Selling Value

Selling has its own set of challenges and getting objections from your prospect rates right up there at the top. One particular and all too frequent objection you may here is the one about pricing. We’ve all heard it, “I’m afraid your price is a little high (or out of our range or not within our budget or some other show stopping statement).” Keep in mind that people don’t buy Price, they buy Value, even though they won’t always admit it. This objection means that they don’t fully appreciate the “Value” of what you are selling. However, if this objection keeps coming up in your discussions, then it’s a good indication that they are interested. So don’t view this as a negative objection since it could simply be a buying sign. Unfortunately, many sales people start to discount their product in order to overcome this objection, which is the wrong way to go. The way to handle this objection is to present the value of your offering so they can fully appreciate what their investment will be for that value.

Let’s look at an example of how this could work. Let’s say that your prospect says, “$50,000 is a lot of money!” You can respond with something like, “I can appreciate that. Yes, it is a lot of money, but not nearly as much as you’d lose with a system that can’t help you sell your product because it doesn’t do the job or is always in for repair.”

First, I made sure that I showed I had empathy for the client by saying that I can appreciate his opinion and that I agree it is a lot of money. Let’s face reality; it IS a lot of money. So don’t deny the obvious. Then I explained what the value is by saying that without this investment, they will continue to lose money by having a product that won’t handle their job or will not withstand their usage and will always be in for repair. I chose these particular “pain” points because I learned that these were important to the prospect when I was in the qualification phase where I asked questions and listened to his answers.

Notice also that I did not say that my competitor’s products cannot handle his job or that they are of inferior quality and will always be in for repair. Never knock your competitors. Instead, I planted the seeds that will make him know that my product can handle his workload and is reliable, which should make him wonder if my competitors can make the same claims.

Let’s now move on to selling value, since I made the point earlier about not discounting. Let’s say that you are selling a product for $5,000. And your competitor’s product costs the same amount. Also, let’s say that your product and company offers 5 key benefits, called A, B, C, D and E. But your competitor’s offering only offers benefits A, B and D. Obviously, you offer more value than your competitor. This is why it is so important to do research about your competitors so you know how you beat them and where you offer more value than them. The value you offer could be product features, or something your company offers like Sunday delivery, or even your own personal service such as follow-through and account management. Whatever it is, make sure you know your competitor’s offerings and what unique offerings you have that they don’t.

In this example you want to make sure that you highlight, to your prospect, the fact that you offer benefits C and E, which no one else does, all for the same “Investment”. By knowing your competitors and selling more value than what they have to offer, you will increase your success in handling objections and closing more sales. Wouldn’t this be a better value proposition to say to your prospect, “Mr. X, for the same investment of $5,000. you’ll get all 5 benefits, which is two more than anyone else is offering.”

Let’s take this same situation and change the customer’s requirements. Say you are still offering your product with 5 benefits, A thru E, for $5,000. And your competitor is still offering their 3 benefits for $5,000. However, your prospect is objecting to the price because their budget is only $3,500. Telling them you offer 2 more benefits than your competitor for $5,000 isn’t going to help because they can’t afford your added value anyway.

One option is for you to drop your price by discounting to $3,500. But that’s not a wise move. Instead, using your value proposition, you take away value instead of discounting. Tell your prospect that you can eliminate a few benefits; let’s say C and E, since those are benefits your competitors do not offer. As a result, your prospect’s investment will now be $3,500. for which they will receive benefits A, B and D. What you did is made them pay for value instead of discounting. The lower the value, the lower the price. And the lower the price, the lower the value. Now you are selling the exact same benefits as your competitor but for $1,500 less. And you never discounted.

Get in the habit of selling value and you will find that your discounting days are over. By selling value, you ensure the customer gets what he needs and that you don’t lose money – a perfect win-win scenario.

Good luck and good selling!

Russ Lombardo

Selling Value - To learn more about this author, visit Russ Lombardo's Website.

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