Hold your hat - I'll finish the title in a minute for you.
You're getting this newsletter about the time I'll be finished with my colonoscopy. I flinch just thinking about it. At my age you're supposed to get them every 5 years or so. So it's that time again.
My physician wanted me to know his job was analogous to playing video games. Today he's playing 10 games I guess. I'm not going to bore you with any of the details. If you have had one - you probably don't want to be reminded. If you haven't had one - I'm not going to spoil your fun and all the surprises.
By now you'd have to be brain dead, unless you're a very new subscriber, not to know that one of my specialties is sales training. One of the biggest challenges salespeople face on a daily basis is dealing with the pathetic price objection.
You may be curious how I know this to be true. Whenever I do a sales training program for a corporate client I always allow some time for the salespeople to respond to this question. "What are the biggest challenges you face in growing your business?" It never fails, the price objection is usually one of the first challenges to be mentioned.
So during my presentation we get to talk about this nemesis called
"The Price Objection." I don't view the price objection the way most salespeople do. I see the price objection as an opportunity - I'm serious about that.
In fact, I believe the price objection is really a gift. Well, it's closer to being a gift than it is a surprise. Look at it this way. Most salespeople deal with the price objection every day.
So you know what that means - it means you can prepare in advance how you will specifically (word for word) handle it. That's right, imagine knowing exactly how you will respond the next time you hear the dreaded price objection.
I try to keep these letters to you short and sweet, so I'll get right to the point. If I asked you to say the Pledge of Allegiance without uttering any "seal talk" like "Ah's" and "Um's," I'll bet you could do it flawlessly.
You can do it because you know the words.
If I asked you to say, word for word, how you would respond to the price objection, you probably couldn't do it without some "seal talk." I think that's bizarre. Why in the world would you not prepare in advance a response to a price objection that you hear so often?
Here's the choice for you. You can respond with your best improvisation or you can prepare, rehearse, and deliver a response that sounds so logical and so professional it might just be good enough to neutralize the objection.
When I started my business 17 years ago I used to get pounded on a daily basis about my speaking fees. As a result I gave people, sad to say, discounts to get the business. Not any more though, because I discovered a better way.
One day I got to thinking about how often I'm getting pounded by the price objection. I imagined there had to be a better way. So I started with this question, "How can I intelligently respond to the price objection the next time I get one?"
It took about three weeks, five minutes here, 10 minutes there, before
I had what I thought was an incredible response to the price objection that I was hearing so often.
My response to the price objection works so well that I can't wait until
I hear it. But a funny thing happened as a result of my preparation and practice.
I don't get the price objection as much these days, and I can only speculate about this, because I believe my potential client senses I know how to deal with it, so why even bring it up.
My response to the price objection works in my business and it probably wouldn't work in yours - so please don't send me an e-mail asking me what mine sounds like. I won't respond to that request.
That's the bad news. The good news is I'm not a mental giant. If you take the same approach I did and invest some time in preparing an intelligent response to the price objection that you hear in your business – you will marvel at the results you get.
I hate talking about price. The words can't, impossible, discount, and commodity do not exist in my vocabulary and they shouldn't be in yours either.
So to make this point during my sales training programs I use a Power Point slide that says, "I'd rather have a colonoscopy without anesthesia than talk about pricing."
"I'd rather have a colonoscopy without anesthesia than talk about pricing."
I make more money thinking like this than I did when I was dropping my prices and so can you.
Now, I may be tough but I ain't stupid. I took the anesthesia today but that doesn't mean you have to discount tomorrow.
When was the last time you sold something for list price? I don't care what you're selling, you should be able to routinely sell your products and services for list price. If you think you can't you won't.
