The perception of most business owners I talk to is that people are very price focused shoppers, and only care about price. But the only reason customers ask for the price first, is because that is what we, as business owners, have trained them to do, and we have not done a good job of finding out what they really need.
More often than not, people go into a store not really knowing what model, style, color or features they are looking for and since they are uncertain what else to ask, they ask for the price. At this point should the salesperson come back with the direct response, “That is $49.95” or should they ask the customer some questions about how they are looking to use the product/service? Lets look at a simple example of a coffee maker.
Now in many people’s eyes a coffee maker is a coffee maker, but it can have many different features and offer many different benefits.
So, instead of just responding with the price, what if the sales person simply asks the customer, “Just so I can help you better, is it okay if I ask you a couple of questions about the coffee maker you are looking for?” This is a better response than simply telling the customer how much the kettle costs. Most certainly, the customer would give an affirmative response, since he’d like to find the coffee maker that best suits his needs.
The sales person may then ask questions like: “Is it a gift for someone or are you looking for one for your own use?” If for their use, “Are you looking to replace an existing coffee maker? Do you regularly use your coffee maker or is it only used occasionally?” “Have you seen the single cup options that are available?” “Are you looking for something to match your kitchen?” “So what color are you looking for?” “Coffee makers come in different cup capacity; how many cups will you drink typically? Do you think you’ll use a 12-cup capacity or is 8-cup a better size for you?”
From these questions, the customer gets the idea that the sales person is genuinely interested in their needs, and that the salesperson is able to offer options in the most suitable coffee maker based on his needs.
The importance of the price, is therefore, minimized. It is just a matter of now asking the customer to buy the coffee maker and close the sale. A good salesperson would then ask, “Well, based on what we have just spoken about, there are two options to choose from, model x and model y; which one suits you best?”
Finally, she can ask, “Great, would you like to pay for that by cash or on a credit card.
How does this apply to other businesses? Though this example was for a lower cost item, this process works equally well on cars, retail, houses, furniture, service-based businesses and any other product there is, including funeral homes. Also, while this example is a face to face situation, you can translate the same process onto a well designed website.
Every business owner needs to work out what her customers actually need when they ask for the price, how they’ll use the product, and what’s most important to them in their buying decision.
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