BRX Pro Tip: Asking the Money Question
Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, let’s chat a little bit about asking the money question.
Lee Kantor: Yeah. And I know this is something that is important to you and it is something that you are doing a great job with and that I’ve learned from over the years of working with you. But there is a secret, life hack tip, about how to ask that super difficult, uncomfortable question when it comes to sales. When you ask your prospect if they really do have the money to do the deal and it’s something that you do in a great way, in an elegant way, every single time, you just straight up ask them.
Lee Kantor: I mean, it doesn’t have to be a big deal. It doesn’t require a big lead-up and some, you know, dramatic music playing. Just do it matter of factly. Simply ask them the money question. It’s not that difficult. Your service costs, what it costs. You shouldn’t be hiding from that fact. It shouldn’t be something that you sneak in. It is what it is.
Lee Kantor: And if you feel weird about the price, that’s your own mental constraint. That’s you self-sabotaging yourself. I mean, if it requires you to sit in front of a mirror to practice quoting price until you can do it without stuttering or hedging, then do that. But your price is your price. This isn’t something that you should be quick to negotiate down on. This should be something that you should be proud of and feel confident that you’re providing such value that they’re getting a deal no matter what the price is.
Lee Kantor: So, don’t make the money question into a big hairy deal. It is what it is. Just like your price is what it is. You shouldn’t have to be ducking this or hedging on this. It should just be spoken as a matter of factly as any other piece of information you have about your service or their business.
Stone Payton: Well – and the other piece of this is communicating the answer to the money question either before or after and it can work both ways. But if you just communicate very clearly, very confidently, what the fee structure is, what the price is, and then you ask them if, you know, in their opinion, do they feel that that investment is something that they have, or how do you feel about that, or do you feel like you can afford it? Do you feel like you’ll get your return on that financial investment? If your every bit is candid with what the price is, then it makes perfect sense for you to be very candid and straightforward in asking the question.
Stone Payton: The two go together and you should have a good, clear answer. You shouldn’t be making up the answer every time you’re talking. You should know what the answer is and you ought to be able to communicate it. There’s some science that says talk about a range. There are others that say, you know, tell them $2,348.17. And most cases I do the latter. And then, I’m pretty quick to follow that up, “You know, how do you feel about that? In your opinion, do you feel like that’s a good investment for what we’re describing?” Get that answer. Don’t leave that out there hanging because that energy does not serve in the conversation or the process at all.
