A lady just left my store with a high end product for $1,199.
I'm the third retail store she called today. All of us are in the same town. All of us have at least one of the same model on our floor. Both of my competitores have substantially lower prices than I do.
So the mystery is, why did she buy from me? Was it my masterful technique? My wonderful persona? No.
The first guy she called closes at Noon on Saturdays. He does the same thing on Thursdays, & is closed on Wednesday. He Golfs. Had he been there when she called he would have had a $1,000 sale. It would have been the single largest sale he's ever had. He would have made enough to ...well, take off another day to play golf.
The second dealer she called did what many retail dealers do. The shopper asked him the price over the phone & he refused to give it to her. Instead, he used the time honored "technique" of telling her that "he can't give her a price over the phone but will beat any price she comes in with". I can hear a few of you now saying to yourselves "Yeah Baby, That's what I do. I'm not going to give a price over the phone. They want a price, they have to come in so I can SELL them".
To get to the end of this sad story...She called me last. I gave her a price for 3 different models. She came in & gave me the money.
Think about this. My competitor could have told her his price (I'm sure it was less than mine, by hundreds) & had the sale. I wonder how many times this has happened before?
When a customer calls for a price, what is the best thing you can tell them? After decades of testing, research, & trial & error I have come to this conclusion.
That the best thing to tell them is.......um... the price.
Ask yourself this question;
If you called a store & they wouldn't give you a price over the phone Would you be Happy? Would you say to yourself, "This guy knows his STUFF! I can't wait to drive to his store so I can be privy to his secret price. His price is soooo good, he can't even TELL anyone. Wow, let me get my coat!"?
The only place that will happen is in your dreams.
Has a customer ever come into your store & said "Boy, am I glad you wouldn't give me that price over the phone. Driving here is SOO much more convenient"?
Have you ever called a retail store anywhere, at any time, in any industry, & have them refuse to give you a price on a specific product? If they refused, did you STILL go there? The answer is no. I don't know you...and I know your answer is no.
Does refusing to give a price over the phone build your business? create confidence in the customers mind? cause a customer to refer others to you? No.
What does refusing to give a price over the phone do? It makes us feel like we're in control. It makes for a good story to tell our buddies. "Man, that jerk will HAVE to come in if they want ME to give them a price!"
What do the profitable retailers do? The ones who are growing, do?
They tell the price, then they ask a few questions, offer any advice they can over the phone & invite the customer into the store. Does that work every time? Nope. But refusing to give a price over the phone almost never works.
I know I know. You have a story about a time it worked. Why do you remember it? Because it works so rarely.
"But wait! we give the customer a great reason they can't get a price over the phone." No, you don't. The customer isn't interested in your story. They want the price. And strangely enough, they will call the next store, to get a price rather than drive to see you.
The "refusing to give a price over the phone" crowd does it for one reason That's the way they were taught. This is not discovered through experience.
You'll never read this in a sales book. It is passed on, generation after generation, as a "technique". It is a technique. It has a name. It's called a Beginner technique.
I know this article has an edge to it. But the advantage to YOU, of giving a price over the phone, is so great I didn't want to be diplomatic about this.
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