Season 2, Episode 5, with Jenna at Vidyard
Talking about pricing can be difficult. There’s a subtle art to it, but there’s one thing you should never do. Never offer a discount if budget isn’t an issue.
nfortunately, it’s a problem that Dave Kennet and Scott Barker see far too often.
In this episode of Demo-litions, Season 2, you’re going to learn the solution to that and more as Dave and Scott sit down with a demo from Jenna, an AE at Vidyard. She delivers one of the best openings Dave has ever seen, plus she does a great discovery and demo all in 30 minutes.
But as strong as Jenna’s sales skills are, we found a few opportunities to improve: questioning, customer stories, and especially, pricing.
The Opening
The opening to any sales call is extremely important because it sets the tone for the rest of the conversation. Jenna starts her call perfectly. She sets the agenda for the call and paints a very clear picture of what she wants from the prospect at the end of the call. She also does a great job of taking any pressure off the prospect by mentioning, “If you don’t think this will add value, that’s totally ok.“
Questioning
When it comes to questioning, don’t pepper the prospect with machine-gun questions — two to three questions all at once. It’s easy to do, but what happens is you’ll only get one of those questions answered. Then, later on, you’ll find that you have gaps in your data. Stick to one question at a time, and break it up with meaningful check-ins to make sure they understand and are following.
It’s also important to ask about the competition in the discovery portion of the call. If you wait to the end, you don’t have enough time to properly position yourself against the competition. If you find out who your competition is during discovery, then you can steer the conversation, and the demo, to highlight the things you know your company does better.
Customer Stories
Customer stories are something that people don’t use nearly enough. They’re one of the most powerful tools in your sales tool belt, but you also have to use them correctly. Jenna does great in showing customers who have succeeded with their product in her demo, but she fails to really deliver their story.
Focus on the story. Explain the problem your customer faced, how they solved it with your help, and most importantly, the results you helped them achieve.
Pricing
Lastly pricing. This part of the call is often full of potential problems, and too often reps don’t leave enough time to properly navigate through them. Luckily Jenna did great with time. She spent 10 minutes on discovery, 10 minutes on demo, and left herself plenty of time for pricing. Unfortunately, she made one big mistake. She started negotiating with herself.
Never offer a discount unless budget is a make-or-break issue, and if you do have to offer a discount, you want it to be a give-and-take. Use it as leverage to get something you want, like a faster close date.
That being said, Jenna still knocked it out of the park with this call, and she even got her next call scheduled and on the books.
Key Takeaways:
- Start with a clear gameplan, and share it.
- Ask clear questions with good, meaningful check-ins.
- Give context with your customer stories.
- Don’t negotiate with yourself.
Good luck out there, and happy selling.
