Overcome the price issue
Editor’s note: This is the first blog in a series about dealing with customers’ objections to price. In this installment, Steve Lemco addresses customers’ excuses for not buying.
If you think about all the things people, including yourself, want, more than likely the only reason people don’t have what they want is because they have to pay for it. One little ol’ reason. If the money problem is solved, everyone would own what he or she wants, be it a bicycle, motorcycle, car, airplane, or yacht.
When I do sales training for experienced salespeople, I always ask what reasons customers give when asked, “What’s stopping you from buying today?” I can always count on getting four answers:
- “I have to talk to my spouse.”
- “I want to think about it.”
- “I want to shop around.”
- “I am waiting for my taxes, house to sell, etc.”
I always get animated at this point and jump up and down and say that balloons are falling from the ceiling, a band begins to play, and a girl pops out of a cake holding a sign that reads “Congratulations! You are the 1 millionth person to say they have to talk to their wife before they buy.” The salesperson then says, “For being the 1 millionth person, the price of the bike is no longer $15,995, but it is now only $15.95. Just sixteen dollars. Delivered out the door. Wow! We are so happy for you!” But there are two rules:
- You only get 10 seconds to make up your mind. The clock is ticking; do you want it for $15.95? Tick … tick. Yes, you do? All right. Now for rule No. 2.
- Oh, no. Rule No. 2 is the only one who can’t win is a liar, and sir, you just made a decision without talking to your wife. We must ask you to leave the premises.
Think about those four excuses above. The customer who wants to talk to his or her spouse is going to talk about money. The customer who wants to go home and think about it is going to think about the money. The customer who wants to shop is trying to save money. The customer who is waiting is waiting for money.
This blog’s mission is to get you to believe that how you handle the money and more importantly, the question of “How much is it?” has everything to do with the customer’s decision on whether to buy a unit or not.
This is the moment of truth, and if you use the truth, as I will explain in my future blogs, you will not only sell more units, but your average profit will go up.
In my next two blogs, I will role-play how to answer the question of “How much is it?” I will explain how easy it is to get away from the No. 1 lie salespeople tell by giving the high price and switch the conversation to the truth, which is the truth of low monthly payments.
Please don’t worry; salespeople should never quote a payment, but they should always do their best to find out what payment is comfortable for their customer. Really, how far off can you be from a payment a customer wants and what the payment really is?
To read the second blog in the price issue series, click here. To read the third blog in the series, click here.
Steve Lemco is the youngest brother of the late Ed Lemco and has been doing sales training and hiring for motorcycle dealers since 1983. Steve has trained in every state in the U.S., as well as England, France, Australia and New Zealand. Steve incorporates motivational boards and games along with his training and hiring because he believes the best way to get the job done is to make it fun.
Contact: stevelemco@aol.com
Website: www.stevelemco.com
Phone: 253/826-6110
