Re-Framing The Sales Price

Coaching clients, whether in a small group or one-on-one, generally brings out similar weaknesses in everybody. I have a group in Colorado and they have difficulty talking about money. And when they do talk about money, they frame it from their own perspective. This, I believe, limits the possibilities because of their own beliefs regarding how much the prospect could, would or should spend.

I could see their problem and felt they would not gain any benefit from learning something new until they un-learned something old. I sensed we needed to re-frame what they believed about price. So I posed some homework for the next week. This was my question; if money is NO OBJECT and I, the customer, have more money than I can spend, how much do I get to spend if the load on my house is 2.5 tons and 50,000 BTU heat loss?

The next week I listened to very long explanations that went something like this: “Now, Mr. Daviston, I think because of blah, blah, blah,… And because of blah, blah, blah,… And then, of course, blah, blah, blah…And I’m going to save you money here because of blah, blah, blah…” I replied, “STOP! I DON’T LIKE SAVING MONEY. I HAVE MORE THAN I CAN SPEND.” They responded, “Well, it’s going to cost about $9,000.00.”

“Is that all?” I said. “Only $9,000.00? Doesn’t sound like much. Can I turn this thing off and on from my other house in Figi? What about each room? Do I get to control each room with a remote like my TV? Oh, yes, and if it breaks am I going to have to call you, or is this thing going to be hooked up to your office? I don’t want to have to worry about anything?”

During the coaching session everyone began to chime in and see things from the prospect’s perspective. The possibilities began to change and the money went out the roof.

What’s the bottom line here? We always hear some form of this question “How much does it cost?”

The answer to that question should always be “how much do you have to spend? The sky’s the limit.” (When a customer asks you how much does an air conditioner cost it is no different than a car shopper asking how much does a car cost.) ” It’s not relevant until you give me a budget. Then I can work toward solving your problems with-in your budget.”

Pay attention to what you believe about what the price should be. If you have a low money tolerance you will project this on your prospect. Be very careful not to project your model of the world onto your prospect. I once had a prospect spend $10,000 on a complete system and the house was only worth about $35,000. I still don’t understand it, but he does.

Your model of the world may not be the same as your prospects. Try to expand the possibilities for yourself and re-frame what price looks like to you. Then you can begin to help your prospect, and deal honestly with the questions that get fired at you about price. It’s easy to make a sale when you discover the prospect’s budget before the presentation.