After you’ve presented your product or service, if the prospect says, “It costs too much,” or, “Your price is too high,” how do you respond to this objection? Well, instead of looking at the total dollar amount, focus on the difference instead.
“What do you mean?” you ask.
Well, let’s say you offer multifunction office machines that copy, print, scan, and fax. And the total investment involved for this particular model is $8,000. The first step to overcoming this price objection is to find out how much too much it is.
So, when they tell you that they think it costs too much, say, “Today, it seems like most things do. Could you tell me about how much too much you feel it is?”
Let’s say they’ve only budgeted $7,000 for a machine. Now, the money concern is no longer $8,000, is it? After all, they never expected to get your product or service for free, did they?
So, the concern now is only $1,000. And once you figure out what the difference is, you focus on this smaller amount and stop talking about the total investment.
“So, what we’re really talking about is $1,000, aren’t we, James?”
“Yes, it’s $1,000 too high,” he says.
“Ok. Perhaps we should put this into proper perspective. Here.”
Then you hand him your calculator and say, “Just suppose you own our copier. Do you think you’d keep it for five years?”
“Sure, that sounds about right,” James replies.
“Okay. Divide $1,000 by five, and we have $200 per year, don’t we? Now, if your office is open year-round except for the major holidays, you’d use this copier for 50 weeks per year, wouldn’t you? And if you take the $200 per year and divide it by 50 weeks per year, we get $4 per week, right?”
Now, the numbers you specifically work with may not work out so nicely. That’s why you ask your prospect to figure them out on your calculator.
“It’s also reasonable to say that your copier would be in use everyday during the normal five-day work week, wouldn’t it? Ok. Would you please divide $4 per week by five days per week? And we get–?
James says, “Eighty cents.”
Then you say, “Do you really think we should allow eighty cents per day to get in the way of the higher profits, increased production, and enhanced capabilities that this copier will bring to your company?”
Now, at this point, some of your prospects may be convinced and go ahead with the order. But let’s say the prospect is still hesitant and says, “Well, I’m still not sure.”
Then you respond with, “Can I ask how much your lowest-paid entry-level employee makes per hour?” And let’s say you find out that these people are paid $10 an hour.
You continue with, “So, the eighty cents per day we’re talking about will give you about five minutes of work from your lowest-paid helper.”
James says, “Well, if you put it that way, then yes.”
“Won’t this machine, with all of its advanced capabilities and extra features, make more money for your company in an entire day than your employee can in five minutes?”
“Yes, I think it will,” he says.
And after he agrees, you conclude the sale by asking, “Then since we’ve agreed, would you like to take delivery on the 1st, or would the 15th work better for you?”
So, with this objection, since you likely won’t know what the difference is that you’ll be working with when you talk to a particular prospect, the key to adapting this approach to your offer is to know the relevant time periods for your product, service, or industry.
Then, you take your time periods and break the price down to a figure which is so low that prospects can visualize ownership of the product because they now see it as affordable. In other words, here, eighty cents per day puts the copier within the prospect’s reach.
