Five-minute lesson
About 5 minutes.
On your next first call, you will find out whether there is budget and who signs, before you invest in a demo or trial.
We scored our first and second calls. On first calls, only 29% of you found out about budget and 38% found out who signs. The line that came up most was some version of “We’ll get there.”
Every deal in this set needs a CFO, CTO or group sign-off, and several had no money set aside. Those facts come out eventually. They just come out late, and usually from the CFO. In CALL-029 the CFO revealed a 30% budget cut on call 3 and pushed the deal to next fiscal year. In CALL-035 the CFO had about $30K left and the call ended with no next step. In CALL-031 Sam ran a full trial before learning the parent group buys all software.
By the time the money shows up, you’ve spent weeks on demos and trials. The only lever left is price, so you discount. “If I can get closer to 50, could we make it work this year?” and “Maybe 35, if you sign this quarter?” both came after the money question was skipped on call 1.
Asking early is the respectful move. Maya asked on call 1 and by call 2 the CFO approved the budget line. One honest note: we don’t have win/loss data, so I can’t count the deals this cost. I can tell you the pattern shows up across all three regions.
“Let me ask the money question early, so I’m respectful of your time. Is there budget for a cloud cost tool this year, or would it need to be part of next year’s plan?”
Maya Castillo, CALL-015
She names what she’s doing and gives the buyer two easy answers. That surfaced a mid-October budget deadline and the CFO’s role on the first call.
“I’m not quoting you anything, I just don’t want the number to be a surprise later. Does that feel like it’s in the range of something that could fit?”
Imani Carter, CALL-003
She takes the pressure off and still gets a real reaction to a range. The buyer told her there was no line item and that the CFO would sign, which gave her a path to plan around.
“So your placeholder is in the right range. I’d rather you know that now.”
Ben Achebe, CALL-030
He checked his price against the buyer’s budget placeholder on call 1. By call 2 the CFO was booked and named as the one who signs.
“One point of gross margin on your revenue is probably several times our price. I’m not saying we’ll fix a point of margin. I’m saying the decision she’s making is worth a lot more than the tool.”
Aisha Grant, CALL-004
She talks about price in the CFO’s own terms on the first call. The buyer hears that the money conversation is welcome and worth having now.
Ask once the buyer has described the problem and, ideally, put a cost on it. That’s usually the middle of the call, before the demo or before you talk next steps. Bridge from their own words: “You said this cost you a lot last quarter. Let me ask the money question early so it’s not a surprise later.” If they wave it off, take it once and come back to it before you book the next step. Two questions are enough on call 1: is there money, and who signs.
1. On a first call, the buyer says: “At some point I’ll need to know what this costs. But let’s see if it works first.” What’s the best reply?
Answer: B. Giving a range and asking who signs keeps the money from being a surprise later. The first option is the exact deferral from CALL-011. The third jumps to a discount before you know anything.
2. The buyer tells you there’s no budget for tools this year. What should you ask next?
Answer: C. “No budget” tells you where to dig. Ask how money gets found and who approves. The first option is what happened in CALL-017, and the second answers a budget question with a discount.
3. When is the best time on a first call to ask about budget and who signs?
Answer: B. Once the buyer has put a cost on the problem, the money question feels natural. Asking cold got shut down in CALL-025, and asking at the very end in CALL-023 left it unclear who signs.