Sales Tip 4: Dealing with the Premature Price Question – Deb Calvert

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips Podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Deb Calvert. Deb is the President of People First Productivity and the Founder of the Sales Experts Channel, which I’ll tell you more about in a minute. First, let’s hear what Deb has to say.

Deb Calvert: Boom! The buyer just asked you a premature price question. What will you do? You could dodge the topic. You could give a clever response. You could explain that you’re aren’t ready to answer that question. You could offer a price range, or you could simply answer the question. Right away, in a straight forward no more mystery kind of way. You could give an actual price quote, even though the value hasn’t been established, and despite the fact that the steps in your sales process haven’t been completed. That’s what buyers are asking you to do.

In our research with 530 B2B buyers, one of the most desirable seller behaviors according to buyers is that the seller fully answers my questions and provides information that is relevant, timely and useful. How can you provide that price answer right away, meet buyer demands and build value? Well, you’ll be building value by answering the question because you are responsive. Being responsive suggests that you tuned into the buyer’s need and that you’re unashamed of your prices. Being responsive shows you to be transparent and trustworthy. To answer the price question right away while also building value. Try one of these five strategic responses: Be sure your tone is a matter of fact and direct. That you’re conveying confidence and transparency. Your first option is to quote the price and add a question. You would say something like: “The preliminary price is ____, and that includes ____. What criteria, other than price, will you be using to make your final decision?” Option two: Price plus benefit. You’d say something like: “The preliminary price is for the option ____. What this means to you is that you’ll have ____. How important is this benefit to you?” Option number three. Price plus personalization. “The preliminary price is for our package. I’m thinking this is the right package for you because you want to ____. So, let me just ask you some additional questions to confirm that I’m on the right track.” Option four: Price plus urgency. “The preliminary price is ____ and we can honor this special offer for the next 48 hours. I’m mentioning this because it sounds like the price is important to you. What will the impact of this cost savings opportunity be on your decision-making process?” And finally option five, it’s price plus a budget check. “The preliminary price is ____. Tell me how this sounds in terms of your budget and the prices you’re hearing from others.”