When holding tech sales meetings, there are different types of players in the room. You will mostly be dealing with business executives, the day to day mid level executive and the technical evaluator. This is a good thing as all the right people will be there at one place to help finalize any decision but the bad part? They all have different priorities and will interrupt your presentation to ask their questions. This not only interrupts your flow but is not at all critical to the discussion and ends up wasting everyone’s time. So what are the possible interruptions that you might face and how can you deal with them?
TECHNICAL INTERRUPTIONS
If a technical evaluator interrupts the sales meeting with an unimportant complicated question, it is because they are being impulsive or are trying to show off their knowledge. You already KNOW the solution, but it’s not a quick one. If you explain right away, the others will be bored. Additionally, it will encourage the interrupter to do it again by rewarding them. So in order to beat this trend, try using the following instead:
- Yes, we can absolutely accomplish that, is the quick response. In fact, comparable accounts to yours are currently using our solutions for just that.
- However, may I kindly request that we discuss this offline? In this manner, we may complete our agenda without taking too long.
It is crucial that the person who interrupted nods or responds with an affirmative so that they don’t feel humiliated or dismissed in front of others. You may quickly diffuse the potential issue by acting with respect and reason. These remarks not only spared the group’s patience by avoiding lengthy responses, but they also demonstrated the capability of your organization. If identifying additional client accounts that really utilize the same or comparable solutions is not a privacy risk, doing so serves as a helpful reminder that you have satisfied clients everywhere.
How to prevent technical interruptions?
It is best to avoid having technical interruptions by saying this at the beginning:
We have a limited amount of time today, but I’m sure we could discuss this for hours. I propose that we postpone detailed technical queries until after the meeting so that we can properly complete our agenda and make this as beneficial as possible to all of you. Is that okay?
Carry on after a little pause. Don’t argue if someone refuses. Simply state with a grin that you want to ensure the meeting doesn’t run over. If the interrupter is a sensitive person, tell them in private that you hope you didn’t look out of place and that your sole goal was to make sure the others didn’t later complain. They probably will value the additional focus.
ASKING FOR PRICE INTERRUPTIONS
“Before we proceed to the finer details, could you tell us how much this is going to cost?”
Yes, this is the nightmare of an interruption to any salesperson. To be forced to disclose the price before value or ROI has been explained. Such issues are frequently made for two very distinct reasons. Sometimes, while they listen to you, they are intrigued and want to know roughly how large or little this deal will be. Sometimes the person asking the question is posing a challenge.
1. Out of pure curiosity: Sometimes, this person only needs to know an estimate. So decide on a range, make it as broad and variable as your business demands, and then proceed. You may say something like, “The price would start at X dollars, but depending on your size, it would range from $xx to X dollars.” Additionally, it relies on the factors that we haven’t yet covered.
Immediately after that, you must say, “For that level of expenditure, you should expect to see what our other clients see. a first-year revenue effect of $xx,xxx-$yy,yyy.”
Never terminate a pricing discussion with a number; this is crucial to keep in mind. The dialogue is destroyed. Instead, go on to discuss the likelihood of the investment’s return, which is a far better topic for them to inquire about at this point. Now that you have a range and a much higher payback amount, you can find out if the minimum price was too low. If you don’t, assume it’s economical and carry on.
2. The Challenger:
There will be moments when you will feel that saying the price right away, before you can explain the value, would harm your prospects of moving forward. It’s a precarious scenario. It may be OK to respond by stating something like, “If it’s perfect for your organisation, the investment will make sense and even be a bargain.” “Or else XYZ wouldn’t have picked us,” it is both logical and intriguing and they are kept wondering what the other client account has seen in you. You might also try asking, “I’d like to ask for three or four minutes to convey our value before pricing. My belief is that discussing the price is a waste of time if you don’t perceive the value” Before speaking again, make sure to have their approval. You’ll understand it if they’re a reasonable person. You now know that you need to boost the cost-benefit analysis if they refuse to comply with your request.
HOW LONG WILL THIS TAKE? INTERRUPTIONS
It’s time for you to make a swift decision if you hear this interruption while you are still presenting. Are they enquiring out of curiosity and a desire to ensure they have adequate time? In this situation, just let them know how much time is required to finish the presentation. However, if they are asking out of boredom, you must act immediately to remedy the situation or it will be too late. Rarely do bored individuals finalize any deals.
It will not be sufficient to accelerate. Their interest in your presentation has already waned. If you wish to pique their attention once more, it is necessary to take spectacular action.
What may succeed? removing the slides!
Breaking up the monotony by turning off the powerpoint and shifting to something tangible, like the white board, can assist. The examples will be more engaging and pertinent to their objectives at their organization if you provide the names of three customers and discuss what your solutions are accomplishing for them. If they are still not interested, ask them clearly for the sort of impact they are looking for. Their reply will give you a good idea about whether you have a chance with this room or not. Then whether to proceed or not becomes simple.
You can also gracefully end the presentation by asking for feedback. Taking suggestions on making it more valuable to potential clients is a gold mine of information if provided. This gives the future you and the others in your company, to rework the presentation to something more valuable and resourceful and save everyone’s time and efforts.
CONCLUSION
The above list is just a segment of the multitude of interruptions you’ll face during the countless presentations in your IT sales career. The idea is to be tactful in your response and not get side-tracked into a conversation that’s not in your plan. It’ll help if you are able to memorize some of the above statements, as using the wrong set of words can have a very different meaning. Also the way you deliver the statements can be the difference in having a satisfied prospect or a berated one.
