Latest / Closing the Deal with Fexingo: Sales, Negotiation, and Revenue Conversations for Operators / The Rep Who Won by Asking the Buyer Their Budget
Transcript
- Lucas: There's this moment in almost every sales conversation where the rep knows they should ask about budget, and they just… don't. Luna: Because it feels rude. Or premature. Like you're accusing the buyer of not being serious. Lucas: Exactly. And the standard advice for years was 'don't talk price until you've built value.' But there's a growing body of evidence that the opposite approach actually works better in a lot of cases. Luna: Are you talking about the reps who ask for the budget in the very first meeting? Lucas: That's exactly it. And before I get into the specifics, I want to say something. If this show has ever saved you from a bad negotiation or given you a framework that actually worked in the field, that's the whole reason we keep doing it ad-free. If today was worth a cup of coffee to you, there's a link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's it. No tiers, no perks, just listener support keeping this thing running. Luna: And honestly, it's the smallest way to say 'keep going.' We appreciate every single one. Lucas: Alright. So let's talk about the case that made me rethink this whole dynamic. There's a mid-market SaaS company — sells project management software to manufacturing firms. Their average deal size is about fifty thousand dollars annually. One of their top reps, a woman named Priya, told me her single biggest change last year was asking for the buyer's budget in the first thirty minutes of the first call. Luna: And the buyers didn't hang up on her? Lucas: Some did, sure. But here's the fascinating part — she said the ones who answered honestly became her best deals. Because if the budget was way too low, she could disqualify early. If it was in the ballpark, she knew exactly what to build the proposal around. And if it was way above what she expected, she had room to expand scope without feeling like she was price-gouging. Luna: So it's not just about qualifying — it's about anchoring the conversation around reality from the start. Lucas: Priya's exact line, as she told it to me, was: 'I want to make sure we're in the same ballpark so I don't waste your time. Roughly, what's the budget you've set aside for this?' She said the word 'roughly' was the unlock. It gave the buyer permission to be vague but honest. Luna: That phrasing is smart. It's not demanding a number — it's inviting one. Lucas: Right. And the data backs this up. Gong did a study of over ten thousand sales calls a couple years ago. They found that deals where the rep discussed budget in the first meeting closed at a rate about twenty percent higher than those where budget came up later. And the average deal size was actually larger, not smaller. Luna: That's counterintuitive — you'd think asking early might cap the deal size. Lucas: You would, but the theory is that buyers respect the transparency. They feel like the rep is being efficient with their time. And when a buyer feels respected, they're more willing to share information and more open to expanding scope. Luna: I've seen the opposite problem too — reps who avoid budget until the very end, then discover the buyer only has ten thousand when they're proposing fifty. All that work for nothing. Lucas: That's the nightmare scenario. And it's so avoidable. But there's a skill to asking early without coming across as transactional. Priya told me she always follows up the budget question with something like: 'And what's the primary outcome you need from this investment?' That shifts it from a price conversation to a value conversation immediately. Luna: So the budget number is just the starting point. The real work is connecting that number to a desired outcome. Lucas: Exactly. And here's another angle — sometimes the buyer doesn't have a fixed budget. They have a range, or they're still figuring it out. In that case, asking early lets you shape their expectations. You can say something like: 'For a solution that covers X, Y, and Z, most of our clients invest between forty and sixty thousand. Does that feel like the right range for what you're thinking?' Luna: That's almost like co-creating the budget with the buyer. You're giving them a reference point. Lucas: And you're doing it before you've spent three months building a custom proposal. The efficiency gain is enormous. Priya told me her sales cycle shortened by about thirty percent after she started doing this consistently. Luna: But I imagine some buyers get defensive. What happens when someone says 'I'm not going to share that yet'? Lucas: That happens. And when it does, Priya has a follow-up: 'No problem at all. Can I ask what would make you comfortable sharing that later?' That question alone often uncovers the real objection — maybe they've been burned by a vendor who jacked up the price after hearing the budget. Or maybe they're still getting approval from someone else. Luna: So the budget conversation becomes a diagnostic tool for the buying process itself. Lucas: That's a great way to put it. It's not just about dollars — it's about how this buyer makes decisions. If they can't or won't share a budget, that tells you something about how far along they really are. Luna: I think the fear for a lot of reps is that asking early makes them look like they only care about the money. Lucas: And that fear is real. But the framing matters. If you ask in a way that centers on not wasting their time, it's actually a caring move. You're saying 'I want to make sure this is realistic before we both invest more energy.' That's respectful, not greedy. Luna: So let's talk about the actual numbers from Priya's experience. How much did her close rate change? Lucas: She said her win rate on deals where she asked for budget in the first meeting was about forty-five percent. On deals where she waited until later in the process, it was around thirty percent. That's a fifteen-point swing, which is massive in enterprise sales. Luna: And the deal sizes? Lucas: Slightly higher on the early-budget deals, about eight percent. So not a huge difference, but definitely not smaller. And her total pipeline value increased because she was spending more time on deals that actually had a chance. Luna: So it's a time allocation win as much as a closing win. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's the part I think gets overlooked. Sales is a numbers game, but it's also an energy game. If you're spending weeks on a deal that was never going to close because the budget was off by a factor of three, that's time you could have spent on a better opportunity. Luna: I've heard some sales leaders argue that asking about budget too early can actually limit the deal because the buyer might lowball you. Lucas: That's a valid concern. But the research suggests that's not what happens in practice. Buyers tend to be honest when asked directly and respectfully. And if they do lowball, you can still expand scope later as you build value. The alternative — finding out the budget is too low after you've already designed a solution — is much worse. Luna: So the key is to treat the budget as a starting point, not a ceiling. Lucas: Exactly. Priya uses the budget to design the initial proposal, but she always leaves room for a 'good, better, best' structure. So if the buyer says they have fifty thousand, she'll propose a package at fifty, one at sixty-five, and one at eighty. That way she's not leaving money on the table, but she's also showing she listened to their constraint. Luna: That's a smart way to handle it. You're not ignoring their budget, but you're giving them options to increase if they see more value. Lucas: And the data shows that when buyers see a higher-priced option that includes something they really want, they often choose it. It's the classic decoy effect, but applied ethically. Luna: I want to go back to something you mentioned earlier — the Gong data. Twenty percent higher close rate when budget is discussed in the first meeting. That seems almost too good to be true. Lucas: It does, but the reasoning makes sense. Deals where budget comes up early are typically deals where the buyer is more serious, more qualified, and more transparent. So it's partly correlation — serious buyers are more willing to share budget early. But there's also causation: asking early forces the buyer to think about whether they actually have the money, which either disqualifies them or commits them. Luna: So it's a forcing function for both sides. Lucas: Right. And the rep who doesn't ask is essentially avoiding the most important qualification question. It's like a doctor not taking your blood pressure because it might be awkward. Luna: That's a great analogy. You wouldn't want a doctor who avoids the hard questions. Lucas: Exactly. And I think the reason so many reps avoid it is emotional. They're afraid of hearing 'no' too early. But a 'no' in the first meeting is a gift — it saves you from a 'no' in the sixth month. Luna: So what's the one takeaway you'd give to a rep listening who wants to try this tomorrow? Lucas: Start with a low-stakes version. In your next five discovery calls, try asking: 'Just to make sure we're in the right ballpark, what kind of budget have you set aside for this initiative?' Use the word 'roughly' or 'ballpark' to soften it. Then just listen. Don't react. Write it down. See what happens. Luna: And if they push back? Lucas: Then you have your first real objection to work through, which is valuable information. Either way, you're better off than if you never asked at all. Luna: I think the hardest part for most reps is just getting comfortable with the discomfort. Lucas: It is. But the reps who master that discomfort — they're the ones who build the most honest relationships with buyers. And those relationships tend to last. Luna: Alright, so next time I'm in a discovery call, I'm going to try asking earlier. See if it changes the dynamic. Lucas: Do it. And let us know how it goes. We love hearing from listeners who actually try the tactics we talk about. Luna: That's it for this episode of Closing the Deal with Fexingo. We'll be back tomorrow with another angle. Lucas: Until then, keep closing.