Jesse Pujji and a co-speaker explain how to land high-value design-partner deals with big prospects. When they flinch at a $50k-per-month fee, give them an escape hatch to back out gracefully, then pivot to deeper questions about value and fit instead of defending the price.
We get these whales, these larger clients that want to be design partners. And they're awesome because they pay a lot of money eventually, but it takes 4, 5, 6 months to actually get them into a paying contract. I want that design partner to be a paid engagement.
There's probably something deeper here, but like, just ask them, just say, this is how we work. They may go, well, yeah, we're not ready to do all that. Then you just have to create some escape hatch, or sometimes people call it the golden bridge. You have to make it easy. You don't want them to kind of go, ooh, well, we can't do what you just said. So we're out. Sometimes what I'll do is I see someone get quiet. You'll go, here's how our strategic customer program works. And then they're like, uh-huh. Uh-huh. And the next step is I just need to know X, Y, and Z. And then you can just tell that they haven't blinked, like they're down. So then you just shut up. Then there's the alternative where they're kind of like, they look funny. Sometimes I'll even say, I'm noticing that you look uncomfortable as I'm talking. Was there something I said? And then they go, well, we like this idea, but dude, we can't pay you $50 grand a month. That's actually when the real conversation starts.
