Market Segment: The Missing Invoice Solution
Challenge: As Metronome moved down market, one of our challenges was not having an invoicing solution. This meant prospects had to integrate with Stripe, adding cost to their tech stack.
Approach (MVP Qualification): Where did we have the “right to win?” About a year ago, I lost regularly on this point. But after developing a strong qualification methodology, I’ve never lost since on this gap. If a prospect uses QuickBooks (not Stripe), their invoicing cost is marginal — this becomes a moot point. Qualified In. If a prospect does use Stripe, but their business model is better aligned with our product’s data model, I can position the premium offering around the data model and slightly haircut price to align value. Qualified In. It’s tempting to chase deals at a start-up. Don’t do it — you’ll waste hours and mental bandwidth.
Competitor Challenge: The UI Gap
Challenge: Metronome started as an API-first product with minimal focus on UI/UX. One common objection I heard was: You don’t have in-console reporting.” Competitors would plant this as a trap repeatedly in deals. This was especially challenging when selling to start-ups that didn’t yet have BI or reporting tools for things like board reporting.
Approach (BYO – Build Your Own): After losing several deals, instead of waiting for the objection, we got proactive. During discovery calls, we dug deep into reporting requirements. Before demos, we prepared custom report samples in spreadsheets to show the flexibility of our exports and directly address reporting needs. By proactively addressing this, we flipped the topic into a position of power rather than being on the defensive.
Buyer Immaturity: The Feature Frenzy
Challenge: When building a new market category, you’ll inevitably run into immature buyers who have unrealistic expectations or don’t yet know the right questions to ask. For example, a prospect recently presented us with an extensive RFP requesting features like continuous event tracking, instead of our standard heartbeat events.
Solution (The “Why Test”): We have enough experience with top companies in our ICP to understand industry best practices — and when a prospect is deviating from the norm. Rather than immediately promising roadmap items, my Solutions Architect and I forced a feature prioritization exercise, then pushed on the reasoning behind each feature.
One caveat (as Chris Voss teaches): never start with the word “Why” — it’s a trigger word.
Some questions we asked:
Which company or north star are you modeling your pricing after?
How does this feature tie to that company’s strategy?
Can you walk us through your analysis of the trade-offs of this approach?
What is an acceptable latency, and how did you arrive at this number? What is the consequence of higher latency?
Once you realize some requirements don’t have a strong underlying rationale, you can suggest alternatives based on what you know from your existing customer base.
Our current customers approach {INSERT OBJECTION} this way. They typically don’t take the approach you’re suggesting because {INSERT REBUTTAL}.
Conclusion
Whether you’re dealing with market segment challenges, competitor comparisons, or buyer education, navigating feature-gap objections comes down to:
1. Proactively addressing gaps before they become objections
2. Finding creative ways to deliver value with existing capabilities
3. Helping buyers distinguish between must-haves and nice-to-haves
Stay tuned for Part 3, where we’ll explore how to effectively quarterback product builds when selling around gaps isn’t an option.