The prospect asks you what your price is. You’ve barely met them and you’re eager to close a sale, so you give them your price.
The customer hears your price and then starts to ask for a discount.
You’re still eager, so you throw them a bone, hoping they will take it and you can close the sale. Yes, the sale comes with a slight discount, but you still got it and you got it fast.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Most of us would read the above scenario and say, “Good! Deal closed!” Yes, the deal is closed, and a sale was made, but at what cost?
My issue is when the customer asks us for our price before there is any element of confidence established between us and the customer, then the risk of giving away profit is huge. Reason is simple: If the customer doesn’t have confidence in us and what we’re selling, their focus is most likely going to drift toward price.
Let me share an example.
You’re in a store and you see something you’re not sure is going to be right for you. The price appears to be high, and because you’re not quite sure, you simply can’t see spending the money to buy it.
On the other hand, you see another item that again just doesn’t seem quite right, but the price is much lower. You process the price in your mind, and before you know it, you buy it. Reason is the lower price offset the lack of confidence about the item.
A discounted price will always make up for a lack of confidence.
What my example points out is if you want to get full price, you have to create confidence in the mind of the buyer. More confidence, more likelihood the customer will pay full-price.
This is the reason why I cringe when I hear salespeople throwing out a price to a customer just because they asked for it.
When the customer asks what your price is before you have had a chance to establish confidence, your response should be something along the lines of, “I have so many different options, I want to make sure I’m meeting your needs.”
Share your price with the customer only after you’ve shared with them confidence in what you can do.
Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
