I read this post today and wanted to provide my perspectives on sales leadership. When I hear someone in a business context use words like “hard pass/no” when dealing with a client, my first thought is that their ego is getting in the way of future revenue, learning valuable information, or developing a great reputation. One critical aspect of leadership coaching is to contract up-from with the client to ensure both parties get what they need, have clear expectations, and the client is committed to the process. Then, re-contract every session to maintain alignment and adjust goals as necessary. The same concepts can be applied to customers, especially when the company is a start-up.
To simplify the discussion, let’s assume up-front that the customer is asking for a 2-month trial period with no commitment to paying after that. The first step is to look beyond the dollars and look for the potential value. Then, you should evaluate the opportunity cost and understand their reasons for asking for a free trial period. A trial period where the client understands that support will be limited (whatever that means to you) has little risk or downside. Furthermore, ask what aspects of the product they will be testing or focusing on. Then, ensure they agree to an in-person debrief with the person/team conducting the testing with your lead SW developer to understand what they liked, did not like, etc.
Giving something away something for free doesn’t mean you can’t derive value from it. Sales leadership requires being open to customer demands. Perhaps the engagement won’t help you achieve your sales goals this quarter, but finding an approach that adds value in other ways will facilitate your sales activities in the future.
There are many options to explore before saying no. Instead of a “hard pass”, how about a “yes, but”?
See Jake’s thoughtful follow-up response below that demonstrated ego was not the issue.
On a sales call today the client wanted the first two month of my software comped and they’d start paying after that. Very hard pass for me. In my opinion, early stage you shouldn’t ever offer free trials. They’re not worth your time.
Are you going to miss out on a few sales because of it? Definitely.
Will you waste far less time and close more deals in the long term because of the time and focus saved? Absolutely!
Here is Jake’s thoughtful response to my original comment:
Mendy Ouzillou that’s a great perspective. I might make a follow up post about my typical responses to these sorts of objections.
In this case, I offered the customer a 60 day money-back guarantee. Meaning they can text or email me 24/7 to get their money back the next day. They still declined. That tells me they either don’t understand the value prop well enough (likely true) or they’re simply tire kicking (also likely true)