How to Beat the Money Objection Keep customers from shopping around by proving why your product is the best, even when it's not the cheapest.

Have you ever heard this from a potential client: "Okay. Well, thanks for the information. I want to shop around and will get back to you if this is really what I want." Unless you've only been in business a day or two, this is probably a familiar phrase.

In most cases, what are your prospects really saying to you? They're saying, "I want to know if I can get it cheaper somewhere else." When you hear those words, it's usually a money issue. Occasionally, it's not, and the client truly isn't certain the product meets their needs and is looking for other colors, options or services.

Having bargain-hunting clients is a given in any business. Knowing how to get them to stop shopping and make the decision to own is a skill. You have to understand that it's pretty normal to want the newest, best, shiniest, fastest and brightest when it comes to making product purchases. But no one wants to pay too much for that newest, best, shiniest, fastest and brightest thing. Before you can use the words to address this situation, you have to know what you're up against.

Doing Your Homework

How much do you know about the products being offered by your competition? Do you know what your clients are comparing you with? If not, invest some valuable time in research. Spending a day or two visiting the competition with the eyes of a shopper just might amaze you. You may readily see a weakness in their product or service that you'll then use as a strong selling point in your presentations. Or you may find a weakness in yours. Either way, you've learned information critical to the success of your business.

After completing your research, you may have discovered that the competition truly does offer your product at a lower investment. Or that it may be a slightly inferior product. Or that they may not offer the excellent service that you do. There's bound to be something you find that's not at good as what you offer. If you don't find one of those three things as being different from your offering, you may need to rethink what you offer to improve it in at least one of those three areas.

Then the next time you hear a client say, "I can get it cheaper somewhere else," use these words: "That may well be true, Mary. And, after all, in today's economy, we all want the most for our money." By agreeing with them, they'll sense you have their best interests at heart and will listen to what you say next, which is: "A truth that I've learned over the years is that the cheapest price isn't always what we really want. Most people look for three things when making an investment: the finest quality, the best service and the lowest price. I haven't found a company yet that could provide the finest quality and the best service for the lowest price. I'm curious, Mary, for your long-term happiness with (name your product), which of the three would you be most willing to give up: quality, service or low price?"

You'll find that few clients want to give up on quality. And not many like the idea of inferior service. So that just leaves the price. What you've just done is to help them rationalize and justify the amount of money that was the issue just a moment ago. When they come to this conclusion, most people quickly realize the benefit of having the buying decision made. They can then move on to something else in their lives, not having to invest any more time in researching the product or service and being happy to have come to this point.