Shake the fence
Sometimes, people sit on the fence. This can block progress. When that happens, shake the fence, forcing the people sitting on it to fall either in or out. For example:
Kartick: A typical project with me costs $100K.
Lead: Oh, that’s a lot of money.
Kartick: Hmm…. are you saying this doesn’t work for you now?
Lead: No, we can spend that if we see the value.
By shaking the fence, I was able to eliminate the ambiguity and move forward in the conversation, towards demonstrating the benefits they’ll get.
A conversation is like a wall built by stacking bricks on top of one another: if the lower bricks are wobbly, you can’t build on top, and the construction stops. You should firm up such a brick and proceed with building the wall.
The lead could have responded differently:
Kartick: A typical project with me costs $100K.
Lead: Oh, that’s a lot of money.
Kartick: Hmm…. are you saying this doesn’t work for you now?
Lead: Yeah, at this point, that’s a little high for us.
Kartick: So what works for you? 40K? 10K? 4K?
Lead: 30K works for us.
Kartick: Great, let’s plan out what I can do for you for 30K.
Again, we were able to make progress. When I shake the fence, I don’t mind if some people fall in or out. Either place is better than continuing to sit on the fence.