By Ken Edmundson

Many salespeople bail out long before they get thrown out. Do you ever wonder why so many salespeople leave a sales opportunity too early?

Salespeople often enter a sales discussion worried about the inevitable money step. What will I say? What will I do? What if they don’t like the price we are charging? What if they can’t afford it? All these questions linger in the mind of the salesperson not only before, but during the sales presentation. It can often be the result of the salesperson’s own mindset about money: “Is my product worth what I’m charging? Could I pay for it if I were in their shoes? Is this too expensive? Do my competitors offer something less expensive? Is my product any better?” These thoughts impact a salesperson in their work with a prospect. This doubt can often diminish the enthusiasm and excitement that a salesperson shows for their product or service. A good prospect can smell the fear and doubt in a salesperson’s mind about their very own self-confidence, or their product, or their price. The salesperson that shows the least amount of doubt will be the most powerful.

The mental part of the sales process is critical, but so is the salesperson’s selling technique–the ability for the salesperson to understand the true pain and problems of their prospect and their understanding of how to uniquely solve those challenges for the prospect. That technique doesn’t come automatically–it’s practice, practice, practice, studying and more studying. It’s understanding your product/service and its power, and also your own skill in managing a sales conversation. When we talk about technique, we are not talking about moves or tricky statements. Technique is the sense of putting the right things in the right place at the right time. Salespeople bail out because their mental focus is weak and their technique is poor.

A professional selling technique reveals that when you talk about money to your prospect before there is a real understanding of what the problems are, money will seem out of place. It will be an uncomfortable feeling; it will be a difficult conversation. It would be no different than sitting down for dinner and asking for the check before you’ve ordered. When things are put in place, when things are orderly, when the salesperson really and truly understands their role and guides the conversation (technique), many of the pricing questions and challenges that occur in a sales conversation are never seen, never experienced, and for the best salespeople in the world, it is truly an engaging and fulfilling opportunity.

Salespeople who understand the problems they solve and the real pain that they eliminate for their prospects move through the budget step in the easiest, most profitable manner.

Recognizing that the mental aspects of a sale and the technique used is critical, I have provided some typical technique responses for you to consider when faced with the five most hated words in sales:

“Your price is too high.”

These responses when used alone are not powerful. They are not tricks or moves. They are simple transition techniques, ways to go from where you are to where you need to be. They are not designed to shock or to challenge or to change the prospect’s mind; they are simple transitions to help you go back to pain if there is a budget challenge or to really, truly understand what the prospect is trying to communicate when they say certain things.

This is where your technique becomes critical. Watch, study, learn, practice, role play, read about your technique and particularly the technique of transitioning from pain to budget. Here are some examples to consider: (more…)