Many sellers blame their competitors or the factory for pricing problems, but the fact is that pricing objections are often caused by the words we use and our time in presentation.

In this article, I wanted to ask an important question. Are Mercedes salespeople staying up all night worried that people will find out they can buy a Kia for about 20% of the cost of a Mercedes? Kias sell for 80% less, but it probably didn’t cost Mercedes a single sale! Man, if that comes out, no one will buy a Mercedes, right?

I’m sure you know that this statement is absolutely false. Mercedes salespeople are well aware of the value they offer, which is very different from Kia, Ford, or used vehicles that cost much less. I think you will find that well-trained salespeople for any product are not bothered by prices or competition.

If you had a competitor who sold for 80% less than you, would you be so sure? It should be, because studies show that no matter what customers tell them, only 14% buy because of price alone and not value. You don’t buy by price and neither do your customers. Take your home as an example. Do you live in the least expensive house in your city, or were factors of safety, condition, size and condition? I doubt it.

Do you have the cheapest shoes you could have bought at the lowest cost thrift store in your county, even if they are not your size or a mismatch? Again, probably not. You don’t buy exclusively by price, but by value and so do your customers.

You’re probably wondering why price objections come up so much if price doesn’t matter. The answer is that consumers know that it is the easiest to use. Our training for our clients covers many objections and many ways to deal with them, but price is definitely a consumer favorite. It’s the objection that many salespeople agree with (deep down) and that salespeople give up the most easily.

Let’s take a look at how we may be causing more price objections than we need to surface … the words we use.

Have you ever said to a client, “The procedure on the list is.” As soon as we say that, we tell the customer in code that we don’t really expect that price. If we say that the “list price is”, it implies that there is another (lower) price. Try not to use that phrase and you will see an immediate difference in the number of price objections you face.

Another foot-gun phrase could be “we just got a new price list and of course everything is going up with the price of oil.” The problem with this phrase is that it is depressing. It makes the customer feel that the price to be quoted is high. Nobody wants to pay a high price. Now, imagine if he said, “I have very good news. Everything we talked about today costs only $ XXXXX.XX.” It’s not a big difference, but I hope you agree that the feeling it conveys is much better. It is more optimistic. Sounds like a more positive price that the customer would like to hold onto.

Time is also important. As we say in other articles and videos, never tell them the price until they fall in love with the product. Saying the price too early is very bad. Timing is extremely important and so is the control it takes to reveal the price on your schedule.

This article is designed just to let you realize that having low-priced competitors doesn’t affect you any more than it does Mercedes salespeople. There are many techniques that will make a difference, and they are certainly worth the time and effort to master.

Few objections come up as regularly as price objections. Have you had a lot of training on how to turn pricing challenges into revenue? We hope you agree that it will be worth the effort.