4 Secrets on How to Respond When They Say, “I Just Want to Know Your Price.”

The phone rings and the person says they just want to know your price.

Is this a customer, a prospect, a suspect, or just somebody knee-jerking you?

We’ve all had that price statement posed to us in one form or another.  It’s tempting to get excited, and the new salesperson is the one most likely to get excited, thinking it’s a customer.

Sorry, but the person who calls up “just wanting to know your price” is most likely not your customer.

Here are 4 secrets on handling this type of phone call:

1. Don’t get excited thinking you’re about to make a quick sale.

This is the worst attitude you can have, because the attitude is going to cause you to discount your price.  Worse yet, the type of person who is calling you asking for this type of information is most likely hyper-price driven, and that means they will continue to work you over on price.

2. Do ask the customer questions.

The first question you should ask them is how they found you.  I like to start off with this, because  a customer won’t view it as threatening and will many times provide you with great information.

Sometimes, they may tell you they found you on the web or someone referred them to you.  Either of these can be huge.

If they say they found you on the web, then ask them how and what words were they using.  If they were referred to you, this can give you huge insights as to what they may know about you.

3. After asking them how they found you, ask them why they are looking.

Your question should not be on what they’re looking to buy, but on what they’re looking to gain from buying from you.  Objective here is to get the customer talking about their needs and expectations.

4. Tell them how you offer so many different options that it would be impossible for you to give a price.

If they push you, jokingly state how it’s always less than a million.  What you’re doing is positioning the person to realize how giving out a quick price is simply something you can’t do.

Your goal here is to gain a more robust conversation with them to allow you to explore with them what their needs are and for them to gain confidence in talking with you.

Remember, the customer you get with a low price is the customer who is going to nag you forever about everything.

Low-price customers are simply customers you can’t afford to have, no matter how much the current state of your business might be telling you otherwise.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.