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OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS TO PRICE
By Charlie Cook
How much more could you
earn if your prospects didn't object
to your prices? You'd close more sales
and be more successful.
Like most service professionals and small
business owners
chances are you struggle with objections to pricing on
a daily basis. You lose business because prospects get stuck on price.
Your pricing will never satisfy everyone but the following ideas will help
you eliminate pricing objections from the majority of your
buyers.
MARKET TO PROSPECTS EMOTIONS
One of the biggest marketing
mistakes you can make is to start by marketing to a prospect's head instead
of their heart. If your marketing materials and presentations lead with a
presentation of the product or service features and/or your own credentials,
this is the wrong information to present up front to prospects and can hinder
the sale of your products and services.
The majority of purchases are
ultimately based on emotion.
Vehicle purchases are a great example. Sales of
4 wheel drive SUV's has soared despite the fact 90% of the buyers never go
off road or need the 4 wheel drive functionality. Porsche sales have grown
steadily, despite the fact that most often their owners use them around town
and in traffic, rarely if ever driving at the over a hundred miles an
hour they are easily capable of going.
Your prospects buy your
products and services for their own
reasons, not yours. Get their attention
by focusing your
marketing on their concerns. Use questions to bring
their
emotional reasons for making a purchase into the
conversation. When
you present the benefits of your products
or services, do so in the context
of your prospects' emotional interests.
- Are you marketing to your
prospects hearts or their minds?
UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONAL REASONS PEOPLE
BUY
Some people buy cars based on their perception of safety, others based
on the potential for speed and others make their selection based on how
little gas the vehicle consumes. If you want to be more successful in
marketing you need to know the emotional reasons people buy your
products and services.
Reasons prospects buy include fear, gain,
comfort, security,
pride and personal satisfaction. When it comes to making
a
decision these are the motivators that determine whether
your prospects
buy your products and services.
If you sell investment advice, fear of
loss, desire for gain and security may all be motivators. If you sell wide
screen TVs or audiophile stereo equipment, personal satisfaction and pride
may be the motivators. If you sell graphic design, your client's desired
image is a motivator.
Marketing is about helping prospects make
decisions. If you
understand the emotional reasons your prospects use
to justify a purchase than you can pitch to their emotions in your
advertisements, on your web site, in your brochure and in your presentations
and conversations.
- What are the emotional reasons your prospects
buy?
HELP PROSPECTS DEFINE VALUE
To help prospects understand the
value of your services, don't tell them; ask them. Most people learn by
putting new ideas into their own words. Use questions to get prospects to
identify the ways they'll benefit from your products. Ask them what they
want, what they are looking for, and how they expect to benefit. Get your
prospects to define their aspirations and objectives for their
purchase.
These questions actively engage your prospects.
By describing the benefits they are looking for they begin to imagine how
much better off they'd be with your products and services.
- What
questions can you ask to get prospects to describe the value of your products
and services?
PUT PRICE INTO CONTEXT
There is a reason a car salesman
has you look at a car in detail and take if for a test ride so you can
experience all the features before they'll discuss price.
Hedge funds
are investment vehicles that can provide unique
benefits such as being able
to achieve steady growth in both
up and down markets or unusually high
returns. Some investors believe these benefits are worth paying hedge
fund managers ten times the normal management fees.
A price of ten
dollars or ten thousand can scare your prospects
away if you give it to them
too soon. After prospects' have
defined the value of the service or product
they're interested in
and can see themselves usingit, then and you present
your pricing, they are much more likely to buy.
- Are you presenting
your pricing information too soon?
Increase your sales by pitching to
your prospects' reasons
for buying. Use your questions to help prospects
define the
benefits of your products and services in their own words.
They
will have far fewer objections to price and you'll make
more
money.
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2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights
reserved.
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The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals
and
small business owners attract more clients and be
more successful. Sign up to
receive the Free Marketing
Guide, '7 Steps to Grow Your Business' and
the
'More Business' newsletter, full of practical tips you can
use at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
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