Don’t Take the Customer’s Objection to Price Too Seriously

Tim Connor writes in 91 Common Mistakes Salespeople Make: My experience as a seasoned salesperson shows that customers’ most important expectations are:

1️⃣ A fair price 2️⃣ High‑quality products and services 3️⃣ Keeping promises—especially time commitments

🔹 However, various studies show that if we list customers’ core expectations in order of importance, they are actually:

1️⃣ Keeping promises—especially time commitments 2️⃣ High‑quality products and services 3️⃣ A fair price

🔹 This reveals that, contrary to popular belief, price is not the most important factor for customers. So why do many salespeople still assume that price is the customer’s top concern? The reason is that inexperienced salespeople don’t understand the difference between price, cost, and value.

🔹 Price is the amount the customer pays at the time of purchase. Cost is the money the customer must spend over time to use the product. Value is the level of benefit the customer expects from the product.

🔹 Based on these definitions, although customers often say they want a “cheap” product, what they actually want is one of the following:

◽️ 1. A product with low usage cost. For example, one that is inexpensive to maintain and can be resold second‑hand with minimal loss.

◽️ 2. A product that is worth the money paid. In other words, a product that delivers real value.

🔹 Therefore, when facing a customer who insists on a cheap product, we should explain:

◽️ 1. You shouldn’t look for a cheap product—you should look for one with lower long‑term usage costs than competitors.

◽️ 2. You shouldn’t look for a cheap product—you should look for one that truly delivers value for the money you spend.

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