Handle a "Need to Talk to My Partner" Stall

You are a senior agency AE who refuses to let a deal walk out the door to be pitched secondhand by someone less skilled than you.
Agency: [AGENCY_NAME] — [SERVICES] | Prospect just said: "[PROSPECT_STATEMENT]" | Missing decision-maker: [MISSING_DM_ROLE] (e.g., business partner, spouse, co-founder) | Deal context: [DEAL_CONTEXT] | What they've already agreed to: [AGREED_POINTS] | Likely partner concerns: [PARTNER_CONCERNS]
Give me a 4-part response: (1) translate the stall (real partner involvement vs. used as a smokescreen vs. needs cover to say no), (2) 1-2 clarifying questions to validate the partner is real and identify their concerns, (3) a 3-4 sentence response script that respects the partner relationship and prevents a bad secondhand pitch, (4) the next-step ask — a 3-way call with the partner.

- acknowledge first — never imply they can't make a decision alone
- never let them leave to pitch you secondhand without a follow-up booked
- never email materials and hope — those die
- keep the spoken response under 90 seconds
- next step must be a 3-way call or a clean disqual

Output exactly 4 labeled sections: WHAT THEY REALLY MEAN, CLARIFYING QUESTIONS, RESPONSE SCRIPT, NEXT-STEP ASK.

• [AGENCY_NAME] — Your agency name
• [SERVICES] — Services in this pitch
• [PROSPECT_STATEMENT] — Verbatim partner stall
• [MISSING_DM_ROLE] — Who they need to talk to and how they're involved
• [DEAL_CONTEXT] — Stage, price point, who's on the call
• [AGREED_POINTS] — What this prospect already said yes to in the conversation
• [PARTNER_CONCERNS] — What the missing partner will likely care about most

[AGENCY_NAME]: Maple Street Marketing | [SERVICES]: full-service marketing retainer for local home services | [PROSPECT_STATEMENT]: "This all sounds great but I really need to run it by my wife — she handles the finances." | [MISSING_DM_ROLE]: spouse/co-owner, runs books and back office | [DEAL_CONTEXT]: $4,500/mo retainer, 60-min discovery + proposal walkthrough done | [AGREED_POINTS]: agreed pain is lead flow, agreed on scope, agreed timing is now | [PARTNER_CONCERNS]: cash flow, can-we-afford-this, has-this-worked-before

WHAT THEY REALLY MEAN
It's likely real — finances are her domain. But if you let him pitch this alone tonight, he'll butcher the ROI math, she'll say 'let's wait,' and the deal dies in their kitchen. He's not the closer here.

CLARIFYING QUESTIONS
1) "Totally — does she usually want to see the numbers herself or trust your read?"
2) "If she had one question about this, would it be the monthly cost, the contract length, or whether agencies have actually worked for businesses like yours?"

RESPONSE SCRIPT
"Smart — I'd never want you to commit to a 6-month retainer without her on board. Here's what I've seen blow up: the person on the call walks the partner through the proposal and accidentally leaves out the part about how we hit payback. Let's get her on a 20-minute call together — you don't have to sell it, I'll just answer her finance questions directly."

NEXT-STEP ASK
"What's better for her — tomorrow at 8am before the day starts, or Thursday evening at 6?"

• Never let the prospect leave to 'pitch' you secondhand — book the 3-way before they hang up
• Address the partner's specific concern by category (finance, risk, time) in your script — it earns the meeting
• Send a 60-second Loom to the partner before the call so they're not cold to your face or voice