If you have been following the posts for this week, you will notice all cover sales objections that are created by poor marketing.  In some instances, marketing that worked in the past no longer works today because buyers are far more educated before they engage in any sales conversation. This is quite true when it comes to price.

Price – The Fallback Sales Objection

Unfortunately, many small business owners lead with price in their marketing.  This is a big mistake because they have lumped themselves as transactional sellers.

One of my colleagues Rick Gosser used to post his embroidered corporate wear with a price on social media. Now he posts only the finished product and when possible includes his delighted customers.  The result is he sells far more products without a price than with a price.

One of the bad direct mail pieces I received from a local real estate agent here in Northwest Indiana made this statement as a headline:

How About 3%?

This direct mail piece immediately jumped to price.  I did not know this real estate agent, I did not know his company and I did not know his solution for marketing or selling my home.  He presumed the reason I was listing the house as For Sale By Owner was because of price.  Really bad presumption on his part not too mention poor marketing.

Apples Versus Oranges Sales Objections

Price is in many instances is one of apples versus oranges especially within the service industry.  Two solutions may be similar, but not the same and hence may have different prices.  For example within my executive coaching and small business coaching practice, I have three (3) price tiers for the first four months based upon distance from my home.  Once I in depth knowledge about the client I then can provide only one investment level.

When I am asked what do I charge by a sales lead out of the gate, my response is I truly do not know because I do not know what your people and process problems are.  To market any solution with a price may possibly confuse the buyer and truly does not provide you the opportunity for differentiation.  People are not buying your price, they are buying you and what you can do to meet their wants and needs.

Free Sales Objections

Believe it or not, free does create sales objections. The buyer may think if I get this for free, what else can I get for free? The seller has created unbeknownst  to him or her a self-fulfilling prophecy

Within my 18 year old established executive coaching and organizational corporate leadership  development, I only meet with qualified sales leads who meet my ideal customer profile.  We may have one to two and sometimes three or four meetings depending upon the scope of the project.  Free is not part of my vocabulary during these discussions.

Recently I completed a project for a large healthcare client in Texas.  Beyond giving him what was articulated in the signed scope of work, I also gave him a participant workbook when I realized it was needed.  The time involved was 15-30 minutes as it was more a matter of cut and paste.  When I included it in the electronic deliverables, I noted its presence without any reference to free.  The client immediately emailed me back and thanked me for going the extra effort.  The client did not look at the participant workbook as something free, but rather viewed it as something of value.

People who market on price fail to understand that marketing is not selling.  And,

Free has zip, nada, no value. The value is elsewhere.

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Leanne Hoagland-Smith is THE People and Process Problem Solver. She supports forward thinking leaders in bridging the gaps between the two problems restricting strategic business growth – people and processes. Leanne can be reached at 219.508.2859 central time USA.  Follow her on Twitter or check out her profile on LinkedIn