Have you ever heard this from a potential client: "Okay.
Well, thanks for the information. I want to shop around and will
get back to you if this is really what I want." Unless
you've only been in business a day or two, this is probably a
familiar phrase.
In most cases, what are your prospects really saying to you?
They're saying, "I want to know if I can get it cheaper
somewhere else." When you hear those words, it's usually a
money issue. Occasionally, it's not, and the client truly
isn't certain the product meets their needs and is looking for
other colors, options or services.
Having bargain-hunting clients is a given in any business.
Knowing how to get them to stop shopping and make the decision to
own is a skill. You have to understand that it's pretty normal
to want the newest, best, shiniest, fastest and brightest when it
comes to making product purchases. But no one wants to pay too much
for that newest, best, shiniest, fastest and brightest thing.
Before you can use the words to address this situation, you have to
know what you're up against.
Doing Your Homework
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How much do you know about the products being offered by your
competition? Do you know what your clients are comparing you with?
If not, invest some valuable time in research. Spending a day or
two visiting the competition with the eyes of a shopper just might
amaze you. You may readily see a weakness in their product or
service that you'll then use as a strong selling point in your
presentations. Or you may find a weakness in yours. Either way,
you've learned information critical to the success of your
business.
After completing your research, you may have discovered that the
competition truly does offer your product at a lower investment. Or
that it may be a slightly inferior product. Or that they may not
offer the excellent service that you do. There's bound to be
something you find that's not at good as what you offer. If you
don't find one of those three things as being different from
your offering, you may need to rethink what you offer to improve it
in at least one of those three areas.
Then the next time you hear a client say, "I can get it
cheaper somewhere else," use these words: "That may well
be true, Mary. And, after all, in today's economy, we all want
the most for our money." By agreeing with them, they'll
sense you have their best interests at heart and will listen to
what you say next, which is: "A truth that I've learned
over the years is that the cheapest price isn't always what we
really want. Most people look for three things when making an
investment: the finest quality, the best service and the lowest
price. I haven't found a company yet that could provide the
finest quality and the best service for the lowest price. I'm
curious, Mary, for your long-term happiness with (name your
product), which of the three would you be most willing to give up:
quality, service or low price?"
You'll find that few clients want to give up on quality. And
not many like the idea of inferior service. So that just leaves the
price. What you've just done is to help them rationalize and
justify the amount of money that was the issue just a moment ago.
When they come to this conclusion, most people quickly realize the
benefit of having the buying decision made. They can then move on
to something else in their lives, not having to invest any more
time in researching the product or service and being happy to have
come to this point.
Tom Hopkins is the "Sales Basics" coach at Entrepreneur.com and is world-renowned as
"the builder of sales champions." For the past 30 years,
he's provided superior sales training through his company,
Tom Hopkins
International.