Overcoming Price Objections

Written by: Mike Monocello

In past articles, I’ve mentioned the need during today’s economy for data collection VARs to stress the ROI of their solutions. Indeed, showing a quick return/payback might be enough to warrant investing in your solution. Still, it might not be enough. Everyone in sales has to overcome a price objection at some point. This is particularly true today, with Internet wholesalers driving hardware margins into the ground. In a book entitled “Sales Gurus Speak Out,” Brian Jeffrey, sales trainer and consultant from SalesForce Training and Consulting, provides 11 strategies for overcoming a price objection. While all the strategies are valuable, a couple are particularly useful to VARs.

The first tip is to focus on the price difference, not the price. That is, find out what the other price is and focus on the difference. If you are 10% more expensive, but can provide 30% greater benefit, make sure the customer knows that. Jeffrey says to avoid using large numbers in your discussions of the price. For example, if your price is $5,500 and the competition is $5,000, focus on the $500 difference, not the total price. Explain what that extra $500 gets the customer.

Another of Jeffery’s tips is to make the price seem smaller. If the solution will last a long time, amortize the cost over the life of the solution, again focusing on the price difference, rather than the total price. The additional cost per week or month will seem even smaller. For example, say, “For only $2 a week, you can have these added benefits…”

It’s these simple and often-overlooked tips that can make you successful today. The good news is that for the next few months, every Monday morning, BSMinfo.com is featuring complete sales-related articles by Brian Jeffery. If you haven’t already, check out the first article in our series, “Avoiding Sales Call Accidents.”