How many times have you heard this one?
I recently did a survey of the most frequently cited objections sales professionals in the destruction industry hear, and, "Your price is too high," was the winner.
What your prospects are basically saying to you is, "I don’t know, like and trust you enough to pay a little more for this service." They do not perceive a difference in value when comparing your company to your competitors…yet.
What you have to do is learn how to sell "value," not price! You have to build "know, like and trust" feelings with your prospects so they are more comfortable with you and your company. To grow your business, you don’t need more prospects; you need more friends. People are more likely to pay more for your company’s service if they view you as a friend.
In The Little Red Book of Selling, Jeffrey Gitomer writes: "Thirty percent of your prospects will buy price only. Which means 70 percent of your prospects will buy value if you show it to them."
If you win deals because of price alone, chances are that the customer will not be around for long. In fact, most of your prospects and clients want something other than the lowest price. They want more profit, more sales, fewer hassles and more free time. If you can help your clients get these things, you will have a client for life, and you don’t have to have the lowest price.
The best way to handle a pricing objection is to anticipate it and to offer your prospect a client testimonial. ("I paid a little bit more for their destruction service because they are NAID certified, properly insured, etc., and we are glad we did!")
If you know the objection is coming, why be surprised? Get testimonials from your existing clients to overcome these objections and don’t waste time with the 30 percent of prospects that buy based on price alone. If prospects want your service bad enough, they will figure out a way to afford it.
Ray Barry is the vice president of Total Product Destruction and the president of Total Training Services, which operates The Shred School in Spartanburg, S.C. He has helped and trained more than 175 companies in the document destruction industry to grow their businesses. Previously, he was part of a shredding company that was named twice in Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America. Ray can be contacted at raybarry@totaltrainingservices.com or at (864) 699-8417.