Prospecting
On a cold call, the prospect says:
"We already have something in place, and we’re not really looking right now."
Sample Answer Using the Reversing Technique:
"Thanks for that information— out of curiosity, when do you typically re-evaluate your current tech stack for alternatives?"
Discovery call scheduled with IT/security manager about vulnerability management. You ask about their D&R program and they say:
"That’s not my direct responsibility"
Using the Reversing Technique:
"Understood, who's responsibility does the D&R side fall to?"
You are on a call presenting Exposure Command, and you mention that it includes Attack Surface Management. Prospect says:
"I already have ASM"
Sample using Reversing:
"Just to clarify, is your current solution focused on External, Internal or both?"
After discussing pricing, the prospect objects saying:
“This is more expensive than we expected”
Sample Answer using the 1-10 Technique:
“OK, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is ‘we are way off’ and 10 is ‘we’re ready to move forward,’ where would you say you are today?”
You're talking with a customer about their renewal and they say:
"We’re evaluating other vendors before we commit."
Sample Answer using the "What Happens Next" Technique
"Good to know — just so we can stay aligned, what does your evaluation process look like from here? When do you expect to make a final decision?"
On a cold call the prospect says:
“Our renewals aren’t up for a while”
Sample answer with Acknowledge & Reframe:
“Makes total sense — and I’m not asking you to switch anything today. What a lot of teams find helpful is using this time before renewal to understand what’s possible, so when that window opens, you’re ahead of the curve and not scrambling under pressure. Would you be open to setting up 15-20 minutes next week?”
During a discovery call about ECE you ask the prospect how they are currently managing risk across their broader environment. They say they are all set and don't want to discuss the broader environment, just their on prem needs. How would you handling that?
Sample Answer using My Biggest Fear:
“Totally understand—and it’s great to hear things are running well. That said, I’ll be honest—my biggest fear is we stay too narrow and miss a risk or inefficiency that’s actually impacting this project without being visible. I’ve seen that happen when teams try to solve one piece without zooming out just a bit.”“Would it be okay if we spent just a couple minutes looking at how this connects to the rest of your environment—just to be sure nothing’s hiding in the blind spots?”
You finish up a demo and the customer says:
“Thanks for the walkthrough, but honestly… it just feels like a lot. The platform seems too complex for what we really need.”
Reversing:
“Totally fair— We do cover a lot in these overviews so you can see the full scope of what’s possible.” “What parts stood out as most relevant or helpful for where your team is today?”
You are headed into Negotiation and the Customer says suddenly,
"Now's not the right time"
Using the Reversing Technique:
“Totally fair—timing is everything. But just so I understand, is this a matter of internal prioritization, budget cycle, or something else?”
During a QBR, the customer brings up concerns about the renewal and says:
“I’m not sure we’ve seen the value yet”
Sample Answer using Reversing Technique:
“That’s helpful to know— just so I can better understand, what parts of the solution were you expecting more value from?”
You get an email reply from a campaign you are running on Incident Command and the prospect says:
"This isn't a priority right now"
How should you respond to push past this?
Sample answer using Reversing:
" Thanks for the response, what are some of your priorities right now, we might align in another area. Rapid7 has a solutions to help customers with Exposure Management, Pen testing, Cloud Security, and Threat Intelligence."
You're on a discovery call about Incident Command and you try to shift the conversation to MTC and the customer objects saying:
"I don't want to outsource, I want to stay in control of everything"
Sample using Acknowledge and Reframe:
I understand, If you were able to maintain visibility into SOC activity and customize how much control you had as part of the managed service, would that be something would that be something you’d consider?
You are Positioning Exposure Command on a call and the Prospect says:
"We’re not sure this will solve the problem.”
Using Reversing:
"Can you share a little more detail on why you don't think this will be a fit?"
You’re in a late-stage deal discussion and the prospect says:
“Legal is still reviewing, it could take a while.”
Sample Technique using Reversing:
“Thanks for letting me know. Is the delay due to workload on their end, or are there specific concerns in the agreement they’re flagging?”
During a checkin conversations, the partner mentions:
“The customer is looking to consolidate their tools away from R7”
Sample Answer using Reversing:
“Thanks for letting me know- do you know what tools they are looking to consolidate? Maybe we can offer a consolidation option as well."
OR
“ That’s helpful to know. Do you know if it’s a cost play or are they unhappy with our solution?”
Prospect on a cold call objects to setting up a meeting but says:
"Send me an email instead"
Sample using Acknowledge & Reframe:
“Happy to do that. Just so I can send something useful — would you be open to sharing what your team is focusing on improving right now when it comes to your security programs? Even a 30-second summary helps me tailor it.”
You are wrapping up a discovery call and you ask to set up a call next week as a next step. Prospect pushes back and says:
"We are just in the research phase right now and will reach out when we are ready to move forward"
Using the Reversing Technique, you could respond with:
“Thanks for letting me know where you are in your buying process. That said, just so I don’t lose track— What’s the timeline of what happens next on your end? How much longer is your research phase?
You're defining next steps after a demo call and the prospect says:
"Thanks for the information. I’ll need to take this back to the team and we’ll circle back once we’ve had a chance to review.”
Acknowledge & Reframe
“Absolutely — I want to give your team time to digest everything. “I also want to make sure we don’t lose momentum, can we pencil in a quick sync in 2 weeks?"
You reach mutual agreement on pricing with a prospect and then they say:
"This all looks good, but our CFO still wants to weigh in before we sign."
Acknowledge & Reframe:
“Since we’ve already aligned on scope and value, I want to make sure the CFO sees how this supports the broader business goals. Would it help if I pulled together a short summary—costs, business impact, and what you’re getting—so you’re not stuck translating it yourself?”
You hear back from a customer about a renewal and they say:
“Our leadership has changed, and they want to reassess vendors.”
Sample Using Social Proof + What Happens Next:
“Totally understand — we’ve worked with a lot of customers going through leadership changes, and reassessments are a common step. One customer told us their new CISO initially pushed for a vendor reset, but after reviewing the risk coverage and roadmap alignment Rapid7 offered, they ended up expanding with us instead of replacing.
Can we set up a call to understand the next steps of the assessment process for your leadership team?”
You catch someone on a cold call and they say:
"How did you get my number?"
Sample using Acknowledge and Reframe Technique:
“That’s totally fair — I’d be wondering the same if someone called me out of the blue. We work with a lot of folks in [their role/industry], and I came across your name while researching companies that are investing in modern security programs. I wanted to open a line of communication for future needs.”
On a discovery call about MDR, you ask the prospect about their VM program. The prospect responds with:
“We don’t have budget to explore anything else but MDR right now”
Sample Answer with Reversing:
“Completely understand but if it could fit within your MDR budget, what things would you like to improve upon in your VM program?”
After walking a customer through our MTC solution, the prospect says:
"Your solution doesn’t sound different from what we currently have"
Use the Social Proof technique to handle this objection
"With so many MDR vendors out there, we have many customers that need help deciphering offerings. I had a customer say that last week and we ended up setting up another call to breakout our solution compared to their incumbent. Would that be helpful?"
Procurement says:
"We need better terms to move forward"
Using the Reversing Technique:
“Understood—my goal is to make this a win-win. Is there something specific you're looking to see on your side to move forward?”
You are prepping for a sync with one of your accounts and you notice that their usage of the tool is low.
You suspect they will bring this up during the conversation.
How could you preemptively ask questions to understand why usage could be low?
Sample using Social Proof:
“As I was preparing for this meeting I noticed that usage was low in the tool. When I’ve seen that with other customers it was usually due to staffing challenges or technical issues. I wanted to get ahead of that to see what adjustments we can make to help increase usage”