RAINMAKERS
6 Reasons Your Client Says “ I Don ’ t Have A Budget ” And 16 Ways To Get It !
By Dr . Clifford Ferguson
Combating Your Clients Number One Excuse
“ We don ’ t have the budget for this ” is a phrase anyone who works with clients has heard many times . It ’ s one of the four fundamental objections in sales , which are : No need (“ We just don ’ t need what you have to offer .”); No urgency (“ It ’ s interesting , but the timing is not quite right .”); No trust (“ You seem like nice people but we ’ re not sure you have the right / most effective solution .”); No money (“ We don ’ t have a budget for this .”)
Before you craft your response , you need to understand WHY the client is saying “ we have no budget .” What does this catchall phrase really mean ? Here are the main possibilities :
Reasons why clients say there ’ s no budget
Working with junior buyer / not a real decision maker : The executive you ’ re talking to is not senior enough to control the kind of budget needed to buy your service / product and they can ’ t unilaterally raise their insufficient budget . The company MIGHT have the budget somewhere , but not where you are working in the organization !
Not a priority for the organisation : All the budget has been allocated to other , higher-priority investments . “ Priorities ” will typically be initiatives that are strongly aligned with strategic goals , have senior executive sponsorship , are embedded in that year ’ s approved plans and programs , and / or form part of the client ’ s performance goals for the year .
Outside the budget cycle : You ’ ve been caught in a rigid corporate planning and budgeting cycle , and the client has already structured their investments and time around a small set of strategic priorities for the year . In other words , you didn ’ t go deep enough and soon enough into the client ’ s planning cycle and get your engagement budgeted for .
Lack of perceived ROI / Value : The client may have a need , and they may like you and your firm , but you haven ’ t demonstrated the “ R ” in Return on Investment in terms of the value and impact of your proposed solution .
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“ Priorities ” will typically be initiatives that are strongly aligned with strategic goals , have senior executive sponsorship , are embedded in that year ’ s approved plans and programs , and form part of the client ’ s performance goals for the year .
They just don ’ t see the value .
No budget for YOU : The real objection here may be the second one on my first list , above - “ No trust .” For the right solution / firm , the client can come up with the budget . But they don ’ t trust that you and your firm represent the best and highest value alternative .
Spending freeze : The funny thing about this reason - the CEO declares a spending freeze on all non-essential and unbudgeted expenditures - is that , of course , the client is still spending money on lots of things , even though there is a so-called “ Freeze .” I ’ ve had many clients declare an absolute freeze on outside consultants - “ Not a penny !” But then , a few months later , I see that they ’ ve hired one ( or more ) of the large global consulting firms for a seven or eight-figure fee because a particular c-suite executive has decided that using them is utterly essential . This goes back to reason # 1 above - there ’ s always a budget if your client is senior enough and sees a high ROI on your proposal !
As you can see , there are potential solutions to the “ No budget ” objection , and they need to be tailored to the particular situation . Here are 16 ideas for you :
Strategies to Create or Free Up Budget
Gain sponsorship from a higher-level , more powerful economic buyer . You ’ ll have to work closely with your existing client to make this happen , as no executive likes it when you go over his or her head .
Redefine the issue so that it is more strategic
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