How to Satisfy a Stubborn Buyer

“These are the terms. Take it or leave it.” It’s the classic showdown with prospects balking on price. You think how much you want to make the sale – but at what cost? Before caving in or calling their bluff, salespeople can win customers by making them an offer they can’t refuse.

Cyndie Lamoreau, sales representative for Commercial Printing Service in Lewiston, ME, avoids emotionalism and does her homework. She finds out who her competitors are and what the customer’s specifications are. Will her bid be competitive? If not, she often prepares an alternate proposal that still meets the customer’s needs but is more competitive on price. Lamoreau recalls once a customer needed a printer to design a catalog. When her first proposal was too costly, she went back to the customer with a slightly different and less expensive design that won her company the contract.

Other times, if she can’t come up with an acceptable counteroffer she simply has to say no. “Recently one of our clients, a nonprofit organization, wanted us to print a brochure at no charge. I had to tell the organization that we couldn’t do the job free.”

Don’t compromise your integrity to get a sale, Lamoreau cautions other reps. One purchasing agent told her that other printers were willing to give him “a little something back.” When he told Lamoreau that she, too, would have to give him a kickback to win the contract, she replied, “No thanks.”

Craig Doak, general manager of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania-based Housing Products Inc., a wholesale distributor of building materials, recommends getting customers’ focus away from the price. He encourages prospects to consider his company’s service, delivery, flexibility and employees. “Too often,” says Doak, “when customers focus on price, sales reps put their tails between their legs, sell themselves and their company short and leave without pursuing the sale. Sometimes, they try to overcome the customer’s price objections only to encounter more objections.

“I advise my reps to uncover a customer’s real objections. Is a customer trying to squeeze every bit of savings out of us? Perhaps our service could provide savings that the customer never knew existed. One builder was concerned that our price was higher than a competitor’s. When my rep showed him how our service could save him a lot of money on labor costs, the builder realized that ordering from us was actually less expensive than our competition – even though our products cost more.”

What happens if the customer still wants a cheaper price? Doak answers, “We ask ourselves if we can afford to lower our price 10 percent. If the answer is yes, we may call the customer’s bluff and ask, ‘If we can do the same job at 10 percent less expense to you, will you give us your business?’ The customer rarely says yes. Then we need to uncover the real objections.”

Doak adds that there are other ways to show customers where they can save money. “Sometimes customers don’t believe that a less expensive brand can be as good as a name brand. We need to show customers how they can get the same quality job done for less cost. If they still don’t believe us, they can always pay the higher price for the name brand.”

Doak’s reps can’t always afford to lower their prices. “All we can do is reemphasize how we will save customers money with service, quick delivery and flexibility – we get supplies to them immediately when necessary,” he explains. “We need to make a profit, and if a lower price makes that impossible, our company can’t afford to accept the job.”

Doak offers these tips: “Know as much as possible about any potential customer. If price is the big issue, and you can reduce your price and still make money, go for a trial close and ask if they will commit to the purchase if your lower your price. Most prospects won’t agree, so be sure you learn the real objections that prevent prospects from becoming paying customers.

“Remember that there is a big difference between price and cost. For example, a value grill may cost a few hundred dollars less than a high quality Weber grill, but it lasts for only two years – one-third or one-half as long as the Weber grill that lasts four to six years. Good service from your company may make the total cost of your product less expensive than the competition, even if your price is higher. The challenge is to focus on total value, not price.”