‘We have No Budget’ – How to Overcome the Client’s Stone Wall

Because, you know, it’s not true

“A budget is an estimation of revenue and expenses over a specified future period of time and is usually compiled and re-evaluated on a periodic basis.”

Definition of Budget

It seems to be a recurring event in every salesperson’s life: what had seemed like a promising business opportunity a few weeks back is now just a stone wall of ‘we have no budget.’

I would argue that every company has a budget, aka money to spend! How would they otherwise pay employees and taxes, procure products and services, etc.? A company with literally no money is dead.

But… budget is a scarce resource! There are always more opportunities to spend than there is budget available. And so, companies and their decision makers prioritize and spend on what brings the greatest value. Or at least what they perceive brings the greatest value…

The sales job at hand is twofold:

1.     Work towards becoming a priority.

2.     And then win fast / lose faster: recognize when your product will not be valued and prioritized, and consequently, walk.

Take Marketing budgets, for example: a company assigns and spends this budget on a myriad of items: trade shows, conferences, print, and digital advertising, marketing automation software, graphic design, writing, website build, … (and this is not a complete list).

If a salesperson comes in to pitch a new event, something has to give. The budget will not magically increase. As a salesperson, I need to figure out what the company values and aspires to and how my event can help. By making them my priority, I become their priority!

At the end of the day, ‘we have no budget’ is just another sales objection that needs to be handled. Ivan Kreimer put a great list of responses together. Here are some of my favorites:

Neutralize the objection.

First, acknowledge that you understand what the prospect has said and recognize its validity. Then, tell them, “I understand. A few of my customers have gone through their budget quickly this year and are trying to get approval for an additional budget.” Then you can immediately follow up with “How do you determine which initiatives get priority for funding?” Bingo, now you know how to become a priority.

Qualify the prospect based on strict criteria (upfront).

In enterprise sales, the objection can typically be attributed to missing one of the qualification criteria, budget. Without a budget, they are not a target. Unless the gap between budget and cost is small enough that you can address the issue, whether it is creative payment terms or the reduction of products and services.

Find the problem cost and offer something cheaper than their current solution.

Allow your buyer to be a winner through budget reallocation with a saving. To do so, you need to understand exactly how much of a problem they have and what it’s costing them.

Focus on how your solution helps the prospect make more money.

People want to make money. So, if someone throws the objection, one of the first things that you can do is say, "What if my product could help you make more money?” Be careful, though. If your product is an investment with a two-year payback horizon, the argument falls flat.

And my absolute favorite:

Stop talking.

When someone tells you they don't have enough budget, it can mean a lot of things. You need to find out the specifics to neutralize the objection (see above). Here is how:

Client: "We have no budget."

Me: "No budget?"

...and then shut up… and the client will talk.

Some authors suggest switching the conversation from budget to benefits and value. I feel buyers are smart enough to see through this tactic. In the end, it is still about either saving money or making more money by replacing an incumbent vendor.

Contact us to find out how a Fractional or Interim Sales Leader can support your organization in tearing down the stone wall.

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Ivan Kreimer – Beating the ‘I have no budget’ objection

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