When a prospect says something to you that seems like it's coming straight out of left field, the way you respond can quickly determine rest of that sales dynamic. One of my clients recently shared a story with me that made me think of how powerful that response can be, either positively or negatively.
This client of mine works in retail, and a prospect called in to finalize the details on a large order. The prospect had initially talked with my client's coworker, so my client felt a little out of the loop, but he didn't think it was anything he couldn't handle.
He knew that this prospect was on the verge of saying yes. She threw out a price and my client was taken aback—it was 20% less than any quote he could find in their system. He didn't want to offend her by telling her bluntly that she was wrong, but the price she mentioned wasn't something his company could honor.
While his instinct was to say, "Wow, that's wrong, we can't have quoted you that," he decided to take a more gentle approach. He looked through their records and said, "I'm having trouble finding your quote."
That jogged his prospect's memory and she said, "My bad, that wasn't the price," and named the correct price to him. She told him, "That's still a great deal, that's awesome."
My client was worried that his prospect made her decision based on that "quote" that was 20% too low. Instead, he discovered that her actual expectations were to pay significantly more than what they were charging her.
He was able to exceed her expectations because he found out what they were, instead of assuming what they were.
That conversation would have gone a lot differently if my client had been confrontational and told her she was wrong. He probably would have lost that sale, just because his prospect forgot the number she was quoted. But he uncovered her real expectations and found that he was able to exceed them.

