You’ve just had the most amazing potential client conference call and now it’s time to discuss your rates. You quote your price, and your prospect lets out a long sigh which means you’re about to hear something like:
“That’s more than I expected.”
“Why are you so expensive when others charge much less?”
“I can’t afford that, it’s over my budget.”
If you play your cards right, you can actually move this towards a sale but if you’re not prepared for these type of objections, you’ve lost out on a potential client.
Turn the tables back on them. When you hear you’re too expensive, ask them “compared to what?”. This simple question will help you understand what their objections are to your price and Bushra from the Persuasive Revolution and HubSpot has great advice to help you navigate the discussion.
Another reason your prospect is objecting to your price is that they do not see the value in hiring you over someone less expensive.
If you haven’t differentiated yourself from your competition than the only deciding factor for your prospect is one based on price.
Why do you buy certain brands over other more expensive ones that offer the same service/solution?
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Let’s look into that.
For decades, McDonald’s was a family staple, a part of our culture. As a kid, my mom took me to McDonald’s at least once a week, I played in the playplace and I even had my birthday parties there.
Today, the picture is very different. People are flocking to fast food restaurants that offer a healthier menu and put emphasis on customer experience.
People are flocking to fast food chains like Chipotle and Shake Shack despite the fact that the food is more expensive. These fast food chains offer higher quality food and a customer experience that McDonald’s can’t.
So what does that tell you about your prices? It means that you need to clearly define what sets you apart from your competition. Show your prospects that what you offer they won’t be able to find anywhere else. By doing this, you’re making your competition irrelevant. But how do you do this?
That’s where the Blue Ocean Strategy comes into play. The Blue Ocean Strategy describes how companies are fighting for market space and competition is fierce. So fierce that it’s like sharks fighting other sharks turning a blue ocean red with blood.
This is a terrible market to do business in. Instead, companies should do business in a blue ocean, where there are no competitors.
Here’s an example, taken right out of the book:
“The only way to beat the competition is to stop trying to beat the competition. In red oceans, the industry boundaries are defined and accepted, and the competitive rules of the game are known.
In blue oceans, competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set. …The companies caught in the red ocean followed a conventional approach, racing to beat the competition by building a defensible position within the existing industry order.
The creators of blue oceans, surprisingly, didn’t use the competition as their benchmark. …Instead of focusing on beating the competition, they focus on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for buyers and your company, thereby opening up new and uncontested market space. …
Value innovation is based on the view that market boundaries and industry structure are not ‘given’ and can be reconstructed by the actions and beliefs of industry players. …
To fundamentally shift the strategy canvas of an industry, you must begin by reorienting your strategic focus from competitors to alternatives, and from customers to non-customers of an industry.
As you shift your strategic focus from current competition to alternatives and non-consumers, you gain insight into how to redefine the problem the industry focuses on and thereby reconstruct buyer value elements that reside across industry boundaries”
If you’re familiar with Cirque du Soleil then you already have seen a blue ocean strategy at work. Cirque du Soleil looked for alternatives to the traditional circus that we grew up with. They pulled in inspiration from the theater. Their performances aren’t geared towards children, rather to adults therefore opening up a new market for circus goers.
Now for the million dollar question.
How can you differentiate your business and set yourself apart from the rest?
Start by asking yourself what do your customers want? What would make their lives easier? Don’t stop at things like more time, more freedom, more money. Dip deeper.
Business owners want convenience, they want flexibility, they want amazing customer service and they WANT to pay you for you to treat their business like gold. They want to know that everything is taken care of. That no stone is left unturned.
What can you offer your clients that will make them want to fork over their money to you?
Let’s start a discussion below and brainstorm together. Leave a comment and let’s make “you’re too expensive” something you’ll never hear again.
Rock on,
Reese
