Price vs ROI...And How To Respond...

Someone asked me the other day...

Sid, how do I respond to the question...

"What's the cost of the program"

Let's say this happens early in the call - 2-3 minutes into the conversation even before they find out about what you do or you've explained your services"

I give them the response, "well, it depends".

It depends on what level of service you want.

It depends on what you currently have in place and what you'd like us to do for you.

It depends on the work involved and the amount of help/time/resources that you need to get to your goals.

Even if you have only one product or service, you want to go with that kind of an answer. In fact, it may be better to go on pause to listen to what they want/have/need.

The second question I was asked: Sid - how do I respond to the question.

"What is the ROI from the program?"

Again - it depends.

It depends on your offer.

It depends on your level of expertise.

It depends on your ability to close deals.

It depends on your infrastructure.

It depends on your website framework.

It depends on your aggressiveness to close a deal.

It depends on your price points.

It depends on your business model.

What is ROI for you? What is ROI for your client?

Is it the ability to get more qualified leads.

Is it to build a massive email list.

Is it to accumulate a massive amount of data.

Is it to get more appointments on your calendar.

Is it to sell more low-end products and a few high-end.

Is it to build a team of killer closers.

Is it to increase profit-margins.

Is it to decrease costs.

Is it to have free clients for life.

Is it to gain more time, money and impact?

Chances are - it's a combination of all those factors.

No business is going to grow without a combination of those factors.

Over the past 15 years, I've had the chance to conduct over 10,000 1:1 pitches with clients.

That's a lot of people.

You may have clients that want to speak to your former clients to see how their ROI has been.

Again - every business is so unique that this is something that really doesn't matter. Their business model, their ability to close, their ability to deliver, their ability to fulfill, their ability to scale IS COMPLETELY different that yours.

Your offer and market and solution may be COMPLETELY different from theirs.

You can get an understanding of what to expect when you work with a company in terms of how they operate or how they work with you- but asking for referrals to see how their ROI or how their business needs are met is IRRELEVANT to you.

What you have to offer has nothing to do with what they do. Their business model and experience as a business owner could be on a whole different tangent.

Here's a tip - avoid falling in that yourself...

When you ask for a referral - don't think in terms of ROI or the output, and more importantly, don't setup expectations based on other people's business model.

Focus on the value, the topics, the steps, the systems, the benefits of what you are getting from a program rather than focusing on "what's the cost, what's the ROI".

No business is the same.

No business owners is the same.

No person is the same.

I hope this makes sense to you as a client of someone's program, and when you're dealing with these questions that your own clients are asking you.

That's the tip for today!