Yes, I am.
[Silence].
What you’re looking for with this answer and this extremely uncomfortable silence: the reaction that will unfold what’s really behind the price objection.
In this game, the one who speaks first, loses.
○ Why is this so expensive?
♠ Based on situations like these and businesses like yours, that’s the price.
○ So, if we were bigger/smaller the price would be different?
♠ Yes. If you were bigger, the price would be higher.
○ What are your costs?
♠ I’m curious, how would this help in the decision-making process? Are you saying that if my costs were higher, you’d be good to go with the deal?
○ This shouldn’t take you more than [ridiculous small amount of time/effort].
♠ Correct. I’m assuming you’d appreciate to solve this ASAP…? Or would it be better to stay in this situation for a longer period of time?
○ But these others can do it for less.
♠ They do. If price is the only driver here, I would recommend you to go with the cheapest alternative too.
One main principle, though, is for you to be willing to walk away.
Here are 5 alternatives to cutting price, by Blair Enns:
2. Take Out Some Value – Strip out typical offerings to reduce the price.
3. Guarantee – Consider guaranteeing the first phase of the engagement to get your price.
4. Trade for Larger Commitment – Sometimes it makes sense to cut price if the client can commit to a volume of work.
5. Walk Away – You’ve got to always believe that you’re never worse off walking away from a tough negotiation or a price buyer. You preserve your integrity, your positioning and the right to do business with the client in the future by resuming the negotiation.
And a 6th one by Shannyn Lee
Here’s the thing.
Before turning into ways to escape this sticky situation with price, unfold the value of this transformation for your customer.
Because when you have the value, making the case for your price is a no-brainer. 🙂