You’re past your introduction and well into the explanation of your call. Once you describe the product or solution of interest, the contact declares that a budget is not available for the purchase of any new products. That means yours, wise guy.
What does a contact mean by “no budget available?” Rest assured it’s a legitimate objection. But, before we address some possible responses, we must first familiarize some common terms. You guessed it! One response does not fit all.
“We are on a company-wide spending freeze.”
“Our department has already spent our yearly budget.”
“Our department has already spent our quarterly budget.”
“Our yearly departmental budget has already been designated.”
“Our quarterly departmental budget has already been designated.”
“Our entire budget is designated for the next two years.”
“I am not involved in the budgetary process.”
“I do not have influence in how the budget is spent.”
“Your product is too expensive. We don’t have enough of a budget to make a purchase.”
“We won’t know our budget allowance until the next quarter or year.”
Notice how some objections seem similar, but the time involved is either quarterly or yearly? What is the difference between ‘designated’ and ‘spent’? Why does it matter if your contact is not involved in budgetary decisions? Stay tuned as we deconstruct the actionable objections and practice those responses with the potential to keep your foot in the door.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
No budget: No budget can mean one of two things, either your talking to the wrong individual, one who does not have decision-making authority or, the individual you’re dealing with doesn’t understand the value of your product or services.
Take the case where you are talking to someone in the trucking business and you’re selling a device that would reduce fuel consumption by 5% and pay for itself within one or two months If the individual had legitimate authority, he or she would likely redirect parts of the budget to at least try the product.
If on the other hand the individual were absolutely convinced that this is true, and they did not have budget authority, they would likely find the decision-maker with budget authority and get the money to try the product.
The moral of the story is: always put yourself in front of the decision-maker, it saves a lot of time.
Agreed. Knowing the difference between true budgeting limitations and a need for a better understanding of a product is a key factor. I’ll take a quick siesta from the budgeting responses to address this issue. Great feedback! Thank you!