Don't Talk Price Until They're Ready to Buy!
by Jenaé Rubin

Almost every salesperson has experienced the “How much does it cost?” disqualifier disguised as a question within the first minutes of a sales call. In these instances, whatever price you give, the response will most likely be “Your price is too high” or “My budget is spent.” Whether you get knocked out within the first few minutes or after an hour long presentation, you are prolonging the sales process… in some cases indefinitely when you talk about price before they’re ready to buy. So what can you do?

Talk about price when they want your product.
When was the last time you purchased something before you wanted it… even if the price was low? “That’s crazy, Jenaé,” you’re saying. Of course it is. No one buys things they don’t want. And when we don’t want something, the price is always too high.

Yet, I have heard salespeople offer reduced prices before they had an inkling about their prospect’s needs. Plus, after you cut rate, if they’re not interested, where do you go from there? You’re stuck. You find yourself calling asking, “Have you made a decision?” when you know the answer is “No” or not calling because you know they’re not interested. You wasted a lead because the time you chose to speak price was too early. It was before they wanted to do business with you. You used your trump card and now have nothing to pull out.

When is the sale made?
Unless you are one of the few one-call-close businesses, you can probably count the number of one-call-closes you’ve experienced in your life on your hands. They happen infrequently. If one-call-closes are rare, this means people do not buy on the first call. If sales are not made on the first call, why go to what would otherwise be the natural conclusion of the sale on the first call? After you talk rate, the next logical place to go is a sale. But if they’re not ready to buy, you get stalls, objections or lies.

When you talk about price on the first call, you set yourself up for NO, because prospects are not ready to buy. When we talk price on the first call, we also set ourselves up to be unable to speak with our prospects again. They think they have all the information they need, so why bother.

Are you having trouble getting your prospects on the phone after your first presentation?
The solution is easy: Don’t talk price early, and they will want to speak with you, because you still have something they want to know.

Secrets of the First Call
Use this visit 100% for Fact Finding. Tell them you will share ideas with them that will help them achieve their goals. Since you will ask 30-60 minutes of questions, you will have a ton of pertinent information which should lead to ideas they can use whether they do business with you or not. By becoming a resource to them, they will look forward to your next call instead of avoiding it. In fact, you will be able to schedule your next meeting with them prior to leaving this appointment, eliminating the chase completely.

On your follow up visit, confirm their goals and that nothing is missing. Show them how you can help them reach their goals. Then Check In and confirm your proposal meets their needs 100%. At this point, you still haven’t talked price… but they are desiring your product. At this point, you will hear, “I guess the only thing I need to know now is how much is it,” which is music to your ears. Contrast this with “How much is it?” said with an attitude and tone you know means they’re not interested!

When prospects want what you are selling, selling is easy and stress-free. Create desire before talking price, and sales will be larger, more frequent and longer lasting.

Here’s to stress-free sales,
Jenaé Rubin

Jenae Rubin is the president of Sales Powerhouse – Overcome Objections and may be reached at Jenae@SalesPowerhouse.com or 954-476-0067.

Copyright 2006 Sales Powerhouse, Inc.
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