Risk & Business Magazine Reider Insurance Fall 2015 | Page 23

Here are some examples:
• Do you have a budget set aside for this purchase?
• Is the project funded?
• Are there budget limitations about which I should know?
If your prospect’s answer to your budget question is “yes,”
appropriate follow-up questions include:
• In round numbers, at what amount are you looking?
• Perhaps you can give me a ballpark idea of the amount with
which you have to work.
Using terms like “round numbers” or “ballpark” take the
pressure off the prospect to commit to a specific amount.
If your prospect’s answer to your budget question is “no,” or
he is reluctant to share the information, you can “test the
waters” using third-party stories. Reference one or two similar
sized projects or sales you completed with other clients and
disclose an investment range within which those transactions
took place. Then, ask your prospect if he
would be comfortable making a similar size
investment if he