Talking to Your Customer About Price
The companies often choose not to include pricing on their website and the salespeople call potential customers about the price. There is a reason behind this that is quite understandable. If you cannot talk about the price, you will not be able to make deals. Great salespeople are masters at deferring the price conversation, so the top performers always wait for the right time before talking about price, until there is an emotional attachment of the customer with the particular product.
· Be very clear
It is not bad to consider sharing the price with the conversation early in the conversation before even talking about the prospects. If you take a lot of time chatting and then revealing the price that is way beyond the buyer’s limited budget, the customer may have an objection, and you have wasted an hour instead of five minutes.
Give the price of the product casually as if you are having an informal conversation with a friend. You should do this after you have given your pitch and have asked enough questions to understand if your product is the best fit for your customer.
· Know your product
You should have complete information about the product and its price. If you are not able to give an immediate answer, the buyer may get suspicious. The customer may start thinking about why the salesperson is taking the time to give the price? Either he/she is talking to the sales manager or trying to inflate the price. Such a complication can really make the salesperson lose the trust of the buyer.
Unless you have too many products to sell, like in the IT sector, you should know the price and what quantities would trigger pricing discounts. Other than that, you should be ready to answer any questions. There are no curveballs. If you are selling an item with a dynamic market price, try to give a range or what a similar company or the competitor pays.
· Don’t oversell
After giving the price, there are many salespeople who try to qualify it frantically. The monologue basically goes on and on, and it seems like the seller is trying to compensate for something unknown. Instead of equivocating, it is better to talk about the next steps.
Try to ensure that you are giving exclusive pricing information to the customer and also the supporting details. If your pricing turns out to be more complex, at least you should consider giving your customer a clear starting point regarding your pricing information. Therefore, you can turn a common pricing query into a search magnet.
· Be consistent about discounts
Discounting is, no doubt, a slippery slope. Unless giving steep discounts or offering some products for free in case of selling bulk items is a custom in your industry, try not to budge. All your team must be consistent about the price and offering discounts.
The potential customers who already have shown interest in your product may talk to your current clients about what they pay and compare the prices, and if you have been offering a steep discount haphazardly, then these new clients will be expecting you to keep giving the same deal.
If you do happen to offer an unusual discount for some reason, you have to explain to your buyer why the circumstances are unusual, and it is also a wise idea to ask your buyer to keep the price private.
· Follow up after the call
After you are finished with your discussion regarding the pricing over the phone, you should send a follow-up email that documents the price and different proposals for the next steps. This might include an order form and any other related information (a product guide) that your new customer might require to make the final decision.
The ability to give a quick rundown of what has been discussed should be a skill developed by the salespeople. After sending an order form and other information, you should be able to summarize all the salient points very quickly. This will basically keep up the momentum and make it feel like the deal is done.
Conclusion
Pricing is as much a marketing tool as it is a sales conversation. Instead of avoiding this very important topic altogether, you can have the opportunity to benefit from tackling this particular issue head-on. The way you discuss pricing could either be a guaranteed beacon of trust for your buyers, or it could be a red flag.
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