actually makes them more comfortable saying yes to the pilot. Lucas: Exactly. And the pilot was scoped to a single department, not the whole company. So the risk for the buyer was minimal, but the results would be directly relevant to the stakeholders who mattered. The rep also tied the pilot's success metrics back to the original business case the champion had built internally. Luna: So the champion could go back to their boss and say, 'We're not committing to the whole thing yet, but we're going to test it with five users for three months.' That's a much easier thing to get approved than a six-figure contract. Lucas: Right. And that's the key insight here. The rep didn't ask for the pilot as a concession or a discount. They asked for it as a structured step that would lead to a decision. It wasn't 'can we try this for free?' It was 'let's design an experiment together, and the results will tell us whether to move forward.' Luna: And the pilot had a hard end date, right? That's crucial. Otherwise, it's just another excuse to not decide. Lucas: Absolutely. The pilot was ninety days, with a review meeting scheduled on day eighty-five. The rep made sure that the meeting was with the economic buyer and the champion, not just the project manager. So there was a natural deadline, and the decision was baked into the calendar. Luna: I love that. It's not just 'let's try it and see.' It's 'we're going to evaluate it on a specific date, and you're going to make a call.' That structure is what makes it different from a free trial that just fizzles out. Lucas: And the pilot wasn't free. The rep negotiated a small fee for the pilot, which covered implementation and training. That did two things. It made the buyer take it seriously, because they had skin in the game. And it set a precedent that the software has value, even in a limited deployment. Luna: Hmm, that's a good point. A free pilot can actually devalue your product. Charging a nominal fee keeps it from becoming a giveaway, and it filters out buyers who aren't serious. Lucas: When the pilot started, the rep didn't just disappear. They were on site every week, checking in with the users, gathering feedback, and making sure the champion had the data they needed. By week six, they had a pilot champion inside the department who was singing their praises. Luna: So the rep wasn't just selling to the initial champion anymore. They were building a coalition of internal advocates who could collectively push for the full rollout. Lucas: Exactly. And at the end of the pilot, the results were in. The department cut their reporting time by thirty percent, and the error rate dropped by half. The rep came to the review meeting with a one-page summary that tied those numbers directly to the original business case. The economic buyer saw it and said, 'Okay, let's talk about the full deployment.' Luna: And they closed the deal. Not with a discount, not with a desperate plea, but with evidence and a structured next step. Lucas: Yeah, and that's the thing. The rep never had to discount. They sold the pilot at a fair price, and then the full contract at list price. Because the value was proven. Luna: But let's be real. Pilots don't always go that smoothly. What are the risks? Lucas: The biggest risk is that the pilot drags on, or the buyer uses it as a way to delay the inevitable. That's why you have to set the structure upfront. If the pilot ends and they say, 'We need another ninety days to evaluate,' you have to be willing to walk away, or at least charge a higher fee for an extension. Luna: Also, if the pilot fails, you've essentially lost the deal. But sometimes it's better to know that upfront than to spend another six months chasing a contract that was never going to happen. Lucas: That's a really good point. A pilot is a way to test the relationship and the product fit early. If it doesn't work, you've saved both sides a lot of time and frustration. Luna: And it's not just for software. This works for services, consulting, even equipment sales. The principle is the same: lower the barrier to entry, provide proof, and create a natural decision point. Lucas: Exactly. And it's a much better strategy than asking for a discount or conceding on terms. Those things erode your value. A pilot preserves your value while giving the buyer the confidence they need. Luna: So, if you're stuck in a negotiation, maybe the next ask isn't for the contract. Maybe it's for a small, structured pilot that can lead to the contract. Lucas: That's the takeaway. And it's a tool that works in almost any complex sale. So next time you're facing a hesitant buyer, think about how you can offer them a low-risk way to prove the value. Luna: And speaking of value, 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, if you've gotten something out of them. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small gesture that makes a real difference in keeping us ad-free and focused on the specifics. But back to pilots — one thing I didn't mention is how the rep handled the initial pushback. Luna: Oh, what was that? Lucas: The buyer said, 'We already have a solution in place, we don't need a pilot.' The rep didn't fight it. They asked, 'What would need to be true for you to consider our solution? Let's test that specifically in the pilot.' That turned the objection into a parameter for the experiment. Luna: So they made the pilot about the buyer's existing pain points, not just about their product. Lucas: Right. The pilot was designed to solve a specific problem the buyer had already admitted to. That made it much harder for them to say no. Luna: That's a classic move: get the buyer to articulate their own success criteria, then show them how you meet it. Lucas: And in that review meeting, the rep brought the pilot Champion, not just the project manager. The champion did most of the talking, because they had lived with the product for ninety days and could speak to the everyday benefits. Luna: That's a great way to close. The rep doesn't have to oversell; the internal advocate does it for them. Lucas: Yeah, and the economic buyer saw that the team was already using it and liking it. That's a much easier sell than a feature list. Luna: So what's the one thing our listeners should try this week? Lucas: If you're facing a stalled deal, draft a pilot proposal with a specific scope, a hard end date, and success metrics that tie directly to the buyer's business case. Offer it as a next step, not a concession. Luna: And remember, the goal isn't to give away your product. It's to create a low-risk path to a high-confidence yes. Lucas: Exactly. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.