Instead of only showing your solution, ask the prospect to share their screen and walk through their current workflow. This "reverse demo" vividly exposes flaws in their system, making the need for your solution painfully obvious to everyone on the call, as evidenced by a crashing Excel file.

The phrasing of a referral request dramatically impacts its success. Asking a satisfied client "Who are the one or two people that you feel would be a great fit?" is a presumptive command that prompts specific names, unlike the easily dismissed yes/no question, "Do you know anyone?".

To overcome a prospect's fear of risk, go beyond generic demos. Use their actual documents, data, and processes to show how your solution fits into their existing workflow. This makes the change feel less like a leap of faith and more like a natural evolution.

After addressing a prospect's concern, don't assume you've solved it. Explicitly ask if your explanation was sufficient by asking, "Was that enough to satisfy your concern?" This simple check ensures the issue is truly resolved and prevents it from resurfacing later to kill your deal. Most reps answer and move on, which is a critical mistake.

When a prospect asks for a free pilot, treat it as a sign that you failed to build enough confidence in the outcome. Instead of agreeing, diagnose their uncertainty by asking what they still need help predicting. This shifts the conversation back to value and avoids deploying your best resources on your least committed customers.

When a prospect asks if your product does something, it’s a confession that their current process is failing. Instead of just answering "yes," use it as a discovery opportunity. Ask, "How do you currently do that today?" to uncover the underlying problem and tailor your demo to solve it directly.

Instead of asking for a generic "review," which can feel transactional, reframe the request. Ask past customers to provide a "reference" for your "digital resume" or "online presence." This reframing highlights the personal impact on your business, making clients more willing to contribute.

During reference prep calls, encourage your customer to share a story about a time something went wrong and how your team successfully fixed it. A narrative that includes a resolved challenge is far more credible and memorable than one of flawless perfection, because buyers know that complex projects always have hiccups.

Standard reference checks yield polite platitudes. To elicit honesty, frame the call around the high stakes for both your company and the candidate. Emphasize that a bad fit hurts the candidate's career and wastes everyone's time. This forces the reference to provide a more candid, risk-assessed answer.