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It appears that you may be uncomfortable discussing money with your prospects. Many salespeople feel this way, seeing it as a personal intrusion. Failure to understand the prospect’s budget and ability to pay can only create problems for you as the sale progresses, and you will be dealing with a lot of price objections. Get comfortable discussing money early on, and make sure that before you make a presentation the prospect has an idea of what your solution will cost and would be comfortable spending that kind of money if you were able to solve his or her problems effectively.

Understanding the financial details related to the potential sale is critical. We must take the time to discover the following:

• The financial impact the problem is having on the company and the prospect
• What the prospect is willing to invest to make the problem disappear
• The financial resources available to address the problem

The budget must be addressed after the problem is uncovered, not before, since premature budget discussions tend to create early price resistance.

Four Key Reasons Why We Don't Qualify For Money Adequately

1. Talking about money is impolite. When I was about nine or ten, I remember asking my mother how much money my dad made. To this day, I recall her response. "It's really not polite to ask questions like that." And to this day I'm sensitive about discussing financial issues with people. So I have to get out of my comfort zone when discussing budget issues with prospects. Often our self-limiting beliefs can create success barriers in sales, and the money issue is a good example.

But think about it. When your neighbors come home with a new car and you're over there admiring it, how comfortable are you asking them what they paid for it? You might ask if they got a good deal, but usually that's the end of it. Many of us have to overcome this issue.

2. Wow, that's expensive! Another self-limiting belief that some of us have about money revolves around what really constitutes a lot of money. If you're asking someone to invest $2,000 to buy your product or service, and that $2,000 represents a lot of money to you, it might be difficult for you to pull the trigger and ask for it. And if the prospect said, "that's quite a bit of money, I'd need some time to think it over," that would be a put-off that you would accept as reasonable. The same thoughtthat might be going through your mind. It's called buyer empathy; you can absolutely understand and relate to how the buyer feels.

3. Please don't disappoint me. A third reason that salespeople don't like to discuss money is that they are afraid the prospect might not have any. So they avoid talking about money and hope that a compelling presentation will overcome any money objections. Typically this is poor strategy.

4. You have to see how great my product is. A fourth reason salespeople don't discuss money is they believe they can create value by telling a prospect how great their product is. Remember, telling isn't selling!

What are the consequences of not understanding the financial issues?

• The prospect can't afford your solution and will reject your proposal.
• Our proposal may be inadequate to solve their problem.

A world class qualifier will do the following:

First, don't talk about your price or their budget until you've uncovered their problem. To do so prematurely will cause the focus of your discussion to be price related and you will, I promise, get more price objections than you'll want. If you discuss money too early, before you have been able to build value by determining what the problem is costing, your price will often be seen as excessive.

There is an inverse relationship between the magnitude of the problem (or opportunity) and the money they'll spend to fix it. The more problem they have, the less the financial investment to fix it is an issue.

Take the time to uncover the financial impact of the problem or the anticipated financial impact of the opportunity in your initial qualifying efforts.

This step is critically important in a complex sale where you are selling expensive solutions. By diagnosing what other problems the problem is causing, and determining the cost of each problem to the business you are able to start building value for your eventual solution.

It is important to discuss in general terms what a solution would cost and what the prospect would receive for that investment prior to your presentation, proposal or demo. If you wait until afterward, two things may happen.

• Your prospect won't be able to pay close attention because they are wondering what it's going to cost.
• If you and your company have invested significant financial resources to do the demo or proposal, you are in a more difficult negotiating position. (The thinking is, "We've got a lot invested in this deal and we don't want to lose it.")

Finally, you should get a general expectation of what they would spend to address the issues, and find out if that kind of money is actually available. You also have to determine if they'd be willing to invest it if you had the right solution. If the prospect doesn't have adequate budget and isn't willing to make the investment, you don't have a very good prospect. As a general rule both you and your prospect should be on the same page with respect to what the problem's approximate financial impact is and how much your solution might cost before you agree to make a formal presentation.

Financial Qualifying Questions

Here are a few very effective questions to uncover the financial issues associated with many selling opportunities. You might want to commit them to memory.

• Do you have a budget to take care of the problem? Would you share it with me in round numbers?
• What kind of resources has the company committed to fix the problem?
• Is there a financial impact? How much would you guess, in round numbers?
• Can you put a finger on what the problem is costing you? Is that a lot of money?
• How much is that costing you annually? If that $_______ suddenly showed up because of what we did for you, how much would drop to the bottom line?
• Would you be willing to invest a minimum of_____ (between___ and ___) to fix it?
• If It cost _____ would you be willing to make that kind of investment?
• Assuming we could make the problem go away, how much would you be willing to invest to fix a _________ dollar problem?
• If you came to believe we could fix it, and it would cost $ ________, would that money be available?

The prospect needs to convince the salesperson they would be willing to spend the money if they had the conviction the

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