There are two basic types of price objections.
One of them, you can do something about. The other is a lot harder.
The hard one is when it’s truly a resource problem. This is where some coaches will tell you to offer financing or ways to come up with the money.
I’m more a fan of offering amazing free content and other stuff that people can actually use to get results. And you can also offer scholarships if you want to.
There are lots of cool options here – I’m not an expert in any of them, but the point is that if your business is very successful based on the people who ARE paying your fees without objection, then you can really do whatever you want to help the others.
The much easier type of price objection is where they actually do have the money or a way to get it, and it won’t be too much of a hardship for them, but they’re just not certain of the value of your offer so they’re not feeling particularly compelled to let go of their hard-earned funds that they might be able to better use in another way.
The good news is that based on my own experience, I think the latter scenario is actually far more common.
I used to get all sorts of price objections and then I would see someone I’d had on a discovery call actually post on FB about how they were excited to have joined so-and-so’s program and I looked it up and saw that so-and-so’s program was twice as expensive as mine. Huh?!
It was then that it started to dawn on me that “I can’t afford it” sometimes meant, “I’m not too sure that your program will do what it claims it will, or even what the eff it’s actually about. I’d rather invest in something that I’m more sure about.”
I started to realize that sometimes I, too, had actually given price objections to people when I did have the money.
(We humans really have incredible blind spots sometimes, to not even realize that we’ve exhibited the very same behavior that we find so confusing in others.)
There was one memorable time when I told someone that I couldn’t afford to spend the money to travel to an international event with a group we were both a part of, and then I turned around and bought some other things that I wanted and needed, spending about the same amount of money as the trip would have cost.
The truth was that I really didn’t want to go on the trip that badly. But I couldn’t admit that even to myself. It really did sound like a lot of money, but I now see that the same amount of money didn’t sound like a lot when I could get some things I REALLY wanted in exchange.
I’ve also given a lot of price objections to business coaches and other business programs when I wasn’t sure they really knew what they were talking about or could help me, but I did have the amount of money they were asking for.
There are several components to dealing with this type of price objection. And by “deal with it,” I don’t mean “handle” it – I mean you don’t even get the objection in the first place. 😉
But in this post I’m just going to focus on ONE of the things you can do.
And that is to shift your marketing (posts, videos, whatever you do) to be lighter on pain points and outcomes, and heavier on HOW you get outcomes.
Most marketing that I see out there has that ratio flipped. It’s a lot heavier on pain points and talking about outcomes, and lighter on the “how.”
Like, “Don’t you hate when yadda yadda yadda happens? It’s really painful right? This happens and this happens and this happens and aren’t you sick of it? [Goes on and on for more than half the post or video describing the problem and how bad it is]”
“But did you know it could be like THIS instead? You could get THIS BIG OUTCOME?”
“Well we can help you! We use an amazing proprietary method and it works really well! It works like this: [Gives one or two vague sentences about how the method works] Book a call to learn more and see if our program is a fit for you!”
That is not helpful to the savvy high-ticket buyer (you know, the kind who actually has money to spend and is just looking for the right person to spend it with 😉 ) who already knows their pain points and what outcome they want.
Marketing that convinces that kind of person that you’re different and actually know what you’re talking about, sounds more like this:
“Here’s why you’re not getting [OUTCOME].”
“[Takes 90% of the post/video explaining why the person is not getting their outcome and what exactly they need to do to get it]”
“Here’s our container for providing that kind of help for you. Here’s what it costs and here’s why it’s worth that. DM us if you’re interested in seeing if you are the best candidate.”
See the difference?
I’ve tested the two ways – extensively.
The first way leads to long, meandering sales calls with price shock, laborious explanations of the work you do, doubtful prospects and lots of heartache and self-doubt for you, the provider.
The second way leads to short, efficient conversations initiated by people who just have a question or two before they are ready to sign up without objections. (And even without a call most of the time!)
I know which way I prefer. 😉
A lot of folks are scared to give the more detailed explanation because they’ve been taught that if you do that, people will just go do it themselves.
But the people who are least likely to give a price objection (those who have money and not a lot of time) won’t do that. They’ll be grateful to be reassured that what you do makes sense and seems likely to get a result. And they’ll feel a lot more confident handing over that credit card with plenty of space on it.
Sounds heavenly, right?
I’ve been a high-ticket buyer many times over, and I wouldn’t dream of trying to implement someone’s well-explained strategy for myself. I’m far too busy to try to DIY. But the well-explained strategy does convince me that they are actually an expert who knows what they are talking about, and that’s the entire point.
When you switch to the heavier-on-‘how’ way of marketing, you should notice your sales conversations becoming dramatically easier and your price objections dropping to nearly zero (as they have for me for over 3 years).
I have a lot of strategies and tricks for getting your “how” explanation right (so it’s actually helpful and not confusing to people), and I’ve talked about those in many other posts, as well as video trainings (with examples!). Check them out if you want to know more. A good video to start with is the one entitled “CONTENT CLINIC” – there are quite a few case studies in there.
And, of course, the fastest way to get it right is to work with me 1:1! Getting your “how” right in your social media posts is a major focus of my 30-day intensive for experienced coaches and service providers.
We also work on defining what type of client is least likely to give you price objections and making sure that your posts and your organic marketing strategy are aimed at calling forward that type of person.
DM me on Facebook if interested in the program and we will have a short chat to see if you’re a good candidate to get results!
Also send me that DM if you’re interested in becoming certified and licensed to teach my methods to your own clients. Find more information about that here.