How to Handle:
“We have specific SLA requirements”
SLA requirements are common in enterprise sales. Being prepared with clear uptime, response time, and remediation commitments separates professional vendors from amateur ones.
Why Prospects Say This
Their operations depend on your service availability. They need contractual commitments for their own SLAs. Procurement and legal require defined service levels. Past vendor unreliability created this requirement.
Best Responses
The Prepared Response
“We're ready for that. Our standard SLA includes 99.9% uptime, 2-hour response time for critical issues, and service credits if we miss targets. Want me to send over the full SLA document for your team to review?”
Why It Works
Shows preparation and professionalism.
Best For
When you have strong SLAs
The Customization Offer
“What specific SLAs are you looking for? We have standard commitments around uptime, response times, and support hours. For enterprise clients, we can customize based on your needs—tell me what's most important.”
Why It Works
Opens a conversation about their specific needs.
Best For
Understanding their priorities
The Track Record
“Our SLA commits to 99.9% uptime, and our actual performance has been 99.95% over the past 12 months—we exceed our commitments. I can share our status page history and incident reports if that helps.”
Why It Works
Provides evidence beyond just promises.
Best For
Proving track record
Do's and Don'ts
Do This
- Have your SLA terms ready and documented
- Know your actual performance vs. SLA commitments
- Understand what SLA elements matter most to them
- Be prepared to discuss remediation and credits
Don't Do This
- Promise SLAs you can't meet
- Be vague about service level terms
- Forget to track actual performance
- Ignore the cost of SLA credits in pricing
Follow-up Questions to Ask
“What specific SLA metrics are most important to you?”
“What are your current vendor SLA requirements?”
“How do you measure and track SLA performance?”
“What remediation terms do you typically expect?”
Industry-Specific Variations
“We need 99.99% uptime guarantees”
“We understand financial services requirements. Our enterprise tier offers 99.99% uptime SLA with 24/7 support and defined incident response times. Want me to walk through our financial services reference architecture?”
“We need SLAs that meet HIPAA requirements”
“Our SLA is designed for healthcare: 99.9% uptime, 4-hour response for critical issues, and BAA-compatible terms. We can also provide our security and compliance documentation alongside the SLA.”
Pro Tips
- Track your actual performance and be ready to share it
- SLA credits should be meaningful but not business-breaking
- Different customer tiers can have different SLAs
- A public status page builds trust and reduces SLA concerns
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