Using questions to counter price objections.
Following on from
Handling The Price Objection - Part 1 this article deals with one of the most common questions that I get from sales people everywhere at my workshops and seminars...
"What should I say when a prospect says they can't afford what I'm selling?"
There are a number of reason a prospect will say this and I outlined these in
Handling The Price Objection - Part 1. However, here's a tip on how you might respond if you are selling a product or service that will make or save your prospect money.
A little while back we trained some advertising sales people to use this technique and it worked with remarkable success. There are three steps.
| Step | Purpose | Example |
| 1. Question the objection |
To get the prospect to clarify in both their mind and yours what they really mean. There could be a number of different motives behind such a statement. We need to find out what they really mean. |
Prospect says; "It costs too much"!
You: "Mr Prospect, how do you mean?"
Prospect says; "Well I just don't have the dollars available to spend on this advertising right now".
You: "Mr Prospect, how do you mean?"
Prospect says; "I'd really like to but I just don't have the money. Sales are down right now and we just can't afford it. Maybe we'll do it in a month or so if sales pick up." |
| 2. Use an Empathy Buffer |
Most sales people try to launch into a direct rebuttal to such an objection by re-selling the benefits. This often feels like a slap in the face to the prospect and will often destroy rapport. It can also get a prospect's back up and make them defensive. We are much better off empathising with our prospect first, and then leading them to confront their real concern and then answer their own objection. |
You: "Mr Prospect, making good use of your dollars is important in any business and I'm sure it is important to you too, right?"
Prospect says; "Yes that's right". |
| 3. Now use questions to have your prospect answer their own objection |
What ever you say now, they will doubt it as they defend their position. However if they say it, then it's much more believable! |
You: "Mr Prospect, why are sales down?"
Prospect says; "Well my store traffic is down. People just aren't coming in like they used to."
You: "How do you mean?"
Prospect says; "Well I've got a lot of competition from the new shopping centre up the road that I didn't have a while back".
You: "If you were able to get more people coming through your door again would you be able to sell more?"
Prospect says; "Well yes I could. If they come in here, they usually buy. We provide better advice and service. But they are just not coming in like they used to".
You: "Mr Prospect, you have used advertising before haven't you?"
Prospect says; "Yes we have".
You: "Mr Prospect, why did you do that advertising?"
Prospect says; "To make people aware of us".
You: "And what happened?"
Prospect says; "Well we had lots of new customers coming it".
You: "And if you did some advertising now, do you think it would work again?"
Prospect says; "I think so, but we just don't have the money right now to do it"
You: "If you had more people coming in and buying then you'd have the money wouldn't you?"
Prospect says; "Well yes of course I would."
You: "Mr Prospect it seems to me that you know the answer to getting more money in. It's getting more people through your door to buy. This advertising will do that for you and you know it will, because you've just told me that it has worked for you in the past. If you don't advertise nothing will change and you'll continue to have no money to do the things you want to do in this business. Mr Prospect do you really want to get more dollars coming in?"
Prospect says; "Well of course."
You: "Well Mr Prospect, it seems to me that using advertising is a pretty good plan to achieve that, unless of course you have a better one you are not telling me about. Do you have a better plan right now that would get more money in for you?" |
So what have we achieved?
"I don't have any money" rarely means "I don't have any money"!
More often than not, it means that I don't have any money budgeted for what you are offering me.
However money can generally be obtained from another budget, or by increasing the overdraft at their bank etc. It's simply a matter of priorities, and the purpose of the above technique is to get the prospect to re-examine their priorities, and perhaps change their priorities around where they are currently spending their money. After all, you are offering a solution to their cash flow problem and that's a good place to invest what money they do have now.
So will this work every time?
No of course not. However it will get your prospect to really think about this problem of not being able to afford it. It will help them to think logically through what the best course of action would be to remedy this problem, and it will probably be a much more effective method to lead them to the conclusion that they have to take some action on a sound plan, BEFORE they will have more money.
Questions really are a powerful tool in selling.
Why not try using questions more to handle your prospect's objections and see what happens. See if you can adapt the questions above to suit what you are selling.