If you sell an inexpensive commodity, price is not usually a question. If you're selling water bottles, most people won't even notice whether it's $1.00 or $1.10. They'll drink it and forget about it. They won't even remember the brand an hour later!
However, if what you sell is big, complex, personal, technical, expensive, bought infrequently, or any combination of those, the price can be a huge part of the conversation!
As it turns out, price is never the real issue. Let's look at a story where price got in the way, why prospects bring up price, and how we can help them get at the real issue.
$5K in savings cost $15K
A while back, one of our clients lost a $130K project. When they debriefed and really dug in, they discovered that their prospect had taken the quotes, looked at the bottom number, and their competition was $5K cheaper.
Weeks later, my client reached out to check in with the prospect and see how things were going. They were not happy. They weren't used to buying what my client sold, so they had bought entirely on price.
As it turns out, my client's quote had included shipping and installation. The company the prospect went with did not. Instead, they charged an additional $20K or so. As a result, the company spent $15K more than they would have with my client!
Whose fault was that? I reminded my client of Sandler Rule #41: There are no bad prospects, only bad salespeople. As a salesperson, it's your job to help your prospect compare on something other than price.
Why do prospects compare on price?
Before we can help prospects get at the real issue, it's helpful to understand why they compare on price in the first place.
If people don't buy what you're selling very often, they default to price as a comparison point. And it's even more of an issue if what you sell is big, complex, personal, technical, expensive, or bought infrequently.
Let's take a home improvement project as an example. Many people may only do a major home improvement project once or twice in their lifetime. So they don't know how to buy it!
As a result, they'll default to price. They'll likely get multiple estimates from contractors. If one of them is way higher or way lower, they'll throw that one out. Then they'll compare the remainder, and often they either choose the estimate that's the lowest one or the one in the middle.
It's the salesperson's job to create an environment where they can compare on something besides price.
Help your client get to the real issue
A good salesperson will help their prospect determine if they're the best fit for the project or not. The best way to do that is to uncover information about past history.
A salesperson discussing a kitchen remodel project might say, "I'm happy to talk to you about a kitchen remodel. Have you ever done a project like this in the past?"
They have to answer! It's a basic yes or no question. Either they have or they haven't. And typically, they'll go into detail with the answer.
If they have, the salesperson should follow up with, "Great. Do you mind if I ask why you aren't calling that company?"
You'll learn all sorts of valuable information about your prospect's past history! Maybe they just moved, and the original contractor is in a different state. But maybe the contractor did something they didn't like, and they didn't want to call them back.
If they've never bought anything exactly like what you sell, maybe they have a relative or friend who has. Or perhaps they've bought something different that you can use to draw parallels. Regardless, ask questions!
Digging into past history will help you get to the real issue, so your prospect stops comparing based on price alone.
If you or your team needs help with uncovering the true issues so you can stop competing on price, we would be glad to talk with you. Feel free to contact us to have a conversation and see if we might be a good fit or not.
