Question: Dear Boyd, often my prospective customers say that my product is too expensive and I find this difficult to overcome, as we are more expensive than our competitors. My boss won’t allow us to drop our prices so I’m losing loads of deals. Any ideas? This is extremely common in sales, and it’s all about adding value instead of dropping your price.

Think about it: what does the say ‘too expensive‘ mean? There are four meanings available; firstly, they can’t afford it. Secondly, they don’t see the value. Thirdly, they have seen it cheaper elsewhere, or finally, they are negotiating. Therefore my first question to your prospective customer when they say “you are too expensive” would be, “what are you comparing us against?” Please remember that the answer you got might not be accurate.

Why not try this and be prepared to hear something you don’t want to: “If our price was the same as **, who would you choose?” If they say you, then sell the difference. If they don’t say they would choose your brand, THE PRICE WAS NOT THE PROBLEM. For argument’s sake, let’s imagine your product is £1,000 and one of your competitors is £700, so your prospective customer compares you to that competitor.

It would help if you found out what the prospective customer gets for £700, get them to list out everything that’s included in that price. Your job now is to sell all the additional benefits you bring to the table FOR ONLY £300! SELL THE DIFFERENCE. You are no longer talking about £1,000; you are simply selling yourselves for £300. It’s scarce that both your and your competitors’ offerings are identical, so you should be able to find at least three examples of additional benefits that you can offer over and above your competition.

Boyd Mayover is the Founder of The BM Group, a training company that has helped over 540 negotiators in 2020/2021 improve conversion rates, gain great reviews and boost profits.

01923 85 5427 www.boydmayover.com boyd@boydmayover.com