How often have you heard current or potential clients utter the objection “it’s too expensive”? Probably dozens or hundreds of times. Have you ever considered how many more sales you could have closed if this objection had never come up? Probably many more.
In this article, our objective is to identify what motivates clients to utter that objection and to see whether there is something you can do to eliminate that complaint, therefore producing much better sales outcomes.
When clients tell you “it’s too expensive” or “it doesn’t fit my budget,” is it because they find the price too high or because they don’t properly perceive the value of your offer?
In any transaction, when a client finds that your product or service is too costly, there are two important factors to consider: price and value. In order for an exchange to take place, the client must perceive that the value of your offer is higher than the price you are asking; otherwise there will be no deal.
The easiest solution would be to reduce your price or to throw in complimentary accessories or other products. However, by choosing this option, you would be reducing your business’ profitability and/or your commission would suffer.
On the other hand, if you can position the client’s perception in a way that the product or service value greatly surpasses its price, you will maintain your profitability and will close the sale.
Let’s look at the procedure for getting your client to appreciate the value of your product or service. First, a simple question: how much would you be willing to pay for a Mont Blanc pen?
If every reader could answer,
Why is that the case? The reason is that for some people, the most important factor to consider when buying a pen is simply its utility, whereas for others a Mont Blanc pen is a symbol of success and prestige.
For those who are wondering, most Mont Blanc pens are worth between $100… and $1000!
The above example clearly shows that appreciation for any given object varies from one person to the next.
Why is it that some clients recognize that your product has a lot of value, while others feel that it has less value?
Well, in the first case, the sales consultant asked relevant questions that made it possible to determine the client’s needs, concerns, and the problems that the product is intended to solve. In the second case, the sales agent did not draw a correlation between the product’s features and the client’s perspective.
Since this perspective varies from client to client, you must ask questions in order to identify the client’s needs and problems. You will then be able to offer a solution tailored to the client’s specific requirements. This is how you will increase the value of your proposed product or service in the client’s eyes.
The products you are offering doubtless feature specific valuable elements, but if your approach is to simply list all these wonderful characteristics (as so many salespersons do), you will greatly “dilute” the value of your offer and the client will often conclude that the price is too high.
When serving clients, it is important to only describe the product features that have a direct link to a need, desire, problem or concern of the client. By doing so, you increase the product’s value. The price is always relative to the benefits that your client will derive from the product – the more useful the product is to the client, the higher the monetary value he will place on it.
In order to eliminate price-related objections and obtain better sales results, you must ask in-depth questions aimed at identifying your client’s concerns and sources of stress and then propose a product based on what is important for THE CLIENT, not what YOU think is important. This will produce a notable increase in sales.
Jean-Pierre Lauzier
Consulting expert, trainer and speaker
Sales, marketing and customer service
Author of the book: “Le Cœur aux ventes”
JPL Communications inc.
info@jeanpierrelauzier.com
www.jeanpierrelauzier.com
450 444-3879
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