The Best Information On Presenting Your Price...And Getting It ...Ever Written

Wow! With a claim like that, I better not screw this up, Right?

Have you ever had a customer say;

“Well, what’s your best price?”

“Can you do better than that on the price?”

“You’re going to have to do better on price if you expect me to buy”

“That price seems high, what can you do for me?”

In this section, we’ll see how to bring up price, how to say the price, how to answer questions about price, and how to do it confidently.

Let’s start off by saying that almost every salesperson (not business owner, mind you) thinks that the price on any higher priced item is just too high. Why? Because they don’t absolutely...positively...think that the product sold is the bargain of the century.

So they defer questions about cost (unless the price tag is easily seen by all). Salespeople say the price like they are getting a root canal. They say the price like they absolutely expect the customer to balk at such an unreasonable price.

Here’s how to almost never get a price objection again;

The way you give the price is the single most powerful thing that tells the customer if the price is a good value. Your tone of voice must convey that the price is a bargain & that you absolutely expect them to say “OK” to it. Why is this so important? The main clue that the customer has, as to whether the price is good or not, is the way the price is given. Before you give the price, the buyer has no real idea how much it should be.

If you use price tags, “reeling the price” is when you show the price tag & read the price to the customer.

Never defer the price. Have you ever had a salesperson say to you, after you asked the price “I’ll come to that in as minute, but first let me tell you about….”? Very bad.

Now all you’re thinking about is the price.

Just tell the price. Tell the price like you are answering a question about the color. Don’t change tone, tempo, or volume of your voice. Don’t pause before saying the price.

You can never make a sale without giving the price, so you may as well just come out with it

Do you think you need to cut your price?

Price cutting is something you do to yourself.

History shows that low price businesses have the hardest time with economic swings. They have a very poor long term life.

Most retailers feel that customers won’’t pay more for what they sell.

I tell this story in some of my speeches. We were selling the Thermax vacuum cleaner in-home. I had about 8 salespeople working for me at the time. We were selling the product for $1,589 (after all discounts and trade-ins)

Our office closing percentage was hovering at 41%.

My sales manager (backed by his little army of salespeople) told me that he thought that lowering our price would stimulate sales.

I said “You win. Name whatever price you want to sell at. We’ll sell at that price for a month & see the results. But remember, our costs are the sale. The only place to get that money off is from your commissions & the commissions of the salespeople.”

We settled on a price of $1,189.

We sold at that price for a month.

Sure enough, at the end of the month, we had a 41% closing rate. But we had lost tens of thousands of dollars in commissions.

With our new-found knowledge about price, we raised the price back up, and went back to selling…..until a year later….when they wanted a lower price again. Oh well.

Lowering prices is a huge temptation.

Merchants want to lower prices because it takes no marketing savvy to lower price. There is no effort. The “Our prices are too high” thing comes from salespeople. They think that the reason people aren’t buying is the price. Why? Because having the store lower the price is easier than learning how to sell.. Lowering price is easier than learning how to build value. A 10% price increase could DOUBLE your net take home pay. And the customer would never know the difference. They won’t care.

A 10% price cut could cut your profits in half.

It is easier to explain a higher price than explain poorer quality.

A customer asks you the price;

If you give them the “I’ll come to that later” price deferral, you just told the customer that you think the price is WAY too high.

Never defer price.

The price WON’T go away. You’’ll never sell anything by hiding the price.

Here is a main reason that salespeople (and retail store owners) think their price is too high...because that’s not what they paid for it.

I hired a retail salesperson years ago, and he knew my prices. He said “I won’t sell a $300 vacuum cleaner for $600. I’m ripping the people off.” Of course, that was his last day.

Never think “I’m buying a vacuum for $300 that I sell for $600”

I always look at it like this; “The customer is getting a value of $800 or more with the package I’m giving them. And I’m only selling it for $600. And amazingly, I’m able to get it in my store for only $300”. See the difference?

Your not selling a $300 vacuum cleaner for $600….your buying a $600 (or more) vacuum cleaner for only $300. Huge shift in perspective. And one you’ll need to get the price you are asking. This idea can apply to any product, even yours.

The customer has to believe that YOU believe that you will get that price.

If You thought your price was fair, you would never fail to bring it up.

Here are a few things I’ve seen that are absolute death to getting the price;

Never write it down & pass it to the customer...on a note. Why is the price a secret? What is the salesperson hiding?

Just before you say the price, never say ;

“are you setting down?”

“How’s $200 sound?””

Don’’t “WOW” at your price. Don’t open your eyes wider when you say the price.

I’ve actually heard this;

Customer; “Wow, that price seems pretty high”

Salesperson “Yeah, isn’t it terrible what our store charges? There is going to be a sale next week, would you want to come back then & buy it?” I’m not kidding.

Don’’t “Crack” at your price;

Customer says “That sounds high” Don’t say “You know I want to work with you”…

“We want you to buy, so let me sharpen my pencil on this”

“What do I need to do to get your business?”

“Let me talk to the boss to see what I can do”

All of these thing scream “My price is BS. I never expect to get it. Ask me again...and I’ll lower it twice!”

When describing the price, don’t “Qualify” the price. Don’t say “Our usual price is $500”. That means the price is negotiable

Never “Modify” what you are saying about the price.

Never say:

“Normal price,

base price,

list price,

regular price,

usual price,

standard price,

your price”

These are all bad. “THE” price is what you want. The only word you put in front of the price is the word “THE”. It’s “The Price is”

“The Sale Price is…”” is OK too.

Research shows 94% of salespeople asked about price won’t answer directly.

33% never answer the question but write the price down.

Here are a few ideas to making the price a non-issue;

Don’’t sell commodities. Sell unique bundles of product.

It’s impossible to shop a bundle of product.

Set up price with comparisons early in the presentation.

We tend to compare our high end vacuum cleaners to ones sold for much more in people’s homes. We want the customer expecting a higher price...so when we mention price, it’s a relief.

Reverse selling to make price a non-issue.

We keep acting like our problem is keeping these in stock. People want;

What is rare

What they can’t have.

The idea of Scarcity is a big selling help.

“We can’t keep these in stock, the demand is so high”.
“What would you use it for? Tell me about your home....Why do you think this is for you?”

I give seminars. It’s far better for someone to say in the introduction “We asked him to come in to talk to us” than “He cold called us to get this speaking gig”. It’s a matter of Positioning.

Don’t lower your price, switch models.

“I won’t pay $300 for this”. You say “Maybe this isn’t for you. Let’s look at a $199 model & see the difference.”