Price Objections Are the Result of Expectations
Buyers expect to get cheaper prices. Why? Because salespeople give them cheaper prices when they ask for them. It's the environment of expectations. And some environments invite greater price sensitivity. For example, when you buy a car, you expect the salesperson to negotiate the price. It goes with the territory. When you go to a restaurant, you expect to pay the price on the menu. You buy a new television set from a small appliance store and you haggle for free delivery. You go to the dentist and pay his or her price. After all, who wants to bargain with a person who will stick needles in your gums? You purchase furniture for your home and negotiate the sale price that expired last week. The salesperson pleads with you not to tell your friends of the deal you got. On the way home, you stop at the grocery store and lay out two hundred dollars for groceries without a thought of negotiating. Why?
Some environments are more conducive to negotiating. As a salesperson, you may not be able to dissuade buyers from asking for cheaper prices, but you can influence their expectations for actually receiving cheaper prices. How? Don't be in such a hurry to sell. A lack of pressure to sell—AKA no urgency—means that you demonstrate patience in the sales process. And this is really hard for salespeople to do. Imagine saying to the buyer, "Go ahead and think about it. I'll get back with you later to hear your decision." Most people reading this will think I have lost my sales trainer's mind. Prudently drag your feet. Time and emotion are your negotiating foes. They cause you to make really bad sales decisions. Slow down the sales process. Get that look off your face that you will starve if you don't make the sale. Buyers know when you're too hungry. Then, they drag their feet and you drop your price.
Hold the line on prices by holding the impulse to react too quickly to price resistance. Change the environment of expectations.
About the author: Tom Reilly is a professional speaker and author of Value Added Selling.
