~by Haley Lynn Gray~
If you’ve been in business, you’ve been right at that point where you get the question from a prospect, “How much does it cost?”. One of my preferred tips for sales is to avoid talking about price until we’ve established exactly what it is that we’re providing for a client in terms of benefits and value. It is critical to establish the value of what you’re selling before talking about how much it costs.
Here’s a good example: When someone calls my home care agency, the first question out of their mouth is frequently “how much do you charge?”. Not all home care agencies are created equal, so that is not the best question for clients to ask. And this is the reason why we try to establish what we do before we talk about what we charge. Our caregivers are screened thoroughly with a national criminal background check, drug screen, reference check, nursing registry check, and multiple rounds of interviews before we send someone out into a client’s home. We use GPS for timecards, so we can verify that our caregiver is actually in the client’s home when they clock in and clock out. Some other agencies still use paper timecards. We also perform unannounced supervisory checks while our caregivers are working because that is our standard of care. But that’s not everyone’s standard of care.
What we’ve learned is that we can compete on price or we can compete on benefits. We prefer to compete on benefits because competing on price alone is a race to the bottom.
Much about pricing depends on your field. If you are providing consulting or other services, you are really talking about an investment on the part of your client, not just a price. You are providing great value and benefits for the client, and you need to establish trust and develop a relationship before you can even begin to talk about price.
Many times the consumer is going to want to know about price up front because it’s an easy decision point. They don’t have to think about it if the number seems “too high”. They can just say no, as opposed to having all of the information in front of them before getting around to making that decision.
When you get around to talking price, you need to be confident about the amount you are quoting. You have to charge an amount that is comfortable for you and that the client is willing to pay. If you aren’t completely confident about the amount you are charging, then it will reflect in your voice, and you’ll hesitate. You can get around it by practicing saying your price. Say it early and often, and say it in front of a mirror. Practice enough so that when you get around to telling your prospective client your prices, you don’t end up choking and saying something else, or saying something silly.
Price is one of those topics that is most sensitive for us, and for our clients, so you’ll want to make sure you have it down pat before getting into those discussions, regardless of your industry.
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Meet the Author: Haley Lynn Gray
Haley helps female entrepreneurs create a strategy plan for their businesses – so they can make enough money to spend quality time with their family, pay for their children’s dance lessons, pay bills – and not worry about where the next client is coming from.
Haley is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Leadership Girl. She helps other entrepreneurs build their businesses by sharing the benefits of her business education and experience through Business Coaching.
Whether you want to get a new business off the ground or expand an existing business, Haley can assist you.
Connect with Haley:
- Work with Haley: https://leadershipgirl.com/work-with-haley/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Leadershipgirl
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haleygray
