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Price Objection

“It is too expensive.”  “I cannot afford it.”

When salespeople are asked why the prospect did not buy over 70% say it was one of these reasons.  When prospects are asked why they bought only 22% say price was the major factor in their decision.

Wow, that is a 50% difference in perception.  Why the disconnect?  I believe it is because the vast majority of salespeople do not want to face the truth.  The truth is that over 50% of the time the salesperson failed to communicate the value of their product.

When the customer says, “It is too expensive” they are saying that the product is not worth what the salesperson is asking.  In other words, your little product is not worth the prospect’s big pile of money.  When you  hear this objection your only hope is to create value in the prospect’s mind or to discover the real objection.  Remember, only 20% or so of your prospects are telling you the truth.  Here are some ideas to help you deal with this objection.

• First, before you give the price of your product, do something called the “price build up”.  When I watch or talk to salespeople most leave out this very important step.  The best time to answer an objection is before it comes up.  The “price build up” does this.

The “price build up” works like this- “The best thing about our product/service is the price” or “Many of our customers cannot believe the value they receive for the price”.  Now, after you say something like this, you can present the price. 

After you give the price you can further soften it and preempt the objection.  “That is only X per month” or “That is only X per employee” or “Most people get a 200% return the first year”.  If you do this properly the price objection will begin to disappear.  You will still hear it but less often.

• Second, I have said before that you must harmonize with the objection.  “Bill, I can certainly understand that.  Most of my customers said that before they bought.”  Anything like this sets the table for the next steps.  Do not proceed to deal with this objection until you have taken this step.

• Third, once you have harmonized with the objection you need to uncover the real objection.  Before you try to justify your price ask this question, “Besides the price, is there anything else that bothers you about the product/service?”  Listen very closely.  This is your chance to be a sales detective.  Another question I have used is, “Besides the price, is there anything else that worries you about our product/service?” 

Remember, most of the time the price objection is not the real objection.  Your job is to find the real objection. 

Let’s say the price IS the real objection.  This means you have not qualified your prospect properly (why are you calling on people who cannot afford your product?) or you have not established the value of your product.

The answer to the objection must create value for the prospect.  Try this:  “Here’s what most of our customers have found- the value of the product/service far exceeds the price when you weigh the benefits (then restate your benefits).”

If you take anything away from this advice, remember that most of the time the price objection is not the real objection.

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