Handle the competitor-price objection

1. Where this objection sits

People who use money to dodge a buying decision do it in four ways. The list, in its order, is on SOP 96 — Answer a discount request and capture payment, section 2. This page answers the third way: the prospect points to other people who, they say, offer something similar for less.

It is a circumstance objection. What a circumstance objection is, and how the closes for time and money fit together, is SOP 105 — Handle time and resourcefulness objections, section 1. Before any close on this page, repeat back what they said and agree first. That rule is SOP 100 — Run the reason close, section 2.

This is not a request for a discount. When someone asks you to lower your own price, use SOP 96.

2. What it sounds like

• "The guy down the street does it for less."
• "[Another business] does it for less."
• "I can get it cheaper somewhere else."

3. The idea behind the answer

For people who say someone down the street does it for less, ask them why they did not already buy from that seller. Typically there is a difference in delivery. Point that difference out, and use it to explain the difference in your price, and in your value.

4. The same-price close

What you say, in order.

• Open with agreement. Something like: That's very fair.
• Ask: If we cost the same, which of us would you choose? They name you.
• Ask: Why?
• Wait. They will list the reasons you are better. Let them finish.
• Agree: I totally agree. Those are great reasons. I couldn't have put it better.
• Then: So now you see why we don't cost the same, right?
• Laugh, and ask for the sale again.

What if they name the other seller? The script assumes they name you. What to do if they do not is not established on this page.

5. The good-fast-cheap close

This close is built on good, fast and cheap: the value triangle. It opens in agreement, Totally get it, with a laugh, then names the three: Good. Fast. Cheap. The rest of the close is not established on this page.

6. The cheap-or-what-you-need close

What you say, in order.

• Acknowledge them: I hear you.
• Offer a new way to see it: Maybe look at it like this.
• Set out the choice: You can buy something cheap, or you can buy what you need.
• Spell out what each means. On one side, yet another thing that does not hurt to buy, because you both know it will not do anything. On the other, investing in yourself and solving this problem for good.
• Tie it to their life: If you look at what your time is worth, and what [the result] would mean to you, don't you think this would be worth it?

The fill-in. The slot in the last line holds what the result means in the prospect's own life. The worked fill-in is a fitness one: looking great in every photo, at every event and every summer with the kids, and at the other events in their life. Put your own prospect's result in the slot.

7. Choosing among them

Which of the three to open with is not established on this page. The rules for stacking closes, and for knowing a few you like per obstacle, are on SOP 100, section 5.

8. What this page does not decide for you

• The wording for asking why they did not buy from the other seller. Not established on this page.
• What to do when the prospect names the other seller in the same-price close. Not established on this page.
• The good-fast-cheap close beyond its opening. Not established on this page.
• Whether the other seller really offers the same thing. Not established on this page.

9. The checklist

Moment	What you do
Before any close	Repeat back, agree (SOP 100, section 2)
"Someone else does it for less"	Ask why they did not already buy there; point out the difference in delivery
Same-price close	If we cost the same, who would you pick? Why? Wait. Agree. So you see why we don't cost the same?
After the same-price close	Laugh and ask for the sale again
Good, fast, cheap	Agree, laugh, name the three; the rest is not established on this page
Cheap or what you need	Cheap thing that won't work, or solve it for good; what is the result worth to you?
They ask you to lower your price	Use SOP 96

10. What this page does not cover

Discount requests are not covered on this page; they are SOP 96. A prospect who says the price is too much for what they get is SOP 103 — Handle the it's-too-much objection. Sorting any objection by kind is SOP 99 — Classify an objection. Setting your price is SOP 82.