What Software Salespeople Really Mean: 5 Phrases Decoded

If you've never bought enterprise software before, the first few vendor calls can feel like a whole new world full and a whole new language.  Everyone's friendly, nobody *quite* answers the question you asked, and you hang up unsure whether you actually made any progress... 

That's a pretty normal reaction. Procurement teams often get trained on this stuff, but if purchasing tools is not your primary function, the whole experience may feel foreign or even a little funky. And despite those funny feelings, you're expected to run a full blown software evaluation all while decoding a language and process that nobody taught you.

As someone who has been in software sales for years, many of the phrases the trip up first time buyers are phrases I've used time and time again. Here are five you'll probably hear at some point in your evaluation, and some insight on what's going on behind the phrase in the mid or world of a seller.

"I need to take this back to my VP."

Sounds like they're stalling, right? Usually not the case. Reps can't approve everything on their own, so your request genuinely has to go somewhere. How you ask in the first place affects what comes back, but that's a topic for another day (or for you to explore in The Accidental Buyer's Course!).

"We're in discovery."

You asked for a demo and were met with a request to meet and do "discovery" before they show you a demo. This can definitely be frustrating sometimes...But that discovery call exists so the demo you eventually see is about your problem and not a generic tour of the product. If you skip or rush discovery, you're starting your evaluation and conversation with that vendor on rocky ground.

"Pricing is tied to the end of the quarter."

This one gets a bad rap. Software companies tend to run on quarterly targets, so a quarter-end deadline is often real. Whether it's real and whether it's your problem are two different questions, though, and a lot of first-time buyers treat them as one.

"I just want to make sure we keep the momentum going."

Translation: your replies got slower and the rep noticed. They're mostly asking whether this deal is still alive. What you do next (including doing nothing) tells them a lot.

"Would it make sense to get your leadership involved?"

This might feel like  you and your authority are being bypassed. Usually it's a rep trying to make sure the right people are on board before you get anywhere near a contract and get validation of buy-in at a higher-level. This gives them and their managers comfort that things are tracking as they expected. Reps usually mean well, but their timing is important - suggesting this at the wrong time can make any vendor evaluation go sideways! 

So, are they being shady?

Mostly no. These are just the everyday words of a job with a quota and a process, and once you can hear them for what they are, vendor calls get a lot less mysterious.

Understanding the phrase is the easy part, though. Knowing what to say back, and when, is where buyers actually gain or lose ground. That's what I teach in The Accidental Buyer, a self-paced course for people who got handed a software purchase they never asked for. If that sounds like you, come take a look!