YOUR FEES ARE TOO HIGH STEPS TO HANDLING OBJECTIONS THAT WILL GET YOU CLOSER TO THE SALE
YOUR FEES ARE TOO HIGH STEPS TO HANDLING OBJECTIONS THAT WILL GET YOU CLOSER TO THE SALE
If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.
- Anonymous
How many of us, as professional service providers, have heard from prospects, "your fees are too high," "someone else will do it for less," or "I don't see why I have to pay all that money just to have you do an audit, write a brief, create a marketing plan, etc?" And, more important, how many of us have been able to resist the urge to simply lower our fees to get the work?
The answers – all of us and few of us. The problem with lowering our fees for a particular piece of work is that we forever have established our value as that lower amount. As our anonymous friend said, if we ourselves put a low value on our work, certainly no one else is going to make our value any higher.
So, why do so many of us fall victim to our worst tendencies? To answer this we first have to look at objections in general and how they fit into the selling process for professional services.
I Object!
Most service providers see objections as a sign of rejection or a call to do battle. With this attitude, it is no wonder we usually handle price objections poorly. However, when we break it down you can see that objections can be overcome, without a battle.
Definition: An objection is an explicit expression, by a customer, that a barrier exists between the current situation and what she needs to engage your services. In other words, it is a clear signal that you have more work to do in the selling process.
Your objective: Overcome the objection and make advances towards gaining commitment from the prospect with the following caveats firmly in mind:
The close begins the relationship: In product selling, overcoming objections at all costs is the typical message sellers are taught. This does not work for selling professional services. If you just plow through the objection without addressing it fully, the underlying reason for the objection will usually come back to haunt you. Remember, you have to work with these people once you are done selling.
Objections often have merit: Most sales training teaches us to “rebut” objections, counter them with logic, arguments, and sheer will power. In selling services, your purpose is to understand the objection fully, isolate it, and respond to it appropriately.
Many objections take a process, not a quick answer, to overcome: Services selling is complex with many buyers and buying criteria. You may need to build a case for overcoming an objection instead of answering quickly on the fly. Some objections, on the other hand, may simply be questions that have to be answered.
Getting Closer to the Sale
Objections are not such horrible things. When the prospect indicates that he is not quite ready to engage your services (he voices an objection), this should not deter you, as a matter of fact, you now have the opportunity to understand your prospect better and move him closer to the sale by following these steps:
Listen fully to the objection (don't interrupt or anticipate). Fight the common urge to respond immediately to an objection. By doing so, you will hear what is actually on the prospect's mind rather than what you think he is objecting to. You will be surprised how much you can learn about what is actually at the heart of the objection.
Ask permission to completely understand the issue. The simple act of asking permission to understand lets the prospect know that you respect his concerns. This further establishes you as a confident service provider.
Ask questions, restate or clarify the objection. Make sure you get it right and/or uncover the real objection. Many objections are hiding underlying issues that the prospect either can't or is not ready to articulate.
Choose your response carefully and keep it short. Answer honestly and to the point. Long-winded responses very quickly begin to sound artificial and insincere.
Propose your resolution to overcome the objection. Simply enough, describe exactly how are you going to remove the barrier for the prospect.
Ask whether your answer or proposed solution will satisfy the objection. Don't always take “yes” for an answer immediately. Many a prospect will accept the solution in the moment, but once you are out of sight, the objection still remains. Be certain you have moved the sale forward.
And, When Money is (or appears to be) the Objection
In addition to the steps outlined above, to overcome money objections without devaluing your services, keep the following guidelines in mind:
Choose your words wisely. As much as we would like to respond “You get what you pay for!” or “Those are my fees and I am worth every penny!” There's no glib, pat answer to money objections.
It's not all about the Benjamins. Money is often a “red herring” objection. Find out if it is true by asking “If money were no object…” This usually will bring out the real issues behind the money issue.
Tangibilize the value. Communicate a clear picture of the value of the solution you established in the selling process – the right buyer can usually “find” the money. Be certain that you have helped the prospect see how the solution you have proposed will answer his needs. Most times when clients say, “Your fees are too high,” what they are really saying is, “I don't see the value of your solution.”
It's too early in the relationship to be talking money. Avoid engaging money discussions too soon. Fees mentioned out of context of what the prospect is trying to accomplish will always sound too high. If you can delay the fee discussion until you have uncovered all the needs and the impact of fixing those needs, you will increase value perception and decrease money objections.
Maintain a peer relationship. Don't appear to look upward for guidance at your organization.
Resist the urge. Don't lower your price without altering service levels or your deliverables - being arbitrary creates mistrust and sets you up for lower prices for as long as you have that client.
Be sure you are dealing with the decision maker. You may be dealing with the wrong buyer who is not high enough in the organization or is not the economic decision maker. Money is certainly an objection for them because they can't pull the trigger even if they wanted to.
In the end, if you believe you have fairly priced your services and provided the solution you know will help the prospect and you still hear, “Your fees are too high, can you lower them?” you may simply be a bad organizational fit. If so, walk away. Because if we don't have faith in the value of our services, we can be certain no one else will.
YOUR FEES ARE TOO HIGH STEPS TO HANDLING OBJECTIONS THAT WILL GET YOU CLOSER TO THE SALE - To learn more about this author, visit Laurie Stafinski's Website.
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By John Doerr
If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.
- Anonymous
How many of us, as professional service providers, have heard from prospects, "your fees are too high," "someone else will do it for less," or "I don't see why I have to pay all that money just to have you do an audit, write a brief, create a marketing plan, etc?" And, more important, how many of us have been able to resist the urge to simply lower our fees to get the work?
The answers – all of us and few of us. The problem with lowering our fees for a particular piece of work is that we forever have established our value as that lower amount. As our anonymous friend said, if we ourselves put a low value on our work, certainly no one else is going to make our value any higher.
So, why do so many of us fall victim to our worst tendencies? To answer this we first have to look at objections in general and how they fit into the selling process for professional services.
I Object!
Most service providers see objections as a sign of rejection or a call to do battle. With this attitude, it is no wonder we usually handle price objections poorly. However, when we break it down you can see that objections can be overcome, without a battle.
Definition: An objection is an explicit expression, by a customer, that a barrier exists between the current situation and what she needs to engage your services. In other words, it is a clear signal that you have more work to do in the selling process.
Your objective: Overcome the objection and make advances towards gaining commitment from the prospect with the following caveats firmly in mind:
The close begins the relationship: In product selling, overcoming objections at all costs is the typical message sellers are taught. This does not work for selling professional services. If you just plow through the objection without addressing it fully, the underlying reason for the objection will usually come back to haunt you. Remember, you have to work with these people once you are done selling.
Objections often have merit: Most sales training teaches us to “rebut” objections, counter them with logic, arguments, and sheer will power. In selling services, your purpose is to understand the objection fully, isolate it, and respond to it appropriately.
Many objections take a process, not a quick answer, to overcome: Services selling is complex with many buyers and buying criteria. You may need to build a case for overcoming an objection instead of answering quickly on the fly. Some objections, on the other hand, may simply be questions that have to be answered.
Getting Closer to the Sale
Objections are not such horrible things. When the prospect indicates that he is not quite ready to engage your services (he voices an objection), this should not deter you, as a matter of fact, you now have the opportunity to understand your prospect better and move him closer to the sale by following these steps:
Listen fully to the objection (don't interrupt or anticipate). Fight the common urge to respond immediately to an objection. By doing so, you will hear what is actually on the prospect's mind rather than what you think he is objecting to. You will be surprised how much you can learn about what is actually at the heart of the objection.
Ask permission to completely understand the issue. The simple act of asking permission to understand lets the prospect know that you respect his concerns. This further establishes you as a confident service provider.
Ask questions, restate or clarify the objection. Make sure you get it right and/or uncover the real objection. Many objections are hiding underlying issues that the prospect either can't or is not ready to articulate.
Choose your response carefully and keep it short. Answer honestly and to the point. Long-winded responses very quickly begin to sound artificial and insincere.
Propose your resolution to overcome the objection. Simply enough, describe exactly how are you going to remove the barrier for the prospect.
Ask whether your answer or proposed solution will satisfy the objection. Don't always take “yes” for an answer immediately. Many a prospect will accept the solution in the moment, but once you are out of sight, the objection still remains. Be certain you have moved the sale forward.
And, When Money is (or appears to be) the Objection
In addition to the steps outlined above, to overcome money objections without devaluing your services, keep the following guidelines in mind:
Choose your words wisely. As much as we would like to respond “You get what you pay for!” or “Those are my fees and I am worth every penny!” There's no glib, pat answer to money objections.
It's not all about the Benjamins. Money is often a “red herring” objection. Find out if it is true by asking “If money were no object…” This usually will bring out the real issues behind the money issue.
Tangibilize the value. Communicate a clear picture of the value of the solution you established in the selling process – the right buyer can usually “find” the money. Be certain that you have helped the prospect see how the solution you have proposed will answer his needs. Most times when clients say, “Your fees are too high,” what they are really saying is, “I don't see the value of your solution.”
It's too early in the relationship to be talking money. Avoid engaging money discussions too soon. Fees mentioned out of context of what the prospect is trying to accomplish will always sound too high. If you can delay the fee discussion until you have uncovered all the needs and the impact of fixing those needs, you will increase value perception and decrease money objections.
Maintain a peer relationship. Don't appear to look upward for guidance at your organization.
Resist the urge. Don't lower your price without altering service levels or your deliverables - being arbitrary creates mistrust and sets you up for lower prices for as long as you have that client.
Be sure you are dealing with the decision maker. You may be dealing with the wrong buyer who is not high enough in the organization or is not the economic decision maker. Money is certainly an objection for them because they can't pull the trigger even if they wanted to.
In the end, if you believe you have fairly priced your services and provided the solution you know will help the prospect and you still hear, “Your fees are too high, can you lower them?” you may simply be a bad organizational fit. If so, walk away. Because if we don't have faith in the value of our services, we can be certain no one else will.
YOUR FEES ARE TOO HIGH STEPS TO HANDLING OBJECTIONS THAT WILL GET YOU CLOSER TO THE SALE - To learn more about this author, visit Laurie Stafinski's Website.
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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