2 Invaluable Responses to Price Objections

All of us have to deal with price objections at some point (if you don’t, you’re probably pricing too low). Here are 2 invaluable responses you can use next time a potential client queries your price.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve started being active on LinkedIn again.

One of the things I’ve never really tried before is to follow more and more people - and as it turns out, this opens a whole new world of insights. (And my feed was getting a little bit of “same old…”)

To keep a long story short, I picked up two pieces of advice that I hadn’t seen before - and they’re so powerful I just had to share them.

These are powerful responses that are not appropriate for all situations. Think carefully when and how you want to use them.

Here they are.

Response 1: “Why do you think I charge so much?”

Situation: They ask something like “why are you so expensive?”

Response: “Why do you think I charge so much?”

This can be a risky response, because you’re not answering the question — you’re throwing the ball back in their court. You’re inviting them to consider what they’ve seen of and from you, and play it back to you.

You’re asking them to sell to themselves.

In an ideal world, a question like “why are you so expensive” shouldn’t appear. If you guide your potential client through understanding their problem, showing them how you can help them solve it, and (most importantly) understanding the value they will be getting, your price should pale in comparison to the value.

But still, the question does appear, so use this response when you feel it is appropriate.

Response 2: “Are you looking for my hours, or my years?”

Situation: Potential client asks (or comments) something along the line of “wow, that’s really expensive for the amount of time you will be spending with us.”

Response: “Are you looking for my hours, or my years?”

Whenever a client asks or makes a comment about the amount of time you will be spending with them, it’s an indication they’re thinking of your value in terms of time — not experience.

Here’s the key:

It’s not the amount of time you spend with them — it’s the value they get from engaging your extensive experience in solving these kinds of problems.

Here’s a story to illustrate the point:

An engineer was asked to come out of retirement to fix an important piece of equipment. He showed up, tinkered around for an hour and said “replace this valve”. They did, the problem was solved, so gratefully they said “please send us your invoice”.

The next day an invoice for $10,000 showed up. Appalled at the charge for 1 hour’s work, they asked him to itemize the invoice. A revised invoice came back with two lines:

• 1 hour to diagnose problem and advise solution: $500

• 35 years of experience to find the problem in an hour: $9,500

I think you get the point. You’re expensive because you have the experience. That experience allows you to foresee problems they don’t even know exist — and avoid them before they happen.

Remember, these responses are not always appropriate - but in the right circumstances, they can break through to the sale (or avoid a bad client).

Thanks to Jacob Pegs and Nigel Thomas (slide 7) for the inspiration.