If you have come all the way to this step, the only objection you should have is “price.” Here are my five favorite ways to overcome price objections:
1. Review the value.
The reason you went through the Seven Step Sales System is so you can go back to the agreement points in step five. If you assessed the market correctly and you know that you offer more value for the investment, go back and connect with that. Reconnect them with your five point message. Confirm that they truly want to work with a company that has the unique qualities your company has and that they truly want to get the benefits you offer.
Perhaps they are convinced they can get “the same thing” somewhere else. Obviously, you didn’t convince them of the uniqueness of your product or service and the value, so you now must do that.
Get their permission to explore the other options with them. For example, let’s say they are buying a service, and they have used your competitors in the past. Ask them why they didn’t call that company to start with? Why have they called you? Perhaps you will find out that the other company can’t service them when they need to, or they’ve gone out of business, they can’t remember their phone number, or whatever.
You can now ask a question like, “Why do you think that is?” In other words, perhaps they can’t service you or they went out of business because they didn’t charge enough. The question is, “Do you want to have a company that you can rely on over and over again?”
If they are comparing you to another competitor that charges a lower price, you want to ask questions that will cause them to wonder what the other company is leaving out. What is their true reputation? What kind of experience do they really have? Are they really trained? Can they really and truly deliver the experience you want? And do they stand behind their work?
If you are telling me they can do all of this for a cheaper price and there is nothing different, you better get scheduled with them quickly before they go out of business! I mean really, isn’t that just the plain truth? You know it and I know it. You get what you pay for, and companies that charge too little cannot deliver consistently for very long.
You must create contrast between you and them, and create doubt with- out mentioning any competitor by name. And you must attract the kinds of prospects in your marketing that you have a chance to close. Don’t try to sell a KIA customer a Mercedes, and don’t try to sell a Mercedes client a KIA!
2. Offer payment options.
If you haven’t determined what their budget is (if they have one), you want to do that now. Depending on your industry, you may want to put that in the interview process in step four. If not, when you get a price objection, ask, “What were you planning on investing in this project/product?” If they don’t know, it means they don’t have a basis for judging the pricing. They probably haven’t been shopping.
At this point, you have a couple of options. If you can get them to give you a figure, try this option. Let’s say the investment is $500 and they didn’t want to spend more than $350. You say, “How would it be if you could put the three fifty down today and pay the rest later?” My experience has been that if they really want your product or service (and that is the key: building desire in the presentation), they will find a way to pay for it if they don’t feel they can afford it today.
Of course you want to mention that you accept major credit cards. Although I don’t like to help people get into debt, and I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey (Dave helps people get out of debt), I do allow people to use credit cards to pay for my products and services (Dave doesn’t). If I was in Dave’s business, I’m sure I would only allow debit cards like he does.
If they want your product, work with them on the payment options by first determining how much they can put down today. If you can cover your hard costs on the first installment, you haven’t lost anything even if they never pay you. If they don’t buy, you may have lost a client forever. So, my goal is to close today. If you are convinced your product or service will really help them, you should have a strong desire to close as well.
3. Referral Reward Program.
Another strategy is to show them how they can get their entire invest- ment back by using your referral reward program. Simply ask, “Did you know you can get all of your money back with our referral reward program?” Share how the program works and how they get their money back. For example: “Mrs. Prospect, we offer a 10 percent referral reward for any new client you send us. That means that once you have sent just ten new clients, you will have gotten all of your money back on this project.” I have found that some people who truly can’t afford my product or service, will work extra hard at getting referrals for me so they can get my service. Again, it’s about creating desire for your product.
4. Down sell.
With this strategy, you will offer a lower priced product or change the scope of the project. You settle for less money today, but you did not lower your price! If you lower your price without attaching it to a condition, you lose all credibility! In their mind, you could have offered the lower price to start with. Keep in mind that people will ask for a lower price simply because they know many salespeople will immediately drop the price. Don’t do it if you want to maintain trust.
Let’s say you are selling fitness training. You have presented the value of a package that includes X number of weeks in group training and a few one- on-one sessions. You could take out some of the sessions. You are still selling training at a profitable rate, just settling for a lower package today.
In the marketing chapter, I revealed the Free Trial Offer Program. Not only is it a phenomenal marketing tool, it can also be a phenomenal closing tool. Many times your prospects don’t know how to value your product or service and they can’t imagine how good it is. Therefore, allow them to experience it for free if you can. If you can’t actually give them a sample, create some sort of experience that allows them to see and feel exactly what it will be like.
Also in the marketing chapter I talked about the “free ride” Lexus gives its prospects. Chick-fil-A was the first to offer free samples in the mall. Now everyone does it. If you have a cleaning company for example, offer to clean an area free as a sample. If you have a high-value product or service, you may want to borrow a tactic from the time-share industry. Have you ever been on vacation and noticed a little booth or office that advertises a free resort stay or a free jet-ski rental? In order to get the freebie, you have to listen to a 90-minute presentation. And guess what? It works! Of course you’ll leave out the high pressure that some of those outfits use.
