“One final question if I may – do you actually give the price in the presentation… as on a slide on the screen or do you save the price for the proposal?”
This question was asked by a friend of mine recently, we were talking about selling marketing funnels and how it often required a presentation alongside the proposal.
Here’s how I answered.
How to respond to “how much is this marketing funnel going to cost?”
Great question. You just gave me my next blog post.
Often, we’re asked right at the start “how much is this marketing funnel going to cost?”. The problem is not in what the question is, but who’s asking it.
People concerned with price are harder to sell to, right? They believe that question is their leverage. If they act disinterested then you’ll lower the cost, they feel better and they’ll take the sale.
If people ask that question, I’ll answer it. Truthfully. “That’s a great question [name], I’ll come to that in a minute”.
Most of the time, that shuts people up. They and everyone else then sit and wait for the price. However, by the time you reach the price with the CTA slides (after benefits and results have been presented), they’ll understand WHY it costs that much.
Some people will argue with you up front, “can you tell me the cost and I’ll decide if it’s worth it”. I’ve only had that twice and I’ve had to be strict.
“[Name], if you just wanted a price, you could have asked one of my previous customers. I want to tell you why your business is leaving money on the table AND the one marketing change that could cripple your business. Can I continue? I promise you can ask as many questions about the price when I get there”
In truth, hardly anyone gets to that stage. And really, over estimating a cost isn’t the end of the world. “We can’t afford that”, or “we weren’t expecting that just means they’re willing to negotiate”.
That and maybe you need to readdress your qualification.
Every high ticket item I’ve sold, over £10K a time, has had people wait through the presentation. Only lower end products have had people ask the price. I’ve promised them it’s in the slides and we’ll get to it.
If they say it’s too much, then ask them what they want to remove from the service in order to bring the price down. They won’t want to remove anything.
Hope that helps.
Mike
Why we answer like that
People negotiate on price for one of 3 reasons.
Either they don’t understand the value of what they’re getting.
They don’t WANT to understand the value of what they’re getting.
Or, you haven’t explained the value clearly enough.
Most of the time, it’s a combination of all 3. We’re often to eager to rush into features and delivery, before the customer has really got to grips with what they’re getting.
People boil things down to price because it’s a frame of reference they understand. They understand the context of £10000 so they’ll try to get to grips with that.
Rather than seeing why something would cost £10000 before deeming it expensive, cheap or the right price, they focus on the lump sum.
If you’re getting the price question a lot, it means the people you’re presenting to don’t understand the value.
Some people just don’t and they never will. There is literally no point in arguing or expending energy on them.
Some people are genuinely trying to understand. “£10 000 sounds like a lot of money”. Usually that means they don’t understand what they’re getting for that price.
Unlimited email automation, sales automation, up-sells and cross-sells, landing pages, sales pages, sales copy…after a while, when they see what they’re getting, £10K doesn’t seem so much.
If whoever you’re presenting to, asks the cost questions straight away, stand firm. Tell them it’s in the presentation and you’ll be happy to answer questions when you get there.
It’s important not to bend for two reasons. First, you’ll start acquiescing to future requests, meaning you’re losing leverage. Second, if they see the price first they’ll decide if they want it before they’ve understood WHY it costs that much.
Also, it’s worth noting that if you’re getting these questions a lot, it might not be you.
It might be the types of customers you’re presenting in front of. I’ve found that the higher my prices go, the less people argue with me.
Admittedly, our qualification process is very tight. They have forms to fill out and a workshop before we’ll pitch to them. But In my experience, customers who haggle on price are usually not worth working with. They’re often difficult and maybe you need to be more strict in your qualification process.
Finally, it could be that you’re not taking the time to demonstrate the value enough to the customer. People buy what they WANT. For all our prose about being logical and intelligent animals. Purchases are emotional decisions. We buy what we want and if someone doesn’t WANT the thing you’re selling, it’ll be a hard sell.
Does what you’re selling evoke an emotional response? Can the people being presented to see their lives as better and easier after working with you?
Will they have more time with family? Increased sales and revenue? Less time at the office or doing marketing work?
Sales are NOT made on logical choice, their emotional decisions. You can argue until you’re blue in the face that you only buy logically, but that’s saying you only buy things that you NEED. We all buy things that we WANT.
We know that we need to start eating better. Less meat, less sugar. We need to change our diets.
But goddamn if I don’t want that burger from Hubbox.
Summary
I hear a lot of businesses, particularly WordPress and digital creative businesses say that they don’t like sales. They don’t really like marketing or pitching. I understand how you feel, a lot of business feel the same way.
But what I’ve found is that your presentations shouldn’t seem like you’re selling. What you’re doing is showing how you can help. The position the customer is in now, where they could be and what it takes to get there.
What questions have you had to put up with? What do people ask when you’re presenting? Let me know in the comments below.
