“It’s Too Expensive”
When a prospect tells you “it’s too expensive,” they’ve done you a favor: they’re telling you that you haven’t had an effective value conversation.
The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®.
TRANSCRIPT
John Ray: [00:00:00] Hello again. I’m John Ray on The Price and Value Journey. “It’s too expensive.” How do you react when a prospect says this?
John Ray: [00:00:11] All of us are human, and the normal reactions might be to give up, get angry, get defensive. And, of course, let that imposter syndrome rear its ugly head. Don’t give in to any of these impulses. Instead, you should mentally thank that prospect for their response. They’ve given you valuable feedback, which prospects don’t always do. Often they’re too polite to tell you that.
John Ray: [00:00:42] Further, though, and more important, if you get this reaction, it’s almost always your fault. Well, why is that? It’s because you haven’t had an adequate value conversation. A conversation which helps you determine what the client values, what they hold dear. Because you don’t understand the client’s perception of value, you’ve been in the dark as you prepared your proposal.
John Ray: [00:01:07] And here’s another reason why if a client says you’re too expensive it might be your fault. You’re only offering one option. You haven’t taken advantage of what many professional services providers are able to do. Offer three options, optimally, which are crafted to respond to the client perception of value as revealed in that great value conversation that you should have had.
John Ray: [00:01:32] Offering only one option creates a fill or kill situation, one in which you are more likely to get a too expensive response. Or just as bad, the prospect immediately accepts your proposal quietly thinking that they can’t believe you’re offering so much for the stated services at the low price that you’re offering. Effective value conversations invariably help you avoid the “too expensive” response.
John Ray: [00:02:06] I’m John Ray on The Price and Value Journey. Past episodes of this series can be found at pricevaluejourney.com or on your favorite podcast app. And if you’re not already a subscriber, I’d be honored if you would do that. You can also email me directly, john@johnray.co. And big news, I’ve got a book coming in 2023, and I would love to tell you more about that if you’d like to be in touch. Thank you.
About The Price and Value Journey
The title of this show describes the journey all professional services providers are on: building a services practice by seeking to convince the world of the value we offer, helping clients achieve the outcomes they desire, and trying to do all that at pricing which reflects the value we deliver.
If you feel like you’re working too hard for too little money in your solo or small firm practice, this show is for you. Even if you’re reasonably happy with your practice, you’ll hear ways to improve both your bottom line as well as the mindset you bring to your business.
The show is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® and can be found on all the major podcast apps. The complete show archive is here.
John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.
John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneur and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their “grey matter,” such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
In his other business, John is a Studio Owner, Producer, and Show Host with Business RadioX®, and works with business owners who want to do their own podcast. As a veteran B2B services provider, John’s special sauce is coaching B2B professionals to use a podcast to build relationships in a non-salesy way which translate into revenue.
John is the host of North Fulton Business Radio, Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio, Alpharetta Tech Talk, and Business Leaders Radio. house shows which feature a wide range of business leaders and companies. John has hosted and/or produced over 1,600 podcast episodes.
Coming in 2023: A New Book!
John’s working on a book that will be released in 2023. The book covers topics like value and adopting a mindset of value, pricing your services more effectively, proposals, and essential elements of growing your business. For more information, contact John below.
