The article covers a bunch of different stuff - some of which I'd expect buyers to try and dodge, some they won't be so concerned with.
For example, when I hear this bit from the article:
Sales rep: “So, currently your company is losing out on
sales opportunities because leads are falling through
the cracks. [...] how much revenue do you think you’re
missing out on just because of ineffective lead
management?”
[...]
Sales rep: “So we’re talking hundreds of thousands of
dollars in lost deals every year.
What I hear is a sales rep asking "What is the highest price you'll ever pay?"
Revealing this strikes me as an unconventional approach to price negotiation.
I would imagine senior executives at major companies would know such things - be it from their procurement teams, their education, or elsewhere.
Though it can be much easier if you're asking the more sensitive questions as a plausible part of a demo rather than grilling them at the beginning.
e.g.
"So this is how you track your lost deals from each month, and we allow you to use different ways of handling bulk leads and smaller volumes of high value leads. So what sort of number do you think might be falling through the cracks in a typical month?"
[...]
"that definitely sounds like something you'd want the ability to monitor individually. Particularly as earlier you mentioned your typical deal size was at least $10k, so that's over $50k each month that our better lead management system could help you with accurately tracking and following up"
For example, when I hear this bit from the article:
What I hear is a sales rep asking "What is the highest price you'll ever pay?"Revealing this strikes me as an unconventional approach to price negotiation.
I would imagine senior executives at major companies would know such things - be it from their procurement teams, their education, or elsewhere.