123: Your Price Is Too High - Your Reply Is?

03/05/19 • 12 min

"Your Price Is Too High" - Your Reply Is?

When your client hits you with 'your price is too high" what do you say? Are you flustered, wondering how to reply? Is your brain freaking out, as you flash possible answers through your mind. Or are you straight off the blocks and into an argument with the buyer? Are you telling them why it is not too high and why they are wrong, wrong, wrong? By the way, how is that working out for you so far?

Rule number one is don't be stupid. That means don’t argue with the buyer. Because the “your price is too high” comment immediately triggers a chemical reaction in our brain, we have to short circuit what is going on and regain control. To do that we need to have a circuit breaker, like we have in our houses if there is an electricity overload. We have this so that we don’t burn down our house. Same with sales, we don’t want to burn down the deal.

We insert a cushion. This is a non-descript sentence that neither inflames the disagreement with the buyer nor agrees with what they are saying. It would sound like this, “yes, budgeting is important in all businesses”. In the few seconds it takes us to say that sentence we don’t allow ourselves to kick off an argument with the buyer about why their comment is totally flawed, incorrect, ludicrous and ridiculous. It gives us enough breathing time to remember how a professional handles objections from clients. After they tell us our price is too high, we very softly ask “why do you say that?”.

This pushing back process is like reading a newspaper. We see a controversial headline splashed across the front page. It grabs our attention. But to really understand what the headline is saying, we need to read the accompanying article. That is where the detail is and we need to know it before we know how to answer their objection. Our combativeness with the headline is pointless. We need to know is their pushback just plain wrong, because they don’t have the correct facts? Or wrong because they have misinterpreted something we have said? Or is it correct? Our price may in fact be too high for the current value it brings to their business in their mind.

We have no idea of how to answer “your price is too high”, until we have more information. Here is the professional’s next step, after we have discovered the reason behind their statement – we keep digging for other issues. We park the first one and move into asking, “apart from X are there any other concerns you have?”. Objections are also a bit mysterious because the client may not be giving us their primary concern upfront. There may be a hidden objection we don't know about and we merrily go about answering the first objection and wonder why they didn't buy. There was a bigger problem, but they didn't share it and we didn't ask. Always ask.

After they give you the second objection, ask if there are any other concerns. Keep doing this around three to four times maximum. “Are X, Y and Z then your major concerns or is there another?” We have to dig these out before we even attempt to answer any objections from the buyer. Once we have them out then ask for some guidance on which of the three or four is the most problematic for them. “You have mentioned X,Y and Z as issues for you. Of these three which one do you feel is the most pressing?” It is very important to stop speaking at this point. Don’t add anything or qualify anything. The question leaves a certain amount of tension in the air, but let it hang there, don’t relieve the tension by saying anything further. If you have another person with you, tell them before the meeting that when you ask a question and it creates tension with the buyer to sit there and shut up. Don’t release the tension.

We need to hear from them, so that we can concentrate our efforts answering their key concern. Once we know what that concern is, then we bring all our weight to bear on the value we provide with our rationale, statistics, data, testimonials, evidence, proof, etc. to show why the price is just fine and dandy.

Usually, once we have answered the ley concern the minor concerns drop away. If we have done all of this and they still don’t want to proceed, then it means there is still a hidden issue we need to surface, so we can deal with it.

If we haven’t done a good job of building the trust, the client may be reluctant to tell what they are really thinking. This reinforces the importance of the sales cycle to build trust first, ask brilliant questions to uncover needs, tailor the solution to exactly the key points they have raised before we ask for the order.

"Your Price Is Too High" - Your Reply Is?

Previous Episode

122: What To Say When You Get A “No” In Sales

What To Say When You Get A “No” In Sales

What are the chances of getting a “no” to your offer in sales? Probably around 70% of the time, this is what we will get. Given that type of frequency and hit rate, you would think that salespeople would be masters of dealing with this type of response. You would be wrong. The chemicals kick in and sales people lose all reason.

I was reminded of this recently when we were conducting sales training. It is hard to create a new habit for salespeople. They have egos and they are easily entrenched in less productive ways of doing things, because that is how they have always done it. Stupid, is what I would call that, unless you are really shooting the lights out with your results.

The issue is when we see the body language signaling a negative response the fight response starts and then we hear the words and we go into overdrive. Our brain is on fire concerning the thousand good reasons that no should be a yes. We are delving deep into why the client is wrong and we are right. WE are rapidly processing our line of attack to counter the argument they have proffered. What a complete waste of time.

Instead we need to get smart. Stop the chemical reaction from getting out of control. Throw the Breaker Switch, like we have with the electricity in our houses, if the power load gets too dangerous. Shooting your mouth off in sales is even more dangerous. That intervention comes in the form of a cushion. No, we don’t put a cushion over our mouth, so that no words come out. We put it over our brain instead. We offer a very neutral response to the buyer, that neither agrees with nor inflames the situation.

The point of this neutral statement is to give us critical thinking time. Are we using this critical thinking time to dream up a killer response that will shut the buyer down in their tracks and turn that “no” into a “yes”? Nope. We use it to stop the chemical rush and regroup. We need to go into question mode.

When we hear a “no” it is a headline, like we have in newspapers. A short form of reply that gives the key details and no more. We want to know what is in the article accompanying that headline. Why is it “no”? So we sweetly and gently ask, “May I ask you why you said “no”; or “your price is too high”; or “we are happy with our current supplier”; or “we have no budget for this”; or the thousand other dubious reasons buyers give us for declining our genius offer. Give me the article accompanying the headline, so I can understand how I am supposed to answer this rejection.

Now we have to be patient. We hear the reason and again we are sorely tempted to go into counter attack. We know can tear that shabby reasoning apart and want to bombard the buyer with a million reasons why they should buy. Hold your horses there pardner. What if this isn’t the killer objection? What if a more vicious version is lurking in the long grass, ready to bite us at the first opportunity? We need to keep digging.

After we hear that reason, we sweetly and gently ask, “Apart from that are there any other concerns for you?”. They will usually have another one. Again we don’t go into rambunctious reply mode. We ask why that is a problem for them, just like we did the first time. They tell us and again we must be patient. We must keep our power dry, hold the line, keep our nerve. Again, we venture forth on our seeker journey and sweetly and gently ask, “Are A and B your only concerns or do you have another? If they do, we still don’t rush in where angles fear to tread and blurt out our killer retort.

We sweetly and gently ask, “You have mentioned A, B and C. Of these which one is the most pressing concern for you?”, and then we shut up and don’t even breath, let alone speak. They make a choice and now we open up both barrels and answer that concern and ignore the other two. Usually, if we successfully deal with the main concern, the lesser concerns fade away like the dew on a spring day.

When we were doing some role play practice in the training, it was interesting that the person playing the buyer gave a reason for not buying and the seller was starting to jump in. We tied them up and physically restrained them so they couldn’t answer right then and there. Okay, that is an exaggeration. Actually, we just asked them to keep digging, to follow this procedure and not answer yet, until they know what to answer. Sure enough of the A, B and C reasons given, it turned out that it was C that was the concern of most import. “A” was price by the way and “C” was quality in this case.

We don’t know what to answer until we know what to rebuff. Hold off on answering the pushback, until you know what is their key concern. Don’t be fooled by smokescreens, wild goose chases and other buyer subterfuges. If we do this we will be a lot more successful closing the sale and building a strong relationship with the buyer.

Next Episode

124: How To Deal With The Dog Days Of Sales

How To Deal With The Dog Days Of Sales

Nothing goes in a straight line in sales, does it. That order we received gets canceled, suddenly, inexplicably and mercilessly. The client disappears from the face of the earth and despite initial interest, is now permanently incommunicado. Appointments are not coming your way, as we learn that everyone is too busy, not interested, already have it, the brother-in-law is the supplier, etc. Meetings go badly, as the buyer demands our pitch, then opens up the 12 gauge shotgun and proceeds to blow it to shreds, with all the things which are thought to be wrong with it. Depressing.

This series of disasters, coming on top of each other, one after another, eats into our self-belief and confidence. We doubt whether we can actually sell anything anymore. The pipeline is high and dry, there are scanty meetings planned and time weighs heavily upon our shoulders. The boss is a maniac, beating down on us with heavy expectations and threats of elimination. The money isn’t flowing and our spouse isn’t understanding about the lack of dough.

“Whatever was workin before sure ain’t workin now”. What do we do to climb out of this funk? We need to look at our original strategy. Perhaps we had too much at stake concentrated with too few clients, so that as they dropped out, the cupboard became bare. We may have neglected to keep prospecting as we were servicing our orders.

We need to get busy and stop focusing on what we can’t do and switch mental gears to what we can do. Get out a large sheet of paper. Make a column of existing and previous clients on the left, noting the industry in the adjoining column on the right. Taking the list of clients, start calling them and ask for referrals.

Don’t say something useless like, “Do you know anyone who would be interested in our widget?” The answer will be “no” because you have now confronted them with the entire world and they can’t think of anyone. Narrow it down to a group of people whose faces they can see in their mind’s eye. For example, “Thinking about your fellow chamber of commerce members, would there be some in that group who are having similar issues to what you have had and who similarly would benefit from finding a solution?”. This is easier for them to come up with possible candidates. Ask them to introduce you by connecting you both on email, so you can follow up with them.

Back to our strategic planning. Continuing with our chart, in the next column, again to the right, start listing up lookalikes. These are companies in the same industry who are not already clients. We have some degree of experience with one company in the industry and all of their problems. The chances are high that other companies in the same industry are also suffering from similar problems. This gives us better insight to suggest reasons why we should have a face to face meeting. Start calling them.

You will hit the ubiquitous gatekeepers, whose only joy in life is ditching pesky salespeople trying to talk to the boss. Call before 9.00am, when the boss is likely to be there and the lowly gatekeeper won’t be there. Call just after 1.00pm, when the gatekeeper is at lunch and the boss will be back, and call after 6.00pm when the gatekeeper has tootled off home. The chances of talking to someone a bit more senior, who will better get the value of the call goes up.

Grab another big sheet of paper. In the first column start listing up ideal clients you would like to target. In the adjoining column on the right list up any contacts you have, who can introduce you to decision makers in that company. Start calling them. Be prepared for tonnes of rejection in Japan, because this country is not geared up for dealing with unknown companies and individuals.

Nevertheless, work on crafting a great credibility statement. It should start with a brief statement of what your company does, then immediately transition into an example of where you have done something wonderful for another client, including concrete, verifiable numbers or percentages, and suggest maybe you could do the same for this company.

Immediately state however, that you are not sure if that was possible, but that it would be worthwhile to have a conversation to find out and segue into whether this week or next week would be better to get together. It might sound like this, “My name is Greg Story from Dale Carnegie Training, we are global soft skills training experts, with a long history of over 100 years in operation. Recently we did sales training for XYZ company and they registered a 30% increase in sales as a result. Maybe we could do the same thing for your company, I am not sure. In order to find out if that is possible, would you be available this week or is next week better, for us to get together?”

Are these strategies guaranteed to strike success. Of course, not. However, by getting into action, good things st...