“What’s Your Price?”
It’s the question we all hate to hear, and it means we are about to be “worked over” on price. You will always feel that way if you believe that a low price is the most important reason your customer buys for. We know that customers ask this question because they are trying to determine the value of what you are selling. Also, they may be indicating to you that they have an offer from someone else that they believe is the same and under those conditions they will always buy on price.
In order to handle the price objection effectively, you must first have the right attitude or “belief” about price. Most salespeople have been conditioned by customers (and their own buying habits) to focus on price. This tends to create the belief that only price is important. In reality, price is often the least important issue. The real issue is “what they get for the price.”
Once the salesperson understands (believes) this, they will naturally respond to the question in a different way. Under this scenario they might be inclined to ask “If the price was low but the quality was too, is that acceptable?” Or they might ask “I know price is important to you but besides price, what else is important?”
You must understand that if you give your price too early it will always be considered in the absence of any additional value you bring to the customer. In the absence of that value the price you ask will always be too high. Answering the price question too early in the sales process will always lead to the price objection.
You must realize that the question “what’s your price” is really a request for information that would help the customer determine the value of what you sell. By answering the question and not determining what else is important to the customer, you run the risk of ending up selling on price alone, getting low margin sales, and worse yet, not getting your customer what he or she really wants. The next time someone asks you “What’s your price?”, turn it into a discussion of what is valuable to the customer. Ultimately, you will both end up getting more.
