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PRICE vs VALUE
Every company, family and individual is trying to run efficient budgets, make bigger profits for themselves and their shareholders, or trying to generate more disposable income. EVERYONE’S looking for a “good deal”. In other words, EVERYONE is looking for “MASSIVE VALUE” at a “LOW PRICE”, we all get that. Profit is generated when one buys low and sells high. Any profits that are made however, run the risk of being significantly smaller as we realize that low price and high value simply hardly ever co-exist! Low priced machinery often needs to be replaced more often! Inexpensive technology often need more “fixes” and downtime is costly. Low cost labor is often less skilled and we end up redoing tasks that could’ve been done right first time. I’d suggest that there is nothing more costly than having to repair or redo a project that was done incorrectly or at a “budget” standard the first tome round!
As the pressure to make larger profits grows, we should not be surprised then, that PRICE is one of the most used AND experienced objections in any sales presentation, pitch or sales cycle. In fact, there are some sales specialists that would suggest that it is the number 1 objection that salespeople need to learn how to deal with.
The concept of “market value” is probably something that an economist would do a better job of expounding than I can and while theories abound…one fact cannot be disputed. No matter what product or into what industry people are selling …there are always TOP salespeople and … underachievers. May I suggest, then that Top Salespeople are better at dealing with objections, around PRICE, than underachievers?
I absolutely believe that if we can reduce the impact of the “Price” objection and discussion, more professionally, it will result in bigger sales and better commissions, if we “sell” differently!!
My contention is that when salespeople have neglected to communicate or articulate the VALUE of their product, that PRICE is all they leave themselves to work with. This statement is often met with some “push back”.
“Our Salespeople are the best trained in the field…!”
“Our salespeople’s product knowledge is exceptional”
“Our product sells itself…”
My recommendation to salespeople and sales teams is based on a twist on an old proverb….
VALUE IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.
How many salespeople labor under this misapprehension that the VALUE of their product is obvious to everyone else, Including the client!! Uh…It’s NOT! What is valuable to one person might mean nothing to another. What is valuable to a salesperson might not be valuable to a customer. Let’s consider some reasons for buying a car…
…to name a few, there are probably many more. The point is this, people buy for different reasons.
A CUSTMER’S REASONS FOR BUYING ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR REASONS FOR SELLING.
To parents of 5 kids who love travelling, luggage space might be critical while it might mean nothing to a single executive who needs to zip around the city. Simply “spewing” all the facts and figures you as a salesperson thinks might be important and relevant could be speaking to something of no value at all to the prospective buyer!
The solution, in my opinion, can be reduced not just to one word but one of the shortest and simplest words in the English dictionary…
ASK !
Find out what is important to the customer…BEFORE YOU EVEN DO A PRESENTATION OR A PITCH.
“What is important to you in a car?”
“Why do say that?”
“Why would 4 bedrooms suite you as a family?”
“Is the square meterage your business is looking to rent based on current size or are you looking to grow in the near future?”
“May I understand your requirements before I make a proposal?”
“What are your reasons for wanting to buy or upgrade/downgrade this item?”
“How much longer can your business absorb the cost of NOT fixing this problem? ” – “What is the dollar value of NOT moving ahead?”
I am persuaded that the more useful information you have, the clearer you’ll be able to articulate what is of value to the prospect. Actually, I’d recommend you adapt your proposal or presentation to use the language the client gave you as they answered your questions at the beginning of the process!
Always use the PRICE objection – to immediately revisit and rediscover what is important to the client…BY ASKING FURTHER QUESTIONS.
“Are you saying that price is the only deciding factor in this process.? Apart from price, what are your top 2 critical decision-making issues!
“Tell me more about them?”
“You mentioned earlier that you were losing $____ per week by not fixing this problem, is that correct?” “How do you feel about that?”
“You mentioned earlier that fuel consumption was important to you, can you tell me more about that?”
In conclusion, some final remarks.
As a Professional Salesperson, you have a huge number of prospects in your files anyway and are not desperate for ANY deal, so if a customer continues to hook on price …. WALK AWAY, go and spend time pursuing other prospects.
” Mr/ Mrs prospect it appears that we don’t have a marriage/deal right now and THATS OK. Would you be open to me calling you again in a month to see how things are progressing with your decision-making process?”
Many times this gets the client back to making a decision and away from trying to haggle you out of your commission, or, worst case it gets you more time to spend with customers who are not going to try haggle with you at all.
Find out what’s Valuable to the client…I believe you’ll sell more business at better prices!!
GO FOR IT!