Talking to Your Customer About Price – Part 1

The earlier you talk about price, the more likely it is that you will lose the sale.

That’s the truth, and it points to one of the most common errors made in sales presentations. When you get trapped into a price discussion right out of the gate, you are jeopardizing the entire sale.

Why is this the case? Because an early price conversation will draw your customer’s mind in the wrong direction. They won’t be thinking about value – a positive, emotion-based mental process; they will be thinking about cost – a negative, analytical mental process.

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” Warren Buffett

Great salespeople are masters at deferring the price conversation. Top performers never talk about price until after there is an emotional attachment to the product.

Here’s how they do it:

1.   Provide an Overview; Skip the Details

There is only one objective in the early conversation, and that is to get the price discussion on the shelf. You must defer the topic.

But wait – your customer just asked a legitimate question about pricing. You can’t just ignore it, right? That’s true; you can’t. But you can control how deep that conversation will go.

You need to write and rehearse your own personalized script for how to defer that part of the discussion. It might sound something like this:

“It’s tricky because there are a lot of variables that go into the final price. Our prices start at X and go up to about Y, just so you have some context here. But let’s do this. Let’s find exactly what works for you and then I can tell you precisely what the price will be. Fair enough? Great – let me ask you a few questions so I can point you in the right direction.

2.   Let Simplicity Rule

One of the big problems with many pricing discussions is that the topic can be confusing. This is a HUGE issue because of one important buying truth: a confused mind says, “no.”

Your job is to help simplify the process and make it easy for your customer to say “yes.”

To do that, you always want to give context first and details second. Look to see how you can provide the big picture approach to pricing and make sure your customer understands that before getting into details.

Suppose you are selling window coverings, the type of item where pricing can be all over the board and where customers are often unaware of how much they will spend. An overview conversation might sound something like this:

We’re going to find the perfect blend of three things: style, function, and price. Everything we talk about will fall into one of those categories. But the price will depend upon style and function. I’ll work with you in finding the perfect balance. Fair enough?

That quick overview provides for a very simple mental framework that makes it easier for your customer to process the details that will follow.

3.    Build Confidence

Customers often approach the shopping process with a certain (though often vague) price in mind only to quickly discover that their perceptions were out of touch with reality. How the salesperson responds in these key moments of price confusion is critical.

When a customer faces this disturbing “reality check” it tends to lead to a dangerous mindset: they walk away with a lack of confidence. In the absence of confidence in the value proposition, a customer will simply not buy.

Here’s the good news: confidence is contagious!

This is where the sales professional proves his/her worth. Salespeople must have such an abundance of value confidence that it is both evident and uplifting. You simply cannot flinch when your customer shows you their price shock face. Let me put that another way: unconfident salespeople have skinny children.

There you have it; now it’s time to get to work. Write a script to defer the conversation. Beat your own presentation with a simple stick. And then be confident in what you do.

There is one other component that must be present for this to work; there must be trust.

I’m going to attack that issue in my next article in this series: Talking to Your Customer About Trust.

Stay tuned…

About the Author: Jeff Shore

Jeff Shore is a highly sought-after sales expert, speaker, author and consultant whose innovative and real-world selling strategies help you to change your mindset and change your world. His latest book, "Closing 2.0," is now available. Learn more at jeffshore.com and follow Jeff on Facebook and LinkedIn.