Why Pricing Shakes Your Confidence & How To Fix It
What shakes your confidence when selling?
Is there a particular thing that happens between you and a prospective client that causes you to question your offer(s)? Do you know how to fix it? Is it pricing?
One of the most common things that shakes people's confidence in the selling process is receiving any kind of push back on your pricing. Actually, to clarify this a bit more, it's your perception of what people think about your prices that often diminishes confidence. We often project our own limiting beliefs onto our clients and act as if we know what they're thinking or what they mean when they ask certain questions.
It's been my experience that our limiting beliefs and assumptions about what others are thinking are usually wrong. Often my clients like to defend their limiting beliefs and assumptions by providing evidence of 1, 2 or sometimes even 3 examples that justify their reactions. This justification is what's known as generalizing. Generalizing happens when we decide that something is true based on a small sample. Of course, generalization can work in your favor when you take a small sample and decide something that empowers or energizes your business. Unfortunately, we're more likely to generalize the negative experiences in order to keep us safe.
Pricing: Confidence Shaking Situation
Here's a common situation that often shakes your confidence in the selling process: A prospective client reaches out because they're interested in your product/service and the first question they ask is, “What's your price/how much?”
Due to the fact that the first question the prospective client feels compelled to ask is about the price, you start projecting that they probably can't afford it or won't be willing to pay for it. Maybe you even feel a little defensive and go into detail to justify your pricing in your response. You tell the client about your years of experience, your unique or patented approach or a myriad of other details.
The client in this situation interprets your defensiveness as lacking in confidence in your product/service and they decide to either wait or check in with your competitors.
Pricing: Why This Went So Wrong
The first reason this went wrong is that you projected your opinion about why the person was asking about price without doing any due diligence to understand the client's reason for asking. Your projection caused you to act in a slightly defensive manner and rapport was diminished with the prospective client as a result.
The second reason this went wrong is the prospect is likely also projecting their own limiting beliefs onto you at the same time. They might feel compelled to have to justify why that's their first question because they think you're judging them. And who likes to be judged? They may have followed up the price question with a reason as to why they're asking. A prospect might say, “Please tell me what you charge because I'm on a limited budget due to (being out of work, putting kids through college, single parent, etc). The client feels the need to justify their position in hopes that you don't think less of them and aren't offended by their question.
The third reason this went wrong is that you and the prospective client are now feeling a little defensive and aren't the best versions of yourself. Neither of you is comfortable and therefore the communication continues to break down. You both want out of the conversation as quickly as possible.
Pricing: The Fix
The simplest way to fix this is to start listing pricing on your website. Chances are the price-sensitive prospective clients are going to check your website first before reaching out to you. Then, if they can't afford you, they're less likely to contact you directly.
Having less of these price conversations is better for your confidence. You'll stop generalizing that “nobody can afford you”. You'll start having conversations with clients who can actually afford your product/service and you'll likely increase your close rate. Increasing your close rate is going to give you an even bigger confidence boost in the selling process.
The next best fix is to learn a simple way to re-frame how you interpret the question about price. When you learn a new way to look at it, you'll react differently. Your new reaction will increase your confidence as well as your prospect's confidence in you.
Wishing you continued success in all areas of your business.
Agree? Disagree? Have additional comments or thoughts on this article? Please share.
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