I once served the division president of a large services company by working as a sales coach for several hundred outside sales reps. He repeated a particular slogan often, and after saying it, would just look squarely at his intended target. His intention was not so much for you to ponder on what he said, but to think back on whether you had repeatedly heard a similar comment from others. His mantra was: “If a dozen Frenchmen tell you you’re drunk, you ought to sit down.” That’s pretty self-explanatory, and you must admit it’s a very sobering quote. Every time I heard him repeat it, I would automatically “look in the mirror” to see if I was the one who had missed something important that was obvious to everyone else.
This quote is certainly relevant for salespeople grappling with customer concerns over pricing, too. As a salesperson do you ever hear a prospect response like, “Your price is too high?” Any honest rep would respond with, “Well yes…just every day!” So when this response tumbles out of a buyer’s mouth, you might want to think of another quote, one spoken by the most famous hockey player of all, Wayne Gretzky who said, “Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it is.”
Normally when a buyer responds with “price too high,” what they really mean is too high compared to something else; for instance what they thought they would have to pay or possibly a competitor’s quote they received prior to your arrival. When this occurs, your job is to “skate to where the puck is going” and establish the difference between your price and their “idea”; which more often than not is a competitor’s quote.
Frankly, that’s what you have to sell…the difference. To know what that number is, simply ask your buyer, because he or she will tell you the other guy’s price if they think you’ll join their “game of limbo.”
In a nutshell to improve your odds of getting the cigar:
- Establish the amount of the price difference between you firm and the competitor
- Justify that difference by citing and embellishing unique/exclusive features
- Explain how your solution reduces their risk
- Elaborate the last two bullet points with both logical & emotional benefits
- Conduct a demonstration (if appropriate) to “wow” the prospect
- Ask a question to check for acceptance to gauge your success with this roadblock
At some point in the discussion why not throw in your “old friend”, the bitterness maxim, in case there are visions of “commodity thinking” going through the prospect’s brain:
If these steps don’t get you the sale, this buyer must be a vegetarian, because you have certainly thrown them plenty of red meat!
Would you weigh in below in the Speak Your Mind area and comment on a time when you fielded a customer concern like this?
©2014 Robinson Training Solutions, LLC
