Last summer my wife came into my office and said, “I just bought a new umbrella for the patio. The old one was already on its last legs.”
My response: “And? How much did it cost?”
My wife smiles at me and says, “First, take a look at the umbrella. Then try to guess how much it cost.”
Who is actually the so-called sales professional here? My wife or me?
She has never taken any sales training and effortlessly delivers outstanding quality straight from the gut. Wow. I definitely need to incorporate that into my next training, I thought.
I was definitely disarmed and very excited to see the umbrella.
Many customers seem to have problems with our prices. How else can we explain the fact that potential customers keep saying, “That’s too expensive!”
It’s almost automatic: How much? – So much! – Too much!
We need to ask ourselves why so many customers easily perceive our offers as too expensive.
Do they have a cheaper competitive offer?
Are the customers aware of the offer’s benefits for them?
Is it really that they can’t afford it?
Could the statement be just an excuse, and they have a completely different reason for not liking the offer?
Or are they simply bluffing?
The selection of suitable potential customers determines your success. And remove the potentials from your sales funnel who cannot afford the offer.
If the salesperson has created an excellent list of potential customers, then these companies also have the necessary finances.
The clearer the benefits, the higher the desire.
Purchase readiness increases with the desire for the product. Therefore, the product benefits must always be at the forefront for the potential customer. The more they truly desire the product, the less important the price becomes.
If we show the potential customer that the value of the offer is significantly higher than its price, we will receive significantly fewer price objections from them.
That’s why we should focus on talking about the benefits for the customer, not the price.
When a potential customer asks about the price at the beginning of the offer, and we mention the price, we are often confronted with the response: TOO EXPENSIVE!
The customer knows nothing about the value and benefits of this product and has already made an evaluation. It is very difficult to steer the sales conversation back in the right direction.
Best Practice
Here’s a tip for answering the price question at the beginning of the conversation:
“Dear potential customer, if the offer does not meet your expectations, then this offer won’t cost you anything. But let me first briefly introduce the content and benefits of the offer.”
If the customer still insists on knowing the price, then tell them.
The potential customer’s response might be:
“Wow, that’s expensive!”
And you reply:
“Yes, Mr. or Mrs. Potential, this offer is not cheap. And there are very good reasons for this price, which I would like to briefly present to you. There are hundreds of customers who have examined our pricing and have chosen our offer for good reason. Would you like to know the reasons?”
Then talk about the benefits of the offer for the advertiser.
Tips for dealing with price objections
- Always mention the price of your offer at the end of the presentation, after highlighting the benefits to the customer.
- If the customer insists on knowing the price, then provide it, but always associate it with the advantages and benefits derived from the features of the advertising. Example of features: Your campaign reaches xxx thousand potential customers for your offer. Example of advantage: This high reach significantly increases your brand awareness through advertising, and you will be considered the preferred supplier by more potential customers… Example of customer benefit: As a result, additional customers will purchase your offer. And attracting new customers is important to you, isn’t it? This gives the price a “REASON”!
- Your role as a media consultant is to increase the customer’s “desire” for the offer. This often shifts the focus away from the actual price because the customer sees how they can benefit from your offer.
- When a potential customer says, “It’s too expensive,” ask if the price is the only thing preventing them from closing the deal. If you decide to offer a price reduction to the potential customer and they bring up a new objection, you need to start over and address the new objection. That’s why it’s important to ask for additional reasons upfront. “Dear customer, besides the issue with the price, are there any other reasons that are preventing you from closing the deal?” If the customer confirms the price objection, then ask for the reason behind their assessment. As mentioned, the response “Too expensive” sometimes comes automatic. Now you can find out the real reason. If the customer responds that they have a cheaper competitive offer, offer to review that offer together with the customer. Perhaps there are elements missing in the competitive offer that you can point out to the customer. Additionally, you have the unique opportunity to thoroughly evaluate that offer.
- Utilise customers as references who highly praise the price-performance ratio. This automatically reduces the objection of the price being too high!
