How Great Salespeople Handle Price Objections

Dealing with price objections is one of the biggest hurdles that our sales training partners deal with on a consistent basis. Salespeople representing high quality providers must be skilled in handling buyers who always want a deal. Fierce competition, online discounters and a troubled economy can make us nervous to say no. How should you handle this objection?

“Your competition is willing to sell me their product, which they say is very similar, for a lot lower than you. So what are you going do for me?” Every buyer will word it differently, yet the message is the same. Lower the price or run the risk of losing the business. In a tougher economy, this possibility will even make seasoned veterans nervous. Who’s bluffing, telling the truth and being sincere about their claim and motivation?

When To Deal With Price Objections

If you are dealing with this objection as a Salesperson representing a high-quality provider, then you may not have done the best job of representing your company from the outset. When is the best time to fight an objection?  Before it occurs!  Do this successfully and you will take away much of the power of the price objection because the buyer may not choose to voice it to you. He or she may counter it in their own mind without having the need to bring it up. Even if they do, knowing how you will respond may cause them to them to be more accepting of your explanation.

Value Is The Answer

All smart Salespeople know that selling the merits of value is always the best way to fight a price objection. Your positioning and timing are crucial in best dealing with this. Here’s what your buyer is telling you:

Buyer: Look, I like your product. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I just can’t justify your pricing when your competitor is willing to sell it to me for much less than you.”

You: “Our product has excellent value. Quality is what we stand for. That’s not just what we say –  read our testimonials on our website or talk to someone who has purchased our product and they’ll tell you that it’s worth the price because it’s an investment.”

Here’s what your buyer is saying to the competitor:

Buyer: “I’m considering your product, but I’ll be frank, I’m concerned about the quality. How can I be assured that you’re selling me something of good quality?”

The Competitor: “Our product has excellent value. Our clients are happy with the quality and its affordability. We work hard to get your business and understand that in a tough economy, you need every penny to count.”  

What The Buyer Really Wants

Being a buyer is a lot easier than the job of Salesperson.  All buyers are interested in getting the best of both worlds. They want quality that meets expectations and a price that is justifiable.  They don’t want the lowest price at the sacrifice of quality below minimum standards. Say this to yourself before you start any price discussions with a buyer. If he or she didn’t want the quality you offer, you wouldn’t be negotiating. The tricky part is knowing the limits of pricing and quality expectations in the client’s mindset.

How Many Buyers Want To Be That Guy?

Imagine the boss walking into the buyer’s office and asking who was the rocket scientist who ordered a product that failed to work properly when it was most needed? Gee, but it was such a great deal. The price on that unit was way lower than the competition. How much does the wrong buying choice actually cost?

Dealing With Price Objection Before It Occurs

Plant the seed in the mind of the buyer early that your company stands for quality, not the lowest price. Every business category has higher quality/higher cost providers. Competitors position themselves as being able to offer a much lower price for similar quality. “Similar” is debatable and needs to be determined in the mind of the buyer.

Here’s what higher quality companies believe in. Choose the phrase you like best and customize it to your personality and communication style:

We would rather explain our price to you once, than make up for poor quality in your mind forever.

No one wants to buy a product twice because the first one failed to meet expectations. That’s an expensive decision that no one wants to be responsible for.

People tend to feel they paid too much when the product they bought was below acceptable standards. 

No one complains about price after they’ve bought a product that surpassed expectations. 

I personally don’t like to associate myself with a product that people think is average. I sell great products that brings repeat business and referrals.

Would you rather get the lowest price on an OK product or get a fair price on a great one?

In the end, no one wants to make the wrong decision on the right price. Our clients would rather make the right decision on the right quality.

If you can’t justify what we charge for our product, then I’ve failed in my job to educate you.

Silence Is A Form Of Acceptance

Don’t expect a buyer to agree with you. While that may occasionally happen, the most common reaction you’ll receive is a blank look from a client who listens and says nothing. You don’t need to hammer the point home repeatedly. Deliver it once before a negotiation starts and you will have dramatically increased your odds of making a sale.

Turn A Price Objection Into A Reason To Buy

This is one my favorite sales techniques. It’s a rare occasion when you can turn a price objection into a reason to buy. While your first reaction may be that it doesn’t apply to the product you’re selling, get creative in customizing it to meet your needs and client situation. Here’s an example using any product with high use application.

Your product: $500, 30 applications, cost per application – $16.67 per

Competitor: $250, 10 applications, cost per application – $25.00 per

Which product is more expensive? While yours may appear to be twice as much, the competitors is one and a half times as expensive per application. 

You may also use this as an upsell opportunity using the same price and application breakdown for your product:

$500 for a three-month supply, cost per application (30): $16.67

$750 for a six-month supply, cost per application (60): $12.50

$1,000 for a year-supply, cost per application (120): $8.33

“By ordering a year’s supply, you can reduce your cost to far under $10 per application.” 

Sit down with your Sales Manager and work together to create examples that apply to your products, services and clients. It’s basic arithmetic that is extremely powerful! 

Ensure You Always Have A Healthy Sales Pipeline

Top-performing Salespeople fight price objections best by consistently prospecting for new business, growing the sales volume of their current account base and maintaining a high activity level of sales activity. Here’s a fact that all experienced Salespeople will attest to:

You will always be at your best ability to negotiate and deal with objections when you are exceeding your sales targets.

When your confidence level is high, your desperation to take a bad deal is low. You are selling at peak efficiency – Now Do What It Takes To Stay There!

How do you best deal with price objections? Please share your comments in the area below. If you liked this post, please share it on your favorite social media platform.

Great Salespeople are always looking for new sales techniques. If that describes you, please feel free to check out our online program The Sales Skills Incubator or our book  SHUT UP! Stop Talking and Starting Making Money.

Thanks!

 Dave Warawa – PROSALESGUY