When we are already talking only about price differences, when we have already asserted all our arguments and have differentiated the value of our proposal compared to that of our competitors, when we have used all our techniques and experience to answer that damn objection, but Even so, the customer tells us something like: "Understand, I cannot pay you a penny more than the other supplier" or "In the other corner I found exactly the same product cheaper."
How much are we talking about? How much money exactly?
If a customer tells you that they will not buy your product priced at $ 120 because they get a cheaper similar one, ask what that difference is.
It is common for the customer who agrees to give you that information to do a quick calculation and offer you a percentage as an answer: "yours is 30% more expensive."
You should know if that number is a close approximation or if it is a rounding that leaves out some points of difference.
Suppose you go to your manager and say that to win the sale they should take a 30% discount, and that you get it.
You smile satisfied when you give the client the good news, but your smile becomes a bit strained when the client, while checking the antecedents, tells you: «it is that even doing 30% they are still expensive, in reality the difference is 31, 7% ».
When you spoke with your manager to "sell" the need to give you the discount, you told him that if they made 30% they took the sale, he has lost credibility and time.
Now imagine another possibility, that you bring your customer the good news of the 30% discount, that he checks his background, and confirms the purchase at that time.
What you don't know is that the difference was actually 26.5% and that it was rounded by eye to 30% when your client passed the data to you. You made a 30% discount and with 26.5% or at most 27% was enough!.
In that case, you will have won the sale, but you will also have lost profitability for your company, commissions for you, and also you have established an unnecessarily low historical price that you may have to maintain for future sales to that customer.
How you ask precision questions will depend on your style, and the trusting relationship you have developed with the client. You can try to close the sale at the same time and ask the question for the customer to verify the difference: "Do you? He assures me that if I get my manager to authorize me a 30% discount. confirm the order? ». In this way, you will make your client "work" without asking him what he could understand as a somewhat authoritative question, and you will have taken an important step towards YES.
From what price do we make the account?
"Sorry, I can't buy you, you are 20% more expensive"
You, who have already read the previous paragraph, do your homework well and ask, "Could you tell me if the 20% is fair or if it is a rounding, it would be important to have the right percentage to know if I can get it to be authorized?"
Your customer checks and says: "It's exactly 20%"
You run to your manager and say:
- "We would have to make 20% to close the sale", and he replied: "I'm sorry, you know that we cannot under any circumstances exceed an 18% bonus, I'm sorry but we can't."
You call your client to thank him for the time he dedicated to you, you tell him that he cannot reach that price, and he replies that he would have liked to do business with you but that logically he cannot buy from you with that price difference.
What a pity! What a mistake you just made! Lost a sale made!
When his client told him that they were 20% more expensive, he started from the price of his competition. They traded at $ 100 round. Your client made a simple bottom-up count, and to arrive at the price you quoted ($ 120): he applied 20% to your competitor's price.
Exact: For the client its price is 20% more expensive.
It's easy right? $ 100 x 20% + = $ 120.
And what happened? You ran to your manager and told him that they would have to make the 20% discount to close the sale, but as you already expected, he reminded him that he could never exceed a bonus greater than 18%.
You traded at $ 120, right? Well, making a 17% discount would have reached a price of $ 99.6, which would have already closed the deal with your client and would have displaced the competition.
The question to his manager should have been: "We would have to make 17% to close the sale."
At this point it is clear that when they tell us that we are expensive we must get the price against which we compete. Ask, "What final price should we come to?"
Sometimes it will not be essential that you arrive at the same price as the competition, and in others the customer will only agree to buy from you if you offer a lower price.
Find out what difference your client would be willing to pay.
If you do not get good information you will be adrift!
Ahh, and please, before going to ask your manager if he authorizes a discount, do not forget to ask your client the closing question "if I can get the same price authorized, do you already confirm the order?"
