Over the last two articles we looked at how James Stevenson, owner of Virtual Aviation in the United Kingdom, could most effectively handle a situation with a prospect who was haggling with him on price.
Understanding that coming down on price is generally not the answer (when you know the value you provide exceeds the price), but to instead communicate the value, James was willing – if that didn’t work – to refer the person to a competitor. And, he did.
Here’s what James wrote back:
“I’m pleased to report back that it worked a treat. When the suggestion of helping him find a
cheaper alternative was brought, he booked straightaway and at full price.”
No, doing that doesn’t always result in obtaining the sale immediately. Sometimes, it takes the prospect giving it some thought. And, at times, they will actually utilize the less expensive/less value-based competitor. Though, you’d be surprised how often the sale is yours and right now. And, as we discussed in the previous article, there are definite reasons why that is.
So, yes; while there are times, places and contexts where this is called for and when it is not, know that offering to refer the price haggling prospect to a less expensive competitor is often just what the prospect needs in order to understand why you are in fact the proper choice.
* After writing this, I’ve decided to add one more article to this conversation; the topic which will be the importance of making sure the competitor you do refer to is both competent and of high character. We’ll look at that next.
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Bob…something very similar to Jim’s situation faced me…only I was on the other end. My disability awareness coach, Trish, operates her own business and it was clear that she offered services I needed but truly didn’t think I could afford. In a genuine attempt to help me out, Trish offered a less expensive solution with someone else on her staff. At that point, I saw the cost (which was very reasonable based on the obvious value) as an obstacle to getting what I really wanted and decided to find the extra money. We just renewed our contract for a 2nd year (at a slightly higher cost).:))
Moe, that is awesome. Thank you very much for sharing that with us!!
Yay Bob!
An hour after I read this article, I got called into the dressing room of a bride, who was almost in tears about an additional discount. I offered her the address of a Bridal Salon that has dresses in her price range.( and then I recalled your article) So, I proceeded to explain the full service we offer and showed her the quality details of the gown she loved. End result: She bought her quality wedding gown, and my staff got to see an example of “showing why our gowns are worth additional money”. 🙂 Thank you BOB. You are a rock star, so I told my staff it would be a good idea if they followed your blogs too! I seem to be blessed almost daily when I apply the lessons I get from your writing. Reading them is one thing, doing them is from where the blessings come.
WOW, Amy…again, I love those happy endings. 🙂 More than that, though, you really – as you mentioned in the last sentence – did the important thing; you took action on the idea. I’m so proud of you!! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Bob, for your succinct explanation of this topic. I will be using it to train my team. It s always preferable to have a postive way to show your value. In the book business, we have loads of timr to demonstrate the features and benefits of our high quality and can even paint pictures of situations where we can solve all kinds of problems in someone’s life. It is those quick purchases, like during a cash and carry book fair, where we run into this issue more frequently. Most often these customers are used to buying low quality grab and go books from the grocery store and abused books at garage sales so it can be tricky to engage them long enough for this type of exchange. Suggestions?