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10 FEDA News & Views 10 FEDA News & Views Pricing Woes, Time Management, Internet Sales, Competitive Pressures "I can buy this cheaper online." "Match your competitor's price and you can have the business." "I thought I would get a discount." These three customer objections share two common denominators. First, all three present themselves as price objections, and most salespeople will deal with them as price objections. Second, they are not really price objec- tions. Let's examine each of these indi- vidually. When customers tell you that they can purchase something cheaper online, they are really saying that they see no reason to pay more to buy from you. Simply put, you have not given them a compelling reason to buy from your company. Buying from the Internet is not always a better deal when com- panies factor in shipping and handling and getting service after the sale. Many Internet sites do not even have a phone number to contact the seller. Buyers must rely on email to communicate with the online seller. When customers tell you that you must match a price to get the busi- ness, it is not a price objec- tion. It is a lack-of-differentiation objection, just as the first objection. Buyers see no advan- tage worth paying for when buying from you. Eighty-two percent of salespeople fail to differentiate themselves from the competition. They cannot answer the most fundamental question: What are your definable and defendable differ- ences. If the only thing that makes your offer stand out is your price, you have a bigger problem than a price objection. You have a failure-to-stand-out problem. Many salespeople and managers do not like hearing this because it puts the responsibility on them to argue the case with customers. That is what sales- people are paid to do. The third objection deals more with buyer expectations than price. Why does the buyer think that he or she should get a discount? Has the precedent been set in the past—do you always discount? Does the buyer have a lower anchor price that he got from somewhere else, perhaps the Internet? Is it an equity issue where the buyer wants special treat- ment? None of these necessarily mean that your price is too high. Maybe the buyer's expectations about price are too low! Reassuring the buyer that no one is getting a lower price than him may assuage his concerns. Marketing studies across industries show that customers are more concerned about the fairness of the process than the outcome. Buyers want to be treated fairly, regardless of the outcome. Is this really a fairness objection? Resistance that masks itself as price objections is not always price resis- tance. Price resistance is the easiest to hear because the salesperson can assign blame for the lost sale to market- ing. Price objections are easy to give because the buyer may actually receive a lower price as a result of pushing back. Salespeople must spend more time on their messaging. You must be able to answer the differentiation question that I asked earlier, "What are your defin- able and defendable differences?" The percent of pure price shoppers is much lower than salespeople claim. The fact that customers push back on price does not mean your price is too high. About Tom Reilly Since 1981, Tom Reilly has travelled globally sharing his messages with salespeople and their managers. He is literally the guy who wrote the book on Value-Added Selling. Additionally, he has written 12 other books, including Crush Price Objections. You can visit him online at www.TomReillyTraining. com. 1 Challenge "Your price is too high" Often times, this No. 1 sales objection is really not about price, says Tom Reilly, the author of Crush Price Objections. Pricing Woes, Time Management, they are really saying that they see no reason to pay more to buy from you. Simply put, you have not given them a compelling reason to buy from your company. Buying from the Internet is not always a better deal when com panies factor in shipping and handling and getting service after the sale. Many and getting service after the sale. Many Internet sites do not even have a phone 1 they are really saying that they see no reason to pay more to buy from you. Simply put, you have not given them a compelling reason to buy from your company. Buying from the Internet is not always a better deal when com panies factor in shipping and handling and getting service after the sale. Many 1