Q. A prospect constantly calls telling me he needs a proposal by the next day and then, after looking at it, tells me my price is just a little too high and that he's going with the competition. How do I find out if this is truly a price objection?A. It sounds as though your prospect needs more than one bid and is using you to fill that requirement. Also, if you have someone who is looking only at price, you are either not selling the value, you aren't calling high enough in the organization, or both. In any case, here's how to find out if this is truly a price objection:
The next time you present a proposal to this prospect, don't put any pricing on it. When he asks about pricing say, "What price do I need to be at to get the business?" You may not get a straight answer to this initially. You need to question the prospect until you nail down a number. For example, the prospect may say, "Mid 20's." To which you say, "25 thousand?" Once you get a price, pull out your order form and start filling it out. Do this even if you can't sell it for that price, your objective here is to see if he stops you. When he asks what you're doing, just continue to fill out the form and simply say, "I'm writing up the order for (whatever the amount is)." If this is truly a price objection, he will let you write up the order. If it isn't a price objection, the prospect will stop you with something along the lines of, "I already bought from the competition." At that point, stop and look him straight in the eye and don't say a word. The prospect will then sing like a canary and you will find out the true objection.
Finally, you have to stop letting this prospect waste your time. You are most likely going to need to deal with someone else at the company (go over his head), or change your sales strategy so you can beat the competition.
