Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
A group of salespeople in today's training revealed that their biggest challenge is dealing with prospects who tell them that they saw something similar for a lot less money. When asked how they handle it, they unanimously said that they justify (read defend) their price. They failed to realize was how weak their position is and that the prospects don't really care. They also weren't aware that they were assuming that that prospects bring this up is to get a better deal. But prospects could be bringing this up just to "let you know..." or because they are confused, or because they want you to know they've been looking around, or because they don't know how your product or service is different. They could even be attempting to help you!
Why does this happen? Weaknesses impact how salespeople will respond and in situations like these their Non Supportive Buy Cycles and Self Limiting Record Collections are usually to blame.
When you coach your salespeople, make sure you take these weaknesses into consideration because simply telling them what to say usually won't change anything.
A better way to handle this scenario would be to say, "Oh, I saw that too. Do you have any idea why the price is so different?" This forces the prospect to provide the reasons why - their reasons - good reasons - instead of the salesperson's.
©Copyright 2007 Objective Management Group, Inc.
