I hope you enjoyed the videos on how to overcome price objections in parts 1 and 2. What can we learn from the sales experts in those videos?
1). Price objections will always occur. It’s only natural that prospects will raise price concerns. We all do it. When you buy a car, a house, a computer, you always want to negotiate to obtain the lowest price possible or shop around for a better deal. As we all know, the internet has become a game-changer for many industries. It’s extremely easy for prospects to do their own research and find better offers. I’ve worked in industries where some competitors will cut their prices in half just to win over customers.
2). Sometimes they don’t tell you its the price. Prospects may not want to directly raise price concerns because they are embarrassed to tell you that. They may think that “hey, you’re a nice salesperson, so I’m going to be polite and give you another excuse.” The excuses could be “I have to think about it”, “I have to talk to my partner,” or “I need to review the information more.” Whatever the excuse, you need to dig deeper to find out what it is. Frankly, my experience has been that no matter what objection is raised, 99% of the time, it is the price.
3). Don’t get so defensive. When someone raises the price objection, don’t quickly jump to defend your price. Shut up and listen. Hear them out. As mentioned in some of the videos, it’s critical that you ask good questions and dig deeper. Sometimes prospects are just testing you to see how you would react if they raise the price objection. They may have already decided to buy from you, but they just want to see if you can offer them a slight discount or price break. Or maybe they want better terms or get a payment plan and pay a small interest on the payments.
4). Be prepared. As mentioned in some of the videos, be prepared for the price objection. Have some good answers ready. In fact, with price or any objections, you may want to start keeping index cards of all possible objections and have answers prepared when needed. If you are a newly hired salesperson, ask your colleagues or sales manager for advice on the best way to handle objections in your industry.
5). How to handle price objections. There is no right or wrong way to handle price objections. You have to deal with the objection on a case-by-case basis because you know your prospect better than anyone else. When I deal with price objections, I will sometimes ask “putting price aside for a minute, do you think our product or service is good and will meet your needs (or solve your problems)?” If the answer is yes, then I will remind them of the value that we offer, and point out the long-term cost savings in using the product or service.
For example, when I was selling tax research software, some of my clients would argue that they could get most of the information for free other websites. My answer – “Yes, that’s true. You could get a lot of free information from other places. However, as a tax preparer, you mentioned that time is critical for you, especially during tax season. With our tool, you could save yourself an enormous amount of time rather than jumping from one website to another. Don’t you agree?”
Another example – “You also mentioned Mr. Prospect that getting accurate and timely information was critical to you. When you go to free sites you get what you pay for. However, with a paid subscription from us, we have paid experts on staff whose sole purpose is to ensure that you receive the most accurate and up-to-date information possible. Is that important to you?”
Do you see my point? As mentioned in the videos, always remind the prospect of the value he’s receiving from you and his problems or pain points. Price is usually a smokescreen. The prospect wants to buy – he just needs you to convince him.