What's your price... by email

Most prospects prefer to keep salespeople at arm's length for as long as possible. Email is their weapon of choice.

It's not laziness. It's strategy. A one-way channel gives them maximum information with minimum exposure. No uncomfortable questions. No pressure. Just intelligence gathering - on their terms.

So early in a process, before any real relationship has been built, you'll often get emails or request like these:

• What's your pricing?

• Who are your competitors?

• How exactly can you help us?

  
  

How to handle these situations

Pick up the phone. Always the right instinct. A phone call is richer than any email exchange - you can read tone, ask follow-ups, and start building a real relationship. The risk is timing: ask for a meeting too early, before any rapport exists, and you can come across as overeager. But don't let that stop you from trying (and see below).

Answer the question. You can. But now they're in control. And without any discovery, your answer will be generic, context-free, and largely useless to both of you. You've just educated them for free.

Ask for a meeting. Better. Something like: "Great question - I'd need to understand your context better to give you a useful answer. When's a good time to talk?" It's polite. It shows intent. But a busy prospect will bounce it straight back: "I don't really have time this week" - and you're back to square one.

The move that actually works

Go where they don't expect you to.

Instead of asking for the meeting and waiting to be rejected, pick-up the phone and pre-empt the objection. Hand it to them before they can use it.

It looks like this:

"Thanks for your email. Good question - we have several competitors worth talking through. The honest answer is I don't have enough context about your situation to give you a useful response right now. I need to understand what's driving the question first.

I'm guessing if I suggest we find some time to talk, you're going to tell me you're too busy for that?"

Then stop. Let them answer.

This works on several levels. It differentiates you immediately - every other vendor is writing back with a three-page PDF about their competitive positioning. It signals equal footing - you're not chasing, you're qualifying. And it tells you something important: if they genuinely can't find 30 minutes to have a conversation, how are they going to find the time to build the internal case for buying anything?

The question was never really about your competitors. It was about whether you're worth talking to.

Show them you are.