"It's too Expensive" - WHAT'S YOUR BEST RESPONSE?

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Alright, so the other day I'm on the phone trying to sell my leads right, and I get his DARN objection again: "It's too expensive" or "It costs too much" ... UHHH! I can't seem to find the best answer to combat this objection.

I don't get it all the time, but most times I do, I never seems to come out of it smoothly...

So, to all my experienced sales geniuses, what's your BEST REBUTTAL to "it's too expensive" or "it costs too much"?
#offline marketing #cold calling #objection #rebuttals #sales #too expensive
  • That is the worst reply you can get right!

    I don't do any cold calling or anything like that - but I have learned a little bit from people who do and are very good at it.

    The best reply to this, will depend on what exactly you are selling.

    If you are selling a business opportunity, what you can say is something like this; "Well, how much is changing your entire life, worth to you? .... how much is having the time and freedom to enjoy life with your loved ones, and give them the life they deserve, worth to you?" ...

    You have to tap into people's emotions - to make them see the bigger picture.

    Now, I'm not sure what you are selling, but this would be my advice if you are selling a business opportunity

    You should look into Jordan Belfort's Straight Line Seminar video series. He is a master at selling through the phone!

    Here is some good information from Brian Tracy as well:

    closing the sale - YouTube
    Hope this helps!

    Keep up the great work!!
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    • Awesome! Great stuff. I use to do something similar in retail. When someone would ask "How much is this?" (With that look in their eyes that it must be expensive), I would ask "How much is it worth to you..." They would giggle and blah blah blah. It didn't always result in a close, because I didn't really have a solid rebuttal for the ensuing "Oh that's too much!"

      But, I'll see what I can do with that. By the way, I'm an avid student of the Straight Line System, but it doesn't really go into detail on how to handle specific objections other than "I'll think about it". It's mostly tonality and mindset stuff, which is fine, but COME ON, show me the beef already!

      There has to be a better way, a formulaic system for handling these objection on a consistent basis...
  • "it's too expensive" can mean that you didn't build enough value or you are pitching the wrong thing to the wrong people.

    Either way I wouldn't waste time trying to come up with a rebuttal, you need to build the value first.
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    • HERE WE GO. I knew it! It was only a matter of time before I got this textbook "advice". "Oh you're not building enough value..."

      Look, I appreciate your input but, no matter how much "value" you build you will still get objections like these, so YOU MUST REBUTT. That's what separates top closers from wannabe's. In fact, sometimes prospects use this exact objection as a negotiation tool, but it's not always easy to spot.

      Do you have any other input on how to build value or overcoming the price objection? I'm listening...
      • [1] reply
  • Find out on average how many leads it takes them to close a sale. Then it's pretty much like there trading X amount (how ever much your leads are gonna cost) for x amount (how much a sales for them brings in.) would you trade me a $100 bill for $1000 dollars? What there doing is trading there money for more money. It's a no brainer. Put it in simple terms for them.
  • Mr._______ are you in business to save money or make money? Do you wanna save $800 this month or make 10k? Great! I won't let you down.

    That's of course after you confirm money is the only problem. Sometimes it's just a stall and they haven't told you their real objection yet or other objections they have along with that.

    Other then the price being to high is there anything else preventing us from doing business today?
    • [1] reply

    • Good strategy. I think this strategy will allow me to uncover the real issue first and also shut them down with pure logic if price really is the issue. I will try to come up with a language pattern for this rebuttal tonight. Coming up with specific language patterns can be a little tricky though.

      Do you have any tips on specific language patterns to weave into this rebuttal response to the price objection?
  • Banned

    Either you're not realistic about your prices or you're not targeting realistic traffic. Trying to sell a swimming pool to a guy in an apartment isn't doable.

    Move on to targeted traffic, ask them their budget first. If they don't have a budget, they're not interested. Next.
    • [3] replies
    • Almost any business can scrape together 2k or so for seo, leads, or whatever your selling. If money's their problem that means there hurting and need your more then they think. Almost anyone an scrape together 2k or so to purchase leads like the OP is selling. Start out small, make them money with your service and then increase and up sell.
      • [1] reply
    • Yeah, qualifying people OUT is a big one for me now; but sometimes we tend to get into this scarcity mindset that there aren't enough people out there willing to pay our prices. We think everybody is looking for a discount and nobody has any money to spend, because of the economy or whatnot -- But it's all BS. People are spending money everyday and money is out there. Look, the feds are still printing money, and I need to grab my unfair share before the next batch rolls through.

      By the way, I don't think my prices are unrealistic at all. In fact, I will be raising it soon. You know, cause of inflation and everything. Hehe! ;-)
    • There are millions upon millions of small businesses out there that would be excluded by your last statement. And someone is going to make money off of them.
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  • It's to expensive l.

    - I agree and unfortunately good leads don't come cheap, would you mind telling me how much to much you feel it is? (Now you have the budget and know if your close or way off)

    - if you knew it was gonna make you money would you do it? So it seems the problem isn't the price but more of you being unsure of your investment correct? Let's back up and hopefully I can clear that up for you. ( go back and re pitch, build value, focus on what your done for past clients and how all your past clients felt the same way before they went ahead)

    - i agree it is expensive! You ready to roll? Visa or master?

    Lol the last one only works on up selling current clients but there's 2 rebuttals I just thought up as I was writing this. You can come up with rebuttals all day long for this. What it comes down to is just selling value vs price. Don't ever lower your price. Price isn't up for negotiation AT ALL. What is up for negotiation is if there gonna buy into a marketing plan that's going to ruin there reputation and waste there money or if they want quality service.
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    • Awesome. I think I could probably work with these and come up with something nice. But I get the idea now... sell value over price.

      And by the way, whoever says "I never get this objection" is either shooting for tossed up lay downs or NOT actively selling in the field, or is trying to pump up their ego.

      Honestly, I made this thread for not only myself, but for others to get SPECIFIC rebuttals and ideas on how to handle the price objection (because you know you're going to eventually get it). Most of the time you'll see a thread with a bunch of different unrelated topics thrown together, but now someone searching for how to handle the "price is too high" objection will now have a much clearer idea on what to do.

      KEEP IT GOING GUYS! Come on, tell us some of your funny responses too...
  • You'll never get this objection if you get the prospect to put his own value on the leads...
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    • Good stuff.

      The answer to the OP's question would take a book to answer. Because the problem is, he's getting the objection in the first place. And when you are answering an objection, you are arguing.

      It's not about building value. (although that's a part of it)

      It isn't a matter of value, but a matter of expectations.

      During the qualifying stage, if you can get the prospect to give you a value, and what they would be willing to pay...if it's more than what you charge, you win.

      How do you do that? By getting the prospect to tell you what a sale is worth, what a presentation is worth, and what a lead is worth to them. Then you might say, "If you're telling me that every lead generates $100 in immediate profit, how much would you pay to get that $100? " If they say, "I'd be willing to pay $10", I'd ask the question in a different way, until they tell me "I'd pay just about anything less than $100".

      Reframe what you are selling. You aren't selling leads, you are selling $100 bills.

      "If you could invest $25 and convert it into $100 in a few days, how many times a week would you want to do that?"


      When you get an objection at the end, it's a way for God to tell you that you are missing a huge step in your selling process. Any objection at the end is a way for the prospect to say, "I'm not interested in this". That's the answer.

      And any answer you give, is an attempt to change their minds. Eventually, you may be able to wear them down, but it wears you down as well.

      Stop selling leads. Start selling Uncashed Checks. It's all in how you frame the offer.

      And building value, although it seems like that's the answer, is only part of the solution.
      Getting the prospect to tell you that they would be willing to pay far more than the paltry sum you are asking....before the price is ever talked about, is the answer.

      If you are selling leads as a commodity, they will be priced as a commodity in the prospect's mind. And anything you charge, even a dollar, will be met with.."That's too much money" or "I can't afford it".


      Years ago, I was trying to help a friend that was selling high end vacuum cleaners in people's homes. He continually got, "I can't afford it", That's too much money". We were selling the vacuum for about $1,600.

      He was still in the "What's the best answer to this objection?" crowd.

      He built plenty of value. The people liked him. But to them, they still thought a vacuum cleaner should cost $50. I could tell.

      I wanted to make a dramatic point, that would teach my friend something. During one of his presentations, I interrupted him and said to the prospects, "We have a payment plan of only a dollar a month. Or you can buy the vacuum for $50 in cash"

      And right on schedule, they said, "Well, a dollar a month sounds like it isn't much, but we would have to think about it. Right now, I don't think we can afford it".

      It was because their conditioned response to any price was "We can't afford it". And the OP's prospect's conditioned response to his presentation is, "That's too expensive".

      The prospect needs to tell the salesperson the amount they are willing to pay (slightly different from telling the value).
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  • and you can get to that point using these leads. More business means more profit and never having to say 'it is too expensive'."

    I am always surprised and dismayed when a business can't afford something,

    I tell them, "Thank god I called, I've got exactly what you need."

    gjabiz





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  • It's too expensive?

    That's easy...you just get them to tell you the average sale per client or customer, multiply it by x and use the "let's imagine" scenario.

    No matter how much value you build or how much of a no-brainer it is, you'll still have some people who will try to get a lower price by stating...it's too expensive.

    >>>>>>>

    **********************************************

    "it's too expensive!!!"

    Answer...

    Too expensive?

    Let's find out if it is:

    What's your average sale per client?

    [$800]

    So let's imagine I bring you 10 new clients...that's $8000 in sales for you.

    So how can $900 be too expensive!?

    Let's imagine I only bring you 5 clients...that's still $4000 in sales.

    Let's imagine you only get 2 clients...that's still $1600 in sales...but more importantly...you get 2 new clients!!!

    Do you still think it's too expensive

    ***********************************************

    Now you better be able to bring them at least 5 new clients or you won't be getting any repeat business from them
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    • [1] reply
    • Just looking the lead cost and sale price does not give a clear answer / not that simple, you would need to take into account any other costs / costs of goods etc.

      back in the day when doing adwords for clients, comments like "Pay $10 for a click" ( as example ) / that's to dear were often put into perspective by answering, if we made double, triple or more on our money for every $10 we spent, how many $10 bills would you want to spend, it often changed the view point, where it was no longer expensive but a sound investment in future growth.

      I wrote this excel guide that allows you to calculate a leads worth to business (it seems like moons ago now) that should be able to be adopted to what your doing in lead gen as well as adwords ?.

      http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...HoxbriHkz3m0EU

      But I will leave you with this thought, If you are truly good enough to make double triple or more on your lead gen for other business ( regardless of how you do that ) , then learn to develop and peddle your own products and services, It simply makes no sense ( to me ) to make other people rich while you live on peanuts / the crumbs, think about using your skills to make you comfortable / rich.
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  • Of course I have different approaches for different mediums but we are talking hard core phone sales. My answer will seem to contradict how I sell MY services, but my services are long term high involvement and frankly engage at a different level than if I was just ringing up a list selling a widget. I am also at a point where I can choose to sell in a way that is more comfortable. Having said that if I found myself homeless tomorrow and you sat me at a phone with a script, some stupid offer and some un-targeted list a bloodbath would ensue that would see me getting sales and prospects wondering what they bought AFTER they bought :-)

    If it's a one call close from a list then ANY rebuttal is deflected and you go right back into your script loop.
    Deviating from script is bad, and so since scripts are fixed it would be bad to address things that the script does not cover. By bad I mean crap conversions.

    -----------------------------------

    Steve "I can't talk now my business is on fire"

    me " I hear what your saying but let me say this. The true beauty of my offer is you don't need to be alive for it to work and if you end up being the first customer ever that I couldn't deliver for those in your will can just ask for a refund and you can rest easy knowing you provided for them. Does this seem fair?"

    Steve "oh my god the roof fell in I am burning, I can't do this now"

    me " I hear what your saying Steve. Just give me a shot to prove myself and I promise the only regret you will ever have is that we did not close this faster so we could get 911 there."

    -------------------------------------

    OK so I am being a bit of a smart ass but you get the picture.
    In the end hard core phone closes are a script, staying on script, deflecting objections and then getting back on script. I have gone through 3 or 4 loops at times, saying nothing really new, not addressing any objection other than saying I will get to that, and eventually the ace in the hole is a personal appeal "Trust me" "Give me a shot" "You won't regret it". Ask, ask ask and get the sale. People buy based on your conviction and perseverance when it is sales on the phone.

    Objections don't matter. Money doesn't matter. They claim they have no money, next week if they were addicted to crack they would find the money, if they are addicted to strippers and alcohol they can always find the money, they want new rims on their truck they find the money. We are talking about behavior and controlling their behavior, logic is not relevant, humans are NOT logical they do the strangest crap every day and are easily swayed by persistence.

    WAIT WAIT - Am I saying its right, ethical, the way I do business? No I am not getting all philosophical, I am JUST saying what works at closing maximum sales on the phone if your dialing for simple offers.

    Doing this is hard, most people feel bad or want to believe the objections, it's uncomfortable so they accept the objection, then another "better" salesman takes the money that you believed they did not have. I put better in quotes because it's subjective, some will think how horrible, sleezy etc.. but again the question was how best to deal with objections, and the answer is deflect and back on script closes the most sales, period.

    Will this always get you the sale? No sometimes your just screwed and though you could spend time figuring out why your screwed, it is better to just move on to the next call.

    Also what others are saying about targeting and doing things to avoid these issues coming up is spot on BUT in reality there are many businesses that do not invest the time and energy in doing this and still make tons of money. You get a list, an offer, have NO clue who is on the other end and you pitch. Of course many of us in this forum are NOT in that business, our interaction does not stop after a hardcore close, we are in it for the long haul as consultants so rapport and trust are important so you get much more "thoughtful" answers. In other words when asking us "consultants" your gonna get more complicated answers than pound them into submission and make them feel like you answered their questions when all you did was completely control the outcome ;-)
    • [ 11 ] Thanks
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    • Awesome. I see, it looks like someone is well acquainted with the stockbroker/straightline pitch... "The true beauty of the program is..." Haha.

      I agree, "consultants" tend to have a different way of approaching the sales process. I tried it the whole 'consultative sales" thing for a while and it was HORRIBLE. "I mean, get to the point already!" -- one prospect once screamed at me. That was the day I made a decision something had to change!

      Seriously, there is no value being exchanged when talking about a guy's guilty pleasures, or hobbies, or trying to impress him with how knowledgeable you are about his industry (which he quite honestly doesn't give a shit about). VALUE is only exchanged when they BUY my product and I start delivering results. We can talk about your hobbies later, maybe. Hehe!

      You brought up a very interesting point about deflecting and closing... I guess what I'm looking for is How to deflect the "price objection" and get back on the damn script, because I already have all that value prop in my script but sometimes they just wanna test me, haha!

      So, does anyone know: How do I deflect the "price objection" and smoothly transition back to the script?
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  • I sell hotel rooms. I got better customers with better income after I raised prices.
    I suspect the same will happen for your business as long as your service/ROI is good.

    When one of my prospects walks in, or calls in, and the first words are how much,
    I go straight to price. I have a desk clerk who goes into all our amenities before giving price.

    I think directly answering their question about price is more effective. For my hotel anyway.
    I trust my gut and my first offer is usually my lowest offer, unless I guesstimate they are
    going to say they also have AARP or whatever discount. (I hate it when I guess wrong and
    give a low price and then they mention their discount eligibility.)

    My goal is to have customers who all the other customers will feel comfortable with. I try to
    keep a clean, safe, family oriented place. A place a single lady or single Mom will feel
    like staying at and returning to. If a walk in/call in seems to fit the bill and is walking away,
    I do ask how much they want to pay (if it's slow enough) and THEN negotiate with them
    some, or let them go on their way.

    Anyhow, I think it is best to get a solid lead flow and qualify for sophisticated, realistic
    business owners with a realistic budget.

    In your marketing collateral/ website/presentation... get all the best explanations of your who is,
    how you do it, ROI, who you work with, and why they should choose you... out there.
    Really work on the best, most effective language to use for you and your experience with
    past/present customers. (It's learning and developing nuances that really help IMO)

    Get your pricing and payment plans out there ahead of time and more or less stick to them.

    Prevent the "too expensive's" from happening as much as you can. And don't worry about NOT
    getting their business - except for rare occasions maybe.

    You probably don't want them as clients anyway. You really want do stuff like explain why
    adding SEO is additional work above and beyond the original agreement for web and
    social media? (I actually had a client like that back in the day. I fired him. I also found
    out he was suing the big name marketer he had hired before me.)

    Comebacks are really just going to sound argumentative and people have given you
    some, and some effective methods.

    I suppose you could sound incredulous that they don't want to increase revenues by
    10%.

    Now is a good time to point out that some cultures are a culture of negotiation, and
    some people just like to negotiate. So, perhaps in those instances you quote higher
    and give yourself room to come down to what you want to work for. But, be aware, they
    are likely to be difficult clients at every step. (You should keep revising my logo until I'm
    satisfied, or multiple other changes....)

    Dan
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  • Steve: "that's too expensive"

    Me: "Steve you might be right but thats exactly what my happiest clients said before they got on board. I want to make sure you profit from this so tell me this..."

    back to script with qualifying questions.

    Me: "Steve Based on what you just told me what we do here seems like a perfect fit for you to be profitable on this
    and here's basically how it works..."

    back to pitch and close

    and round and round she goes...
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  • I thanked the above post by Claude especially because of the clarification about consultative selling.
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  • I'm surprised no one has suggested the isolation technique?
  • Lol reading this thread is too funny.

    It's the typical argument I have seen my whole life between "consultants" and "closers".
    I have done both.
    I have advised on both.
    I laugh equally at myself in each role so all you "consultants" and "closers" don't lynch me for pointing out some reality and using some stereotypes and absolutes to illustrate some points.

    You are both right and yet if too far to the left or right results will be weak.

    To closers that do the quick volume phone rings/closes listening to the long winded "you need to qualify" and provide these long logical eloquent scripts in your responses, they shake their head and know for sure you would not last a single day in their sales rooms without being shown the door with that method.

    To consultants you closers looking for that perfect rebuttal you are to them the neandrethals of sales, in their eyes you just don't get the "depth" of sales lol

    The truth is both of the traits and tactics of a closer and consultant are needed in a blend.
    How much of each is needed is based on what is being sold and how and most importantly timing.

    Now there are some "consultants" on here that have done volume/hard hitting grind it out sales day after day but to be honest most have not and are just preaching what they heard or stuff that would get weak results in the real world.

    Also while we love to slam the neanderthal "closer" for not being smart we are being rather presumptuous that they are always failing to qualify or being handed un-qualified leads or that they just don't get it.

    I have been involved in 50 to 250k buys in software/tech etc... and all types of smaller sales
    and the companies that failed more often had guys leaning too far to the "consultants" game, guys that were smart, educated, qualified etc.. When the rubber hit the road and they were sitting with the one guy that could make the decision over a scotch, they failed even after months of qualifying and teams from each company had hammered everything out. When the HUMAN who could make the final decision to buy uttered what seemed impossible to the educated consultant it all went to hell. He would say something like "sounds expensive" and the consultant would not know what to do with what rightly was a stupid comment but guess what humans are stupid at any given time and that is when you bring in your closer to leave them in a bloodied puddle and walk away with a check.

    I often knew if a deal was going to close based on who they were sending in to be the voice of what should be a closed deal thanks to all the time that had been spent "qualifying". Saw deals fall apart when the company I was working for or was pitching us thought the meeting was merely a signing ceremony. The ceo/owner walks in and bam says one stupid/human thing and the deal was dead. If you didn't send the guy that could talk you out of your car keys and your wallet you were screwed. Lots of teams have that guy sitting quietly in the room just waiting for the stupid/human comment so he can save the day.


    You can see this to be true everywhere.
    How elections are won, how people are acquitted.
    Long complex logical debates and analysis always come down to a human emotional interaction.
    Insane stuff like "if the glove don't fit you must acquit"


    P.S this thread reminds me of a funny story. My friend had a neighbor who was brilliant, a highly sought inventor and engineer in Telecom. They shared a back yard. One day she yelled out her child was choking. He ran for the St. John's Ambulance book lol He was right and the method in the book would of been sound but had he done this often enough he would of smacked the kid on the back as she did.
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    • so what's your best response to the stupid/human comment: "It's too expensive"
      you know you're going to hear it some times no matter how well you have "qualified"
      • [1] reply
    • My take on this thread:

      The OP asks, "how would Belfort rebut this objection and get back to the script?" and I'm surprised that as an "avid student of the Straight Line System," he doesn't know. Wouldn't it be, "But [using tonality as if having said, 'money aside'] this makes sense to you, doesn't it?" then followed with "the true beauty of this is..." which Lessard pointed out.

      But don't overlook several other facts pertinent to Belfort's pitch.

      First, they involved asking for small amounts, to build confidence.
      Secondly, the whole pitch played on the target's greed.

      I recall Belfort saying most of the guys who worked for him weren't very bright. So he had a script for them to follow which essentially was to do loops to hammer away at calls, pounding the target until the target gave up or hung up.

      So the OP tries "consultative selling, only to get yelled at, 'get to the point already!'" and duly says to himself, "consultative selling doesn't work for me" instead of the probably more accurate, "somehow I did it wrong."

      Lessard, in his wonderful contributions, then points out that a big problem with consultative sellers is, basically, they don't ask for the order.

      Though that's about the people and not the method, isn't it?

      Like Lessard, Whitacre is brilliant too. He just showed you how to sell the target before the target knows he's being sold, so that when the next logical step is to get the order "when do you want to start?" the prospect's already persuaded himself to do so.

      Because when you try to sell the prospect after the prospect's looking to push you off, now you need to wrangle with him. And wrangling pits you in adversarial positions instead of alignment, which is why it's tougher and why you need a hammer.

      And the target's looking to push you away because the sales person created pressure. And pressure creates that resistance.

      Everything you told them up to that point... didn't do the trick, right? So that's a waste of time and effort right there.

      But the OP doesn't wanna hear "build value first" because as he says, value is built when the service thrills the client delivering results. So true.

      But here I think the OP is getting hung up on semantics and not seeing how the principle may be applied.

      I think "building value" in the call really means to build interest and desire. When the embers of interest and desire are flamed, the price of entry isn't as important.

      Which is why Belfort's pitch involves citing the kinds of returns they got for others, feeding into their dreams about what having that money would mean to them, to build greed to fuel desire.

      Just so you know, it happened to me yesterday. Near the end the prospect says, "I didn't come in here expecting to buy anything, I was gonna take the freebie. But this makes so much sense..." meaning everything I had just told her about the item I was pitching, by using the right words, asking questions and putting thoughts in her head.

      And she placed a $2,515 order.

      So instead of looking for the elusive magic phrase to use to hammer the target, the answer involves a bit more work. But once you have it, it's like judo. You'll use it to leverage the target instead of fighting the target.

      So, what can you say that persuades them to want your stuff before you ask for the money?
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  • The problem I have is that objections don't live in isolation they are apart of a fluid changing interaction where what you hear is more important than what you say.

    Inexperienced staff often come to our training team with this kind of question and we tell them all the same 'each call is different'.

    Now this can ruffle a few feathers as the eager employee is after a magic catchphrase that will turn the conversation around.

    We'll then ask the staff member to log every time he comes up against this objection and use it for training later.

    When we listen to the calls its always apparent that each call is different. Our job is then to train the staff member to listen smarter and probe wiser. With this combination they can then select which tool they think will be most effective at handling the objection.

    A couple of tools they might use:

    Consistency and Commitment.

    You said you are looking to ........... (Yeah) and you agree that ......... will do this (yeah). So when do you want us to start.

    Social proof with decoy effect.

    93% of our customer repeat buy package a as it gives you the best value for money of 1000 leads at £99. If that's too expensive we also do 500 leads for £79.

    Full Takeaway

    It is an investment and I appreciate that it's not for everyone. If you think that your sales process wouldn't benefit from prescreen leads and that you won't make 5x your investment then you are right not to buy. (Best to use their figures that you've obtained during the course of the conversation) Thank you for your time.

    Full takeaway isn't for everyone and rookies should avoid it until they are comfortable with selling. You also have to have conviction and actually walk away.

    Knowing which tool to use and not use is the art of selling. I think it really comes with experience you learn so much in those minutes after a unsuccessful sales pitch
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  • Ahh the memories, these threads take me back to my days when I sold advertising.

    I learned one vital piece of info - whenever you get an objection - always, always agree.

    And I could never do the hard sell, manipulation, or any linguistic tricks (even if I tried to, I would make a complete hash of it).

    So the conversation would go a bit like this...

    Prospect - It's too expensive

    Me - Yes it is, it's not cheap is it?

    Prospect - Too right it's not cheap. It's way too expensive

    Me - I really wish I could do something on the price, but I promised to give you my best possible price - and this is it.

    Prospect - Well, it really is too much.

    Me - Listen, I do understand. Don't worry, I've enjoyed speaking with you, I hope I haven't wasted your time. No hard feelings. Let me - let you get on with your day… (I pack up my stuff, shake hands, and start to walk away)

    Prospect - Listen, Steve, maybe we can talk a bit more…there must be a way I can do this…


    Alright, I can hear you say - "How often did this happen?"

    Quite often.

    It surprised me just how often.


    Steve
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    • AWESOME! Why'd you do that man? Your first response is almost identical to mine.

      OK, like I promised. Here's one of the rebuttals. Again, thanks to everyone that contributed

      PROSPECT: It's too expensive / it costs too much...

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    • Steve;

      That reminds me....

      I haven't heard "It's too expensive " for decades. I used to get "I can't afford it", a different objection. "Expensive' indicates a lack of building value. But if I actually heard it, and I was still in "answer objections and wear them down" mode, I'd say ;

      "Too expensive?" and make them say something else.
      "Why do you say that?"
      "You must have had an experience. Tell me about it"
      "Interesting. Tell me more".
      "Wow, what happened then?"
      "You're joking! What did you say to the guy?"



      Honestly, I would just ask these questions because;
      1) I know that it's just a process of wearing them down.
      2) If they do most of the talking, it wears them down faster.

      Eventually (sometimes 30 minutes later), when I see them weakening, I'll make some very minor concession, to allow them to buy and keep their dignity.


      The only reason I don't sell that way now, is that I don't need to. But it worked exceptionally well for a few decades.

      I know something about humans. We love to do two things, that we never tire of; Complain and brag. If the prospect is complaining or bragging, and I just keep along with him....eventually, he'll think I'm wonderful.

      And buying from me (if it makes any sense at all) is just the natural result of the experience..the "Happy Ending" if you will.
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    • Just got back from China, which I know is a different culture, where "It's too expensive" is actually expected.

      For instance, I was looking at some silk clothing, priced at 498 yuan. When the salesgirl approached, I said my standard Chinese phrase "Tai gui le" (pronounced tie gooey la), which means "too expensive".

      "OK", she said, "For you, 200 yuan", a drop of over 50%.

      I suppose I could have got it even cheaper, but she was happy with the price, I was happy with the price, so I bought the goods. Whole transaction over in 30 seconds.

      Point is, as long as you are making a profit, just sell what you have to sell at whatever price - you are better off making a sale with $10 profit in 30 seconds, than spend half an hour trying to sell something at 100% profit to someone who didn't want to buy anyway. Your time is much too valuable to waste explaining "value" to someone who is not listening. (of course, this is not suitable for anything with an after sale service)

      You could also try the Don Alm approach, also used on lots of websites, where there are three packages,
      one super cheap, with very limited features, one very expensive, with lots of features nobody needs, and your real price somewhere in between the two.
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    • You forgot - they must have money to spend
      Wanna bet...?

      The restaurants that thrive on insulting their diners - BBC News

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  • I don't know at what point of your presentation your prospect says "it's too expensive", but the best answer I ever came up with was "Comparing to what?".

    With time, I changed it to "When you say it's too expensive, what are you comparing it to? Do you have something specific in mind?" Then shut up and let them talk. You will probably find out the true reason why it may seem too expensive... and it usually has very little to do with money. Also, if they're actually comparing your price to others, this is the best time to find out
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    • For years, if someone said, "It cost too much" I would say, "Compared to what?". And it did a decent job of getting the ball rolling, to find out what they were really thinking.

      The only reason I stopped using it, was that the "compared to what" forces them down a specific path....and it may not be the path that leads to agreement.

      Sometimes, I'd ask, "Compared to what?" and they would say something like "Compared to not buying it". "Compared to what?" kind of forces them to think, and they don't want to think.

      So I switched to;

      "Too expensive?" or even just "Oh?"...and just let them talk. It is so open ended, they can take it anywhere, and it doesn't turn into verbal combat. It's almost like free association. If you ask several versions of "tell me more" (like I stated in an earlier post), they can't argue with you, because you've given them nothing to argue against.

      "Compared to what?" prevents them from telling you a story that doesn't fit your response. And they want to tell you a story....of some terrible deal they made, some way they were taken advantage of, some special deal they have with a supplier, some example of how they negotiated a better deal....almost anything.

      "Compared to what?" (or versions of it) prevents them from saying, "The last guy I bought from, stole my credit card, and sold me a box of rocks". And the only way you'll get there, is by not leading him down a different path. Even better than "too expensive?" is "Oh?"

      When you just say "Oh?" like you are shocked that they didn't just buy......it serves two purposes. It allows them to go anywhere without resistance, and it implies that everyone follows your advice.

      I see you are using it to get to their real concern, or real problem. My way just does that with less resistance, I find. "Compared to what?" has land mines, that may lead nowhere. My way, just takes out those land mines.

      I hope that makes sense to you.
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  • I've been away for a while and reading this thread as it has developed and in a way rather glad not to pass comment earlier but I just wanted to say how much I appreciated the "non-confrontational" reply that Claude pointed out....

    The other few things I'd like to add are in relation to testimonials.

    Testimonials are the natural antidote to objections.

    Objections are a good thing because it show the prospect is actually interested and you can always use a case study or testimonial of how your solution was cost effective for a past client if you have that in your arsenal.

    I would suggest adding price countering testimonials in the pre-sell or inserting some and bringing up the expensive objection yourself before you get it from the customer.

    I'll often use words like "This is expensive and not for everyone but let me show you anyway"

    Being known as being "expensive" is one thing and having a reputation as being "too dear" is another thing also.

    In face to face selling often the price of what I predominantly sell is not revealed until the client has "made up their mind to buy" and I'll occasionally deflect the "it's too expensive" with a transition to...

    "well it depends on how you are intending to pay"

    The conversation then turns to "how to save" or benefit from the purchase by using different payment methods, reward schemes, upfront payments etc.

    At the point when I find resistance to price it is usually just a matter of allowing them to digest the offer and making it as painless as possible for the client to proceed...

    ...that's why I like Claude's "Oh" approach....

    ...very disarming.

    Thanks,

    Ozi
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    • I used to say almost the same thing. "It is a lot of money. But people are buying these left and right. Would you like to know why?"

      For some reason, they almost always said, "Yes"....almost like a challenge. And I was right back into the presentation.

      I love this stuff. But I'm still depressed, because Animal44 says he makes more money than I do.

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  • Simply focus on people that don't find your offer expensive instead of trying to convince then it isn't. If something is broke i don't try and fix it i move on and look for something that works. End of.
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    • YOU'RE KIDDING ME, RIGHT?

      The truth is it doesn't matter if you're selling $5 ware or $5,000 widget someone out there is going to say "it's too expensive". It is up to the salesman to find out if that's a legitimate excuse or a bluff; and so he or she MUST rebut that sh*t. That's the difference between an order taker and a CLOSER.

      Do you know how much money you're leaving on the table by simply giving up and just focusing on "people that don't find your offer expensive instead of trying to convince then it isn't"? I'm sorry, but I don't know any legitimate sales organization that would tolerate such rhetoric. That's cause for termination.
  • "It's too expensive".
    That answer could mean- I am not interested in your product: I do not like your product; I don't have enough information to work out if your product is worth that; I have already seen a similar product for less; I am not in the market for your product yet;I do not like /trust you enough to part with that kind of money; I like the product but I am trying to get you to lower the price; I cannot afford the product right now; the price is way over what I expected, etc etc.
    You have to ask more questions from the objector to clarify what the real objection is. The
    problem is that on the internet price conditioning is a joke. "Entrepreneurs" often give a list of products that they are selling each with a crazy price attached and then offer the whole caboodle amounting to $800 say and offer it all for $39.95 thus leaving themselves with not an ounce of credibility that their products were ever worth $800. And if you switch away from the page you get an even lower price offered.
    Buyers are not stupid. They see that prices are fluid and often unrealistic. So why would they accept your first price?

    In your particular instance it may mean that you have not fully explained the financial benefits to your product or perhaps they have just bought a large consignment of something else and cannot stretch to your product. When I was selling, I always gave the
    full price followed by a deposit and monthly terms to show that my product was affordable. Often then you will find that your potential customer ignores the full price and
    is trying to alter the deposit/monthly terms ratio.

    Another observation is that what is better- not getting the order at all or getting an order
    albeit at a lower price. In the first instance you have not made any money, in the second
    you have. And you should have several back up products that you may be able to sell to that new customer in the future now that they have trusted you sufficiently you give you some of their money. You may call it weak selling but after you have tried all the other avenues to sell at the asking price, half a loaf is better than no loaf.

    Another way of looking at price is asking yourself whether the price you are charging is the optimum price. You do need to experiment with different prices to see at what price
    gives you the best return. It may be that by dropping the price or raising the price from the one you have now increases your sales though lowering your profit margin or it decreases
    your sales but increases your margins. If you don't know your optimum price it could mean that you are losing money.
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  • Expensive is a very subjective from person to person. For me I would see how much value can I get from it for the price I am paying. For an expensive item, there must be a great value attached to it.
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  • Incorporate lead questions into your sales script...the object is to get them to say "yes" throughout your script so that when you close the sale, you can fight objections or rebuttals reiterating all the questions they answered with a "yes". If they still don't budge, well don't waste any more time with them and move on.

    Just my 2 cents...good luck!
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  • It's not going to get any easier to afford it later.
  • Just wanted to say what a great thread this is. I've been on wf for several years and don't recall this topic being covered so directly. Anyone who works the lead gen market should be taking notes and testing ALL of these suggestions to see what works with your personality and market.

    A couple of additions I haven't seen mentioned yet that have worked well for me are:

    1. Have a backup plan with a lower price and less of an offering - You could say, "Yeah, every once in a while someone brings up price as being the #1 first priority...even over results, so I came up with a lower end package that might be more in line with your budget. Based on our conversation and me as your professional advisor, I'm really feeling my original package we discussed will provide the real outcome you're looking for, but at least you can get started in the right direction with this other."

    People almost always go for the higher-end package because no one wants to "just get started."

    2. Cite others the person might know - One of the niche markets I serve, everyone knows everybody in the niche. So, all I have to do when there's a price objection is say, "Yeah, I remember John Doe saying the exact same thing but he went forward with me anyway and I can say for certain that after he got his first $14,000 keynote gig, the last thing he was thinking about was how much he paid me."
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  • A friend in the lawn sprinkler business has the Ben Franklin quote on the side of his truck:

    “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
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  • Another response is to ask "is there anything else apart from price that is stopping you going ahead". When I was in sales-admittedly a fair while ago now, we wanted price to be the only objection since we drop closed and we asked that question when we were at the top price knowing that we had perhaps several offers with which we could reduce the price anyway. [I designed and sold kitchens to people in their house all in one visit.] We had the benefit of finance schemes as well to make the kitchen seem more affordable.
    But that question eliminated all the other objections like "I want to think about it": etc isolating it just to price.
    The only other objection I didn't mind was "I want to talk to my bank manager/accountant
    before I go ahead" which was an obvious stall instead of saying no. My response was to shake the man's hand and say" thank you for your order-you wouldn't want to speak to your manager unless you wanted the kitchen and so now it is just a question of arranging the finance-isn't that right? While you are doing that I have a finance sheet here that is an alternative to your bank and it could be helpful to let him know what terms we are offering so that he will have to give you a better price or you can stay with our option and of course by signing our forms you guarantee the price of the kitchen to avoid any price rises or changes that could affect the price I have just quoted especially as it may take a little time for you to get an appointment and a response and it would be a pity to lose the price I have just quoted for the sake of a couple of weeks wouldn't it?
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  • A couple come to mind Ziglar used price v cost which works, the feel felt found is also very strong. But if you are getting this particular objection consistently then as stated earlier you may want to look at how your qualifying your prospects. A cold call is a great machine to generate sales. There is no one part that will make it, but any part done half assed will break the whole thing.
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    • I guess I'm a simpleton, but here is how conversations usually go:

      [customer walks in]

      Scenario 1

      C: "Hey! I saw that Awesome Widget that ABC Company has! How much does something like that run?"

      R: "That one runs about $10K, ball park."

      C: "OMG I HAD NO IDEA IT WAS THAT MUCH!" [faints]

      R: [rouses customer] "Hey, welcome back. So what kind of budget do you have?"

      C: "I was looking at spending more like $2K."

      R: "No problem. Let me show you what options we have in that price range..."

      Scenario 2

      C: "Hey! I saw that Awesome Widget that ABC Company has! How much does something like that run?"

      R: "That one runs about $10K, ball park."

      C: "Really? Hm. What can we get if we have a little more to spend? We'd like a widget that can {insert hopes and dreams here}."

      R: "No problem. Let me show you what options we have in that price range..."
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  • dont compare with other products.. sell the thing that makes your product costly.. if its brand.. sell that.. if its technical then sell that..

    say how your product is far better than others.. take no names in particular.. but make sure to make the distinction..
  • I haven't read all the replies/posts so forgive me.

    OP...you'll want to work out the lifetime value of a new customer so that you can
    get a new one on board. Once you know that figure you can do a deal to get a new customer
    by simply saying this:

    "Too expensive?"
    Ok ms potential customer how about I do you a deal to try my leads?

    If they say no just say ok bye!

    If they say yes to a deal say this:

    Realistically, what's the most you'd pay me for a sample of say 10/20/50 or whatever leads?

    Whatever figure they give you just say.....er realistically?

    Do a deal. If your leads are any good they'll be begging for more and you can charge whatever you want. If your leads are not worth the 'deal' price then why are you selling them?

    Just do a deal to get them on board.

    You'll never even think about the next time they say "too expensive"


    Just had this little flashback to when I was selling my own sales training.

    When I told a prospect what my daily rate was they usually gasped and said wow that is really expensive I'd say I'm glad you think so 'cos if there is anyone out there charging more than me, my price is going up.

    In fact mr customer I am the most expensive sales trainer in the country by quite a margin.

    So when you've finished gasping could you answer me this question?

    Why do you think I'm so expensive?

    Can you guess what they said in 99% of cases?
    • [1] reply
    • Because you're a greedy bugger...?
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  • There are so many ways to answer. Looks like everyone did a great job. I also like to have an option A,B and C. I learned to NEVER have just one option. Usually price is just a complaint though, not an objection. Some people bitch about price for sport. In the end, as long as you show the value. Price doesn't matter so much.
  • If you're selling leads, and someone says you're too expensive, then why not just say "NEXT". Certainly you have others in the pipeline you can propose the same offer to.

    I refuse to wheel and deal with potential customers anymore. Nor will I give away free leads. It's always a no-win situation.

    Short story - about 4-5 months ago I had a spot open in one of my cities that I needed to fill with a new client.

    Dude wheeled and dealed me, and I agreed to give him 5 leads for free, and he could decide whether or not he wanted to continue (few details left out). Anyways, the 5 leads came and went, and I emailed and said, alright buddy, I can't send you any more business until we come to an agreement. He knew I had others in the pipeline, 4 had confirmed they wanted the leads no questions asked, however this was later in the day after I already made the "5 free leads" deal - and I stand by "first come, first served."

    Anyways, before he could even respond to setting up payment (which I can't remember if I gave him til the end of the day or 24 hours to cement the deal), I sold the leads to his competitor down the street.

    Dick move? Maybe.

    But this was his response:

    I need more leads to really tell if this is going to work. So for now, I'll pass on the offer. It seems you're way too eager to make the sale, so I don't think it's going to work. - and I think he added in a backhanded insult as well.

    LOL. Reason I was eager to make the sale is that I had 4 people already ready to pay if I offered them, and pay up front. And #1 on that list took me up on the offer as soon as I called him.

    Rebuttal for "it's too expensive"?

    My rebuttal is now, and will always be: "NEXT. "

    I have no patience for bullsh!t.
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  • "It's too expensive? Compared to what?"

    "Oh, I see, so compared to the WIX site your foster child made our fee is expensive to you. Well, Mr. customer, you're mostly right, we aren't cheap. However, the most expensive part of running a business is losing sales that you should have made if you had the right tools, and the right advertising, and that's where we can help, because this isn't a cost, this is an investment...
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    • Hopefully you are exaggerating for effect and not using this wording and tone.

      If not, then I don't see this approach working well. At all.
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    • Let's ignore the rest of what you said. Just saying, "Compared to what?" is antagonistic. It's slightly combative. The prospect doesn't owe us a n explanation. And if someone said, "Compared to what?" to me, I'd probably say, "Compared to not buying". And it would be over.


      The best answer I've ever used in the field (in the rare case that I've heard "It's too expensive")is either, "Too expensive?' or simply, "Oh?"....like you have never heard it before.

      It's completely non-confrontational, and will generally allow the prospect to run out of steam with that objection....or at least allow them to give you an easier objection to overcome.

      Insulting the prospect works zero percent of the time.
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  • Could be it is too expensive. Maybe you are charging way too much...

    on the other hand, if you know it's priced fairly then maybe you haven't built enough value into what you're offering...could be your sales pitch, letter, or whatever lacks the right value building skills.

    You need to build value in your product. So much value it seems like a real deal.

    No value means everything is always too expensive to the person you're trying to sell your product to.
  • I've done over 30,000 cold calls myself and love this objection. If a client gives me a respond like that then I KNOW I haven't described enough value to my product and haven't made the client 'need' it. When a client 'needs' something then nothing is too expensive. How to make a client 'need' it? Sorry but that depends on products and I've never sold leads.
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  • My reply is "Later on then". Click. If you think it's too expensive to supply your sales people with high quality leads, then that is " your bad" . And I would walk on, knowing that in the next few calls, someone would see my value.


    A guy with that argument is gonna be a pain in your ass the whole way.


    The only way I would rebut and try to get that sale is if it was a one time thing... Like "Bamm" the sale is done. Never have to deal with them again. Then I would try to close it and rebut.


    But if it was going to be the type of sale where I had to continually deal with such a mindset, then I would pass and say "Later".


    No thanks.


    I could give you 20 different rebuttals..., but that's what I would do.


    There are too many fish in the sea. It can be much easier than battling with people and wrestling with them to get a close.


    Don't talk to them in the first place if they aren't highly interested and half sold already, for one.


    Don't waste energy on "tire kickers".


    On another note: . The body of your sales pitch should cover and resolve all of the common objections, way before you get to the close.

    You have to know ahead of time what the objections might be, and knock them out before you get to the close.

    Closing should not be a question , but a natural conclusion.

    - John Durham
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  • 108

    "It's too Expensive" - WHAT'S YOUR BEST RESPONSE?

    Alright, so the other day I'm on the phone trying to sell my leads right, and I get his DARN objection again: "It's too expensive" or "It costs too much" ... UHHH! I can't seem to find the best answer to combat this objection. I don't get it all the time, but most times I do, I never seems to come out of it smoothly...