How to handle: "Can you give us a discount? We're a startup with limited funds."
Avoid immediate discount offers, then explore their growth trajectory and funding so the conversation moves from "can you give us a discount" to the business outcome they actually care about.
Score your response
What this objection really means
Almost always a value or risk problem in disguise — they don't yet see the return that justifies the spend. For "can you give us a discount" specifically, the underlying job is to avoid immediate discount offers before you say anything else — that one move usually reveals whether this is a genuine blocker or a reflex response.
The framework
Acknowledge → Anchor on value → Quantify the cost of doing nothing → Re-confirm fit.
Three sample responses
"That's a fair point, and I hear it a lot. Before I respond, can I ask — when you say "can you give us a discount", what's the specific concern behind it? I want to make sure I address the real thing, not the version I assume you mean."
"Totally understand. Most of our customers raised exactly that before they saw the numbers. The way we'd normally approach it is to explore their growth trajectory and funding — and then discuss value vs. cost for startups. Would it be useful if we walked that through against your own situation?"
"Let's park the price question for a second. If nothing changes in the next 12 months, what does that cost you — in revenue, time, or risk? Because almost always a value or risk problem in disguise — they don't yet see the return that justifies the spend."
What a strong response covers
- Avoid immediate discount offers
- Explore their growth trajectory and funding
- Discuss value vs. cost for startups
- Consider creative payment structures if warranted
Common mistakes
- Skipping the "avoid immediate discount offers" step — reps who jump straight to a rebuttal here lose the prospect's trust before the real response even lands.
- Discounting before you've established value — it permanently lowers the anchor.
- Comparing line items to a competitor instead of comparing outcomes.
- Talking before fully understanding what the objection actually means to them.
- Defending instead of diagnosing — turning a question into a debate.
Want to rehearse this one out loud? Run a roleplay where the AI buyer will say "can you give us a discount" verbatim and score your verbal response.
Handling "Can you give us a discount" by role
The right response changes depending on who is answering. Pick the role-specific playbook below:
- For SDRs — the first 30 seconds — cold outreach, opener replies, and booking the discovery meeting.
- For BDRs — outbound pipeline into named enterprise accounts — multi-threaded outreach across a defined territory.
- For AEs — the full sales cycle from discovery to close — the person with the number on their back.
- For sales managers — coaching reps and forecasting the team's number — objections show up in deal reviews, not on the phone.
- For CSMs — retention, expansion, and renewal — objections here threaten revenue you have already earned.
- For account managers — expansion within existing accounts — new logos in the enterprise are yours, but so is protecting the base.
- For sales engineers — technical validation — demos, proofs of concept, and answering the objections the AE cannot.
- For founders — the first N deals — you are the product, the pitch, and the objection handler until you can hire an AE.
Every objection on this site is one the LemCoach AI buyer actually uses inside our practice scenarios. The rubric on the right is the same one we use to score live roleplays — so the advice here matches the coaching you'd get from the product.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hear "Can you give us a discount" out loud — then answer it
The AI buyer says this objection verbatim and scores your spoken reply. 37 more objections waiting after this one.
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