I prepped hard for a pitch, only for the client to bring in their IT guy who asked questions way out of scope. Sales turns into defence mode real quick. How do you handle when technical depth hijacks the conversation?

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I’ve been there. When the IT guy hijacks, I try to pivot — acknowledge the question, promise a follow-up with my technical team, then bring it back to value. Otherwise the whole meeting becomes troubleshooting.

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That's a great approach!

Acknowledge the question, as they are usually valid questions, just a matter of time and place. I’ll try to offer a follow-up with the tech team to cover that and get back to the business focus. It is important to actually follow through with that.

Sounds like a great approach. I tried it but maybe not too well

I park it. 'Great question, let's note it for a follow-up.' Otherwise, the pitch becomes an exam and nobody wins.

Congrats, you turned my sales call into a live coding exam

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