How many times have you had a client say ‘your price is too high’?
It’s a tired line that customers have been trained to use, hoping that you, the builder, will pull back on your margins. Along the way, someone has told them that if they tell you “your price is too high”, there’s a chance you’ll change the quote to some lower number.
Lowering the price to win the job is exactly what most ‘order takers’ will do. An educated builder knows better and does not lower their price, unless the client changes the job.
It may seem daunting to hold firm, especially if the client has said you came in higher than two other quotes. However, hearing ‘your price is too high’ simply means that you have not done your job as a salesperson. Plain and simple, you have been lazy and have missed some very important steps in the sales process.
The number one rule for sales is to qualify your prospect. You need to pin down the budget to the point that you know exactly what they want and are willing to spend.
Here are the four essential questions you need to ask the client:
1. What do you want to do?
2. When do you want to do it?
3. Who will make the buying decision?
4. What does that person(s) want to spend?
If you get the answer to (at least) those four questions, you will get to a “yes” much quicker. They will help you qualify your prospect and save you a world of pain in wasted time and energy down the track.
Over the years I’ve compiled a list of the most effective qualifying questions a builder can ask. Click here to download them now.
Knowing the answer to these questions will increase your sales conversion rate very quickly, without lowering your margins. Learn the technique, ask the questions, get the answers and watch not only your sales increase, but your profits increase as well.
