Overcoming Price Objections

A lot of people get stumped the minute someone says, "Oh, I think that’s too expensive," but price objections are rarely really about price at all. Many of the people who get this objection are simply delivering monologues to their prospects. They’re boring them and making them uncomfortable - and a price objection becomes an easy way for the prospect to put an end to the conversation. Then, since the Networked doesn’t know what to say next, they "shut up". Prospect wins.

1. Identify the Value

The thing to remember is this: If you can identify the value of your product for someone, even if they’re broke, they’ll try to find the money to do it.

Your first step is to determine people’s interest by asking casual questions. If the person is even mildly interested in your story, you want to find out what causes that little bit of curiosity - and if you give them a chance, they’ll gladly tell you.

Be alert to whatever sparked their interest, because that’s the benefit they want. If you’re listening intently, you can then align your presentation to show them how they can get those benefits with what you have to offer. Since you’re citing benefits they just told you they want, you know they will be interested and see the value.

2. Perceived Value

Most legitimate price objections are based on a lack of perceived value, that is, the value of what you’ve presented doesn’t seem equal to the cost involved. If there are distributors presenting your products or opportunity successfully, then you can guess the price is probably fair. You can’t change the price, but you can change the value your prospect perceives. If you engage interest and strengthen perceived value, you’ll dramatically decrease price objections.

You increase perceived value by focusing on what’s "in it" for them. Think to yourself: "Why would this prospect specifically want to buy my product or get involved in my company?" If you offer it from that standpoint, your prospects really "sells" themself. Presentations that focus on technical features and extraneous information will glaze your prospects’ eyes over quickly.

To let a prospect comfortably evaluate the real value, it’s important to disclose your product and opportunity’s cost as early as possible in your presentation. When I saw that people in my organization were getting may more price objections than I did, I analyzed what they were doing differently and I found that most people tell prospects the price at the very end of their presentation. Their logic was that, if the prospect has already heard all the incredible benefits of their product or opportunity, when they hear the price, they’ll recognize it’s worth. I’ve found that almost the exact opposite happens.

First, the prospect becomes more and more suspicious the longer the price is withheld. Then, when they hear the price at the end of the presentation, they need time to make a mental review of what was said to see if the price is actually worth it to them.

In order to buy the time to make that quick mental review, what a lot of people will say something like, "Huh...that’s a little more expensive than I expected," or "A little pricey, isn’t it?" As they’re saying that, they’re mentally reviewing everything you said. It’s just an offhand diversionary comment really, but it sets you up to have to handle it as an "objection". Stating the price early lets a prospect evaluate value and relative worth as the presentation unfolds.

3. Positioning Cost

There are many ways to handle an honest price. One effective technique is to be the price down to a daily cost and then compare it to common, even frivolous expenditures, something like "For RM2 per day - less than the cost of a cappuccino - you’ll be doing something very positive for your health". By positioning the cost against something else, your prospect will see that your product is actually inexpensive compared with it’s value. If you’re marketing an environmentally-friendly cleaning product, for instance, you can increase the perceived value by breaking it down to a per wash cost and positioning that small cost against the environmental impact they’ll make by using it - "If everyone in the country replaced just one toxic brand with our brand, xxx of natural resources will be conserved," or something to that effect.

I now almost never encounter price objections, but if I do, I realize that I may not have created enough value. I’ll say something like, "You’re right, you could purchases a less expensive product, but it wouldn’t be this product!" I then emphasize the key benefits separating my product from the others in the marketplace, highlighting those of particular interest to my prospect.

When you put it this way, you’ve added excitement. You’ve positioned your product as being "worth it" and very valuable. You aren’t apologizing. They realize you’re proud of what you have to offer. This is how I handle price objections, and I think if you try it, you’ll find most people are pleased with your answer.

Please notice that the first thing I said was: "You’re right." I say that for a specific reason, If I’ve encountered an objection, the first thing I want to do is make the prospect feel I really understand his concerns and considerations.

I don’t want him to feel as if he has to defend his views.

Once a prospect has thought of and objection, he or she is in a form of disagreement. The fastest way to break down resistance and start to bring agreement back into the conversation is to agree with them. You show them that you understand their position - let them know that you see why they might have that consideration. This is an important step in handling any objection.

Saying, "You’re right", or "I understand how you might feel that way," leads back to agreement. Challenging the prospect makes them feel foolish or cheap, and just creates defensiveness.

4. A Price Objection With a Twist

Once in a while, you get a slightly different type of price objection, if seems like the person can see the value of your product of opportunity, but just honestly can’t afford it.

This is a legitimate objection. There are a lot of people out there whose finances just don’t allow them to do some of the things they’d like to do.

Maybe they are temporarily down on their luck. In my experience, there are some prospects you find in desperate circumstances, who, if you toss them a life preserver, will grab it and pull themselves out of harm’s way.

Others, however, prefer to remain treading water, trapped by what I call "poverty consciousness". They don’t believe things can get better or that they can succeed. They’ve bought into a negative belief system and are suspicious of anyone who tells them to reach for higher ground. You could spend your own money to get them into business and all they’d do is spend their time showing you why it can’t be done, "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory".

When you encounter someone in a desperate situation - especially if it’s someone you care about - it’s tempting to try to help them out by paying to get them started. I’ve paid for a number of people to get involved in this business.

Some have made it all the way to the top of the compensation plan, while others sat on the opportunity, letting failure become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Over time, I’ve found that you’re far better off with people who have enough interest and desire to find a way to make it happen. Here’s a quick sorting process that can save you a lot of heartache and a lot of wasted time and effort:

When someone tells me they can’t afford it, that they’re in a bad financial situation, I tell them that’s the exact reason they need to get involved. If I feel they could be successful in the business, I tell them so. If they really want to get involved in the business, I tell them I’ll help them find a way to somehow pull the money together to make the first purchase.

"If you really want to do it, let’s find a way to make it happen. If you do get the kind of results we’ve been discussing, you’ll naturally want to tell people you care about. It doesn’t take many people becoming involved in the program to earn enough commissions to cover at least the cost of your own product use". If one of those people turns out to be someone you can work with, someone who becomes a business builder, you’ve created a new income source. You’ll no longer be in the position of being unable to afford the things you want to do."

Your prospect can see the need to make some kind of change - something needs to be done to break the pattern. This way you can start them on a constructive path to actually making that change.


Source : The Internet
Md Hatta
019-3089268
hattabasir@gmail.com