Most of the time customers come up with the "Price is too high" objection is because they haven't yet understood or perceived the value of what you are selling. One of the best resources I've found out there to deal with these objections is Chris Voss's book: Never Split the Difference.
I've read Chris's book multiple times and I usually tend to pass it over before a big sale, as preparation for the event. Super recommended, everybody.
A sample $1,000 Scenario
Let's use a sample scenario: If I'm selling
something worth $1,000 for a buyer (in expenses, reparations, time and materials),
AND I can understand that the buyer gets it (the understanding of the value it represents),
AND I ask him/her to pay me 1,000 for it:
The buyer will take it with no question. It is the same as the classic story of the glass of water in the desert or in the Seven-Eleven: you are willing to pay the value it represents, not the production costs of transparent glass and the liquid inside of it.
The buyer will be feeling like doing the FAIR trade. He may "haggle" a little bit, but the value will be clearly perceived and embedded in the price.
Now, when someone comes up and says "it is too high", there is obviously a further way to go in the value understanding. Maybe I'm missing some questions, some details and some additional exploration steps could be a good idea.
The "How" Technique
So, assuming we are talking about a qualified prospect I tend to turn towards Voss's use of "How". If the customer is not perceiving the real value of the transaction, simply ask them "why", but using "How". This will give them more runway to explain themselves and put on the table everything that concerns the final decision.
Examples (keeping the same $1K value/price mark as before):
- "How much value you perceive we are providing you?"
- "How would you value a service that will save you $1,000?"
- "How would you see, paying $1,000, to be fair for your business?"
- "If I were to give you the same service for a way lower price... how would you expect us to deliver the same quality service if we are losing money with you?"
Among all Voss negotiating techniques, "How" is the one I consider the most suitable for sales conversations. Both for exploring and for understanding the value.
Good luck!
