Coaching note: East
On first and second calls, East established budget 31% of the time and the economic buyer 54% of the time. East also has the lowest next-step rate, 57% across all calls. Kevin, Megan, Sam, Paul and Natalie all reached late conversations without knowing the money path, and Imani shows your team can do this well.
Kevin Osei (CALL-011): The CTO, CEO and CFO all came up on call one, and Kevin put off price without asking who the signer was. Two calls later the CFO had only about $30K left, Kevin offered a discount, and the call ended with no next step.
“Totally, totally. No point talking price if it doesn’t work on your data. We’ll get there.”
Megan Riordan (CALL-020): She dropped the CFO thread on call one. Budget first came up in the last minutes of call two, days before the decision meeting, and the buyer knew of no budget.
“Totally. Let’s get Renee excited first.”
Sam Whitfield (CALL-031): He ran a full trial before learning that the parent group buys all software and his contact can’t approve it. He named the miss himself on the call, which tells me he’s ready to work on it.
“I should have asked about the acquisition and how you buy things on day one.”
Paul Nguyen (CALL-016): He left call one with no booked trial and no questions about the CTO who set the target. On call two he gave list price before a value case and didn’t book a meeting with the CTO.
“Should I send you an email with next steps and some times for a trial kickoff?”
Imani Carter (CALL-003): On your team, she tested a price range on call one and learned the CFO signs. Call two put the CFO in a dated meeting with a Q4 funding path.
“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?”
Maya Castillo (CALL-015): On Central, she asked about money early and politely. That surfaced the budget deadline and the CFO’s role, and by call two the CFO approved the budget line.
“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?”
Before your next first call, tell me the questions you’ll ask about budget and who signs, and when in the call you’ll ask them.
I’m sending a short lesson on asking about budget and who signs on call one, built on Imani’s and Maya’s words. In the role-play, the buyer says “let’s see if it works first,” and the rep has to ask about money and the approver, then book a dated next step before hanging up.