Overcoming price objections
In order to be able to overcome price objections in practice, it is important to understand the origin of them. Very often, reservations are primarily a sign of the customer using certain merchant licks to precipitate the seller out of a sense of self-confidence. Sometimes, however, it happens that behind price objections, there may simply be a desire for the customer to meet certain needs.
"Most often, customers looking for
the cheapest products simply want
to meet the need for savings"
"The first technique we should use
is to move the topic of the conversation about offered prices
to the next part, namely to postpone price negotiations in time"
In general, it is important that we remember the following rules:
First, try to talk about needs, then about prices.
Never focus the topic of conversation on pricing aspects, especially when the customer IS NOT interested in buying your product, yet.
In the beginning, make a desire to buy, then you can talk about prices in detail.
With high price pressure, you can give the customer initial price
to quickly move on to the needs analisys stage.
In this way, you will give a merchant feeling that,
he has found a partner for conversations.
Overcoming price objections can be presented as an orderly process:
STAGE1
Neutralize price objections
*Showing respect and understanding for the needs of a low prices
*Paraphrase of needs
STAGE 2
Needs Analysis
*Asking open-ended questions in order to find real need, which causes that customer search so hard low prices
MOST OFTEN, IT'S A NEED TO SAVE
*Finding all other needs expect the price.
STAGE 3
Presentation through language of benefits
*Presentation through language of benefits
in relation to needs which were discovered
*Special emphasising fulfilling the needs of saving.
It is assumed that customers are able to accept a higher price of products and services when the purchase will result in several effects:
Unique value effect
Buyers are less price sensitive, when a product is more unique for them.
Effect of lack of awareness of the existence of substitutes
Buyers are less price sensitive when they are less aware of the existence of product substitutes.
INABILITY to compare effect
Buyers are less price sensitive when they cannot compare the quality of a product with its substitutes.
Effect of the value for money
Buyers are less sensitive to price when they assume that the product is of higher quality, brings with it more prestige, that is, it is more exclusive.
Savings effect
Buyers are less price sensitive when they see long-term and significant savings – EVEN despite the HIGHER PURCHASE PRICE.
The price (Latin) pretium) is a certain value expressed in money, which is equivalent to a given good. Price as a marketing instrument, in turn, is the determination in the monetary unit of the value of goods and services. In addition, price is the main element of Marketing Mix. We can therefore say that it reflects the value of a given product in the eyes of the customer. In other words, this is as much as the customer is able to pay for the product or service.
"The higher the value of the product for the customer,
the higher price he is able to pay for it"
- Many industries are affected by all sorts of price wars. Virtually everyone agrees that their competitors are causing the war.
- Apparently, 52% of companies have surveyed that they are in a state of price war.
- On the other hand, as many as 95% of them believe that competition is to blame for this fact.
Why do companies think their competitors prices are high ? Firstly, in most cases, the information is incorrect, e.g. in the case of information. They compare other products, secondly, customers bluff very often.
"The more professionally we conduct trade talks,
highlighting all the advantages and benefits of the product,
the more value of the product our customer can see"
"Most often, customers looking for the cheapest products
simply want to meet the need for savings"
How to convince the customer to buy more expensive product solutions in such cases? You will certainly admit that such a task is not one of the easiest.
Do you think that customers have always chosen the cheapest products? Well, not always
If we decide to talk about prices already, it is worth checking the actual price offers of our competitors. Most often, a calculated merchant can lie to us or simply compare completely different products. Hence, I believe that there is nothing worse that, our acceptance that the topic of the trade conversation should only focus on a price aspects on the very beginning.
Most interestingly, when we start counting prices at the customer, we will certainly lose confidence. We can easily get confused about this, especially during the first meetings with a new person. Getting us to panic and too quickly calculate prices will ridicule our image unnecessarily. So how do you move away from this pre-planned meeting formula?
- What should we do?
- How conduct our discussions so as not to submit to these disastrous negotiating practices of talking only about prices?
The first technique we should use is to shift the topic of the discussion about the prices offered to the next part, namely the postponement of price negotiations in time. However, in order to be able to smoothly guide the buyer according to our scenario, it is worth ensuring him that we will certainly say in some way about prices.
Therefore, we recommend you to use the following word phrases:
Example 1.
"We will certainly make a deal according the prices. What specific product solutions are you interested in?"
Example 2.
" I understand you that the issue of good financial conditions is crucial for your company. However, in order to be able to better prepare proposals for you, I would like to ask for a few details. We will return to the price talks in a moment. What specific products are you going to use?"
"The first technique we should use is to move the topic of the conversation about offered prices to the next part, namely to postpone price negotiations in time"
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Example 3.
"I can actually see that finding some good financial solutions can be very beneficial for you in this case. Certainly, we will also find some consensus on final supply prices. However, before we go to the price talks, let's talk about what is actually needed. Answering my questions will make it possible to prepare the best proposal for you".
We can see that at the first stage of the sale we try to show respect and understanding to our interlocutor. Going forward, we assure the customer that in terms of price we will certainly reach an agreement. Sometimes, however, it happens, especially when we consider the phone coming from the customer who is surveying the bidders he intends to invite for further talks, that it is worth entering a preliminary price. Otherwise, the merchant may disconnect or feel annoyed. It may therefore often be necessary to provide an initial price.
"First, impress the customer’s intention for purchase. Only then talk in detail about prices"
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Our observations show that after the initial price, it is worth highlighting the most important characteristics, advantages and benefits of the product. In this way, the value of the product in the eyes of the customer will increase, and above all it will give him the feeling that he is really talking to a professional.
In general, it is important that we remember the following rules:
First, let's try to talk about needs, then only about prices.
Never focus the topic of conversation on pricing aspects, especially when the customer IS NOT interested in buying your product, yET.
First, make a desire to buy, only then talk in detail about Prices.
With high price pressure, you can Give the customer initial price to quickly move on to the needs analisys stage. In this way, you will give a merchant feeling that he has found a partner for conversations.
A good sales technique is to ask an open-ended question that will focus the conversation on all other aspects other than pricing. Let's look at the example:
"What is important to you else, in addition to prices?"
By using this question, we will prompt the customer to articulate their needs. As in the techniques of asking open questions, we can involve him by giving a broader hints. This will be done by telling them examples of potential customer’s responses:
"For most of my customers, in addition to price, it is important, for example: product quality, delivery speed, long warranty period, specific logistics solutions. What additional parameters can be important to You?".
Figure . Overcoming price objections in stages
My proposed price objections scheme About the author concerns three main stages. At the outset, using the techniques of neutralization of objections, we try to show the customer respect and understand that obtaining favorable prices can be an important criterion for him choice. At this stage, it will be ineffective to undermine the customer's choices. Any attempt to deny the fact that price is important to the customer may have the opposite effect from the intended one.
"From the point of view of our effectiveness in dealing with price pressures, it is crucial to move from price talk to the stage of diagnosing needs”
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Let's look at the example:
Customer: "I need low prices."
Seller: "And what You say, after all, You should understand that good quality must be paid."
The seller's response is as rational as possible. Nevertheless, just presenting what we really think can cause negative customer feelings.
Let's see an example of using the objection neutralization technique in the way I recommend:
"I understand that obtaining convenient financial conditions is an important need for you. Yes?".
In this method, we use the paraphrase technique, trying to sum up the client's statement in our own words. Moreover, the paraphrase used concerns the need (convenient financial conditions) and not just the customer's position (low prices). Even if we misuse the paraphrase technique, that is, we will emphasize the client's position, instead of his need: "From what You said seems that, you are looking for low prices", we will still move on to the next stage, namely the diagnosis of needs.
We should understand that the customer has the right to look for the lowest prices, and we, being in his place, would certainly proceed in the same way. From the point of view of our effectiveness in dealing with price pressures, it will be crucial to move from price talk to the stage of diagnosing needs. However, in order to be able to do so, we cannot be afraid to ask an open question, directly about the needs of a conscious and ignorant customer. It is important that we escape from the topic of prices and move on to the topic of needs. The following verbal techniques give very good results:
"You will allow us to return to prices later".
"On the issue of prices, we will certainly find some consensus"
The purpose of this technique is to return to the structure of the trade conversation, where immediately after the welcome and opening stage of the sale there is a recognition of needs. Our goal is to draw the buyer's attention to all needs that will be met as a result of purchasing our product and service. Only after the stage of understanding the needs can we proceed to present the product using the benefit language. With a lot of price pressure, it is worth mentioning saving as a potential benefit for the customer. In other words, our product, despite the highest price, after making the right calculations, may turn out to be a cheaper solution in the end.
Very often, products from higher price groups have certain characteristics which directly and indirectly affect final costs of use. For example, buying a better and more expensive printer may mean a lower ink replacement rate. Similarly, the cheapest products can only result in apparent savings, as operating costs will significantly increase the level of total expenditure during their use. So, even for the most expensive products, using the benefit language we should indicate final savings.
Sometimes it may seem to us that customers themselves should guess that our more expensive product will bring them some financial savings. Nothing more wrong. Even when such dependencies are obvious, our role is still to emphasize them in conversation. Let us remember that the role of the merchant is to weaken our message. When buying more expensive products, customers can save on financial expense, especially when you consider all the properties of the product, not just its price. However, this requires us to emphasize this in the conversation.
Using the words:
- "You will save … eg. money, earning by reduction the costs",
- "You will earn",
- "You will compensate for losses in the form of …"
we will focus our customers' attention on purely financial benefits.
Very often, the conversation may be as follows:
Customer: "How can I save if your product prices are so high?"
Seller: "Our product has specific properties that directly and indirectly affect the costs incurred".”.
It is worth remembering – in the case of a group of customers who calculate most of their merchant decisions analytically, just, the calculation of the final savings will be a highly effective method.
When I had had to face very strong price pressures in the construction industry, just the calculation of the final savings would have been a highly effective method. Very often I had been using the technique of calculating final costs. Therefore, Of course, I had had to know all the advantages of my products and the disadvantages of competing products. The preparation special product comparisons had been very efficient. In the form of a table, I had presented the characteristics, advantages and benefits of my products with regard to competing solutions. When I have shared this sales method with training participants, I have often heard the question:
"Can we compare our products to competitive counterparts?"
My answer is obvious: "Yes we can, why not?" After all, we do not always have to give a specific name of products.
More information about overcoming price objections you can find in book: "The art of selling in practice-training guide book" was written by Krzysztof Czupryński The best practical sales book "The art of selling in practice" written by Christopher Czuprynski