Are You Sure Price Is the Problem?

our work draws attention and the customer asks, “How much?” Yet, after you respond with the price, the prospective buyer says, “That’s a lot of money!”

When potential customers comment about the price, sellers usually perceive the cost as the problem when, in fact, there are other reasons buyers raise the price as the issue.

Your first step is to identify whether this is real or perceived price resistance. There are five categories of price resistance but only one is real, or what I call legitimate, resistance. The other four categories of perceived price resistance are misunderstandings, conditions, stalls and tactics. These are all areas of resistance that you can overcome.

Responding to Price Resistance

There are two occasions when you need to defend your price. The first is when buyers believe they can obtain the same work from someone else for less money. You can separate yourself from price comparisons by explaining that your artwork is one-of-a-kind, unique, better quality or more distinctive than your competitors. Then, your customers are more likely to compare products based on your explanation — not on your price. Whenever two options appear the same to buyers, the decision will almost certainly be made on price.

Misunderstandings

The second situation when you need to defend, and explain, your price is when buyers don’t understand the value of the work.
People rarely buy when they don’t understand, and worse, they can’t or won’t tell you when they don’t understand. Sometimes, they are misinformed. Maybe they just need to be reassured.

In order to help the buyer see the value of a specific work, it’s crucial to identify their wants, needs, values and opinions. Ask about previous craft works they’ve bought, including the price paid. They may have seen something they believe is similar, but with your assistance, they’ll be able to see the difference.

Conditions

Conditions are real situations that affect the buyer’s response to the price, but are not necessarily related to the price itself. Conditions affecting a sale may be a lack of trust, indecisiveness, a temporary mood, a need for personal or third-party justification, a missing decision maker, and/or the lack of (or perceived lack of) money.

You need to take control of these conditions but you don’t have to control, pressure or intimidate people. If a wholesale buyer tells you that they like your work but have already spent their budget for the show, you can give them your brochure and suggest they make notes for possible purchases at a future time. Then make a note to follow up with them a few weeks after the show. Often, they are ready to talk about an order when they are feeling less tired or pressured.

Use qualification questions to clarify intent, because people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say. A customer at a retail show may say they have already made an expensive purchase from another artist and cannot afford to spend more. However, if you invite them to look at your work and engage them in conversation, they may buy after all because they really wanted time to justify the purchase to themselves.

You can also try to determine if a retail purchase might fall into a different category than the one the buyer means initially. Point out that a piece of your work makes a great gift for Christmas or a birthday, or that your work would provide an eye-catching and distinctive one-of-a-kind choice for a home decoration or improvement. People usually separate budgets for gifts and home improvements from the ones they reserve to buy treats for themselves.

Stalls

Stalls usually occur when people are insecure, indecisive or don’t see the urgency of making a decision. Unfortunately, prospective buyers won’t tell you they’re insecure or indecisive — they may not recognize it themselves. Therefore, their remarks will not reveal their true feelings, opinions or motives. They may say something like, “Let me think about this and I’ll come back later.”

Avoiding stalls is impossible. Seventy percent of your prospective retail buyers will be indecisive. Sometimes, the buyers want to avoid the responsibility of a decision and hope we will do it for them. Others actually believe that we’re more qualified. The key is to honor their trust with the truth.

Possible ways to get them to commit when they obviously like your work but claim they cannot buy today, include pointing out that this is a one-of-a-kind item, that it may not be available at a later time, and offering a lay-away plan.

Tactics

People use tactics, such as bargaining, when trying to get a better deal, regardless of their perception of your product’s value. Tactics are the most difficult of the categories to deal with because you’re never dealing with the truth. Sometimes you’re dealing with outright deceit — a buyer may falsely claim to have seen something exactly like your work for half the price. Other times, it’s more innocent. They may be testing you or just trying to save money.

My grandparents were immigrants and working class people who wouldn’t try to take advantage of others. But, they knew that if they questioned the price of something, they might be rewarded with a better deal.

Whatever you do, don’t validate tactics by paying them too much attention. When you ignore a tactic, there’s a good chance that it won’t be repeated.

Remember, when you justify your price, you validate the objection, whether it’s real or not. When you justify your price before you know if price is a real issue, you may create an objection that didn’t previously exist. Master your ability to determine the difference between real and perceived price resistance and you’ll make more sales at better prices and terms.

David Yoho is president of Professional Educators Inc., a creative marketing agency that provides systems and structure for sales, marketing, negotiation and management. For more information, see www.davidyoho.com..