Don’t let a high-pressure buyer throw you off your game. As salespeople, we are taught to avoid talking price until after we’ve had a chance to build up the value of our offering. If you give the price too soon, before your prospect gets emotionally involved and understands exactly how they will get a return; the odds are against you for closing the deal. So, how do you handle it when your prospect is pressing you for your price early on in the conversation?
In high-pressure situations it is important to not start a game of cat and mouse with your prospect. There is no payoff in dodging their questions. Chances are they are asking because they believe that they already have an understanding of what you offer and believe that the only difference between you and your competitors is price. I have found two simple ways that work well for handling buyers that are impatience and that try to overtake your selling process.
The first way is by asking them a question. The purpose of the question is to get them to share what their understanding is of your offering. This is a very powerful question that opens the door for you to expand on their understanding of what you do and offer. Here’s how you use this … your prospect says, “Hey look, I am interested and I want to buy, let’s just skip to the end, how much do you charge?” You reply, “Ok, it sounds like you’ve already made up your mind that you’re ready to move forward. I can give you a price, do you mind sharing one thing with me first … what’s your understanding of what we do?” They usually give a very brief answer and are off balance by the question. This is the opening that you need to add to their awareness of what you offer. You say, “Yes, that’s pretty close, we also do” … and now you begin sharing the additional things about what you offer that adds value and distinguishes you from your competitors.
The second way to handle a high-pressure buyer is to answer their question about price in a way that creates curiosity so that you can build value. Here’s how. They say, “Alright, you don’t have to try and sell me anymore. How much is it? Just tell me a price so I can make a decision!” You say, “Well, I don’t quite know yet since I still have a couple of questions for you, but since you want to know a price now, I can tell you this …. we are not the cheapest, but we are the fairest for what we do. Mr. /Mrs. Prospect, when I share that with people, one of two things happen. They either say, “thank you very much” and end our conversation, because price is truly the most important thing to them. Or they become curious of how we have stayed in business all this time without being cheapest. Mr./Mrs. Prospect, which of these two groups do you fall in?” Most often, they will answer the second group, which you reply, “Do you mind if I share what we do that’s different, that our client’s absolutely love?”
When you find yourself being pressured by your prospect for a price, stay calm. Avoid your natural instinct and rapidly firing all the reasons they should want to buy from you at them. That usually won’t help you. Instead, stay calm and ask them a question. That’s the surest way to keep them engaged and listening. If you panic and start pushing, you will make them feel like you’re only trying to sell them, not help them, which will cause them to seek out your competitor.