The Question of Price

How Much?

This question has been the bane of the existence of luxury marketing sales professionals for years. Why? Because too many shoppers want to make hasty decisions based upon information without context, and ruin their chance at having the benefit of the proper selection experience.

In our instant gratification, technologically driven world, we have an awkward circumstance with droves of shoppers rushing to qualify and disqualify things of an important nature. They know what they’ve researched online and then believe they have most of the information that they need to make a purchasing decision because of their queries, and simply want to know the price. They are conditioned by a culture that returns items purchased online at an alarming rate. 17-21% for most item types but up to 40% for electronics! Independent luxury marketing retailers selling boats, pianos, jewelry and RV’s can’t sustain those regular commodity return rates. Tires, clothing and household items are one thing; lifestyle items are a whole ‘nother animal. 

So what is a sales pro to do about the understandable but premature “How Much?” question? You have to take control of the sales process and that particular topic at the front end.

You can’t afford for a shopper to believe you are unwilling to give them prices, but you can’t help them make their best purchasing decision based upon numbers alone. There is a “lifestyle” element, that is HUGE, that needs to be introduced into the decision making process but it must be done diplomatically. That is what this article is about: injecting some common sense into the process. Why? Because those of us that market and sell luxury products and services are aware that buying on a picture, a price, and a description is risky business. 

If the consumer doesn’t meet… that’s correct I treated the luxury item as if it had a personality… their new potential item, it very well may not enrich their life as well as it should, and it could well be a compromised or wasted purchase that they never make. If they don’t experience the character of the item, be it an instrument, piece of jewelry, boat or RV, they run the risk of spending a significant amount of money and be left apathetic or disappointed in the end. As luxury marketing sales professionals with integrity, we should avoid our customers making anything but the best possible purchase that will add to the quality of their lives.

If you acknowledge that we have a professional responsibility to the buyer and our reputation, then you realize that without insulting them or scaring them away, we need to be able to advise them on what the best way to purchase, in our case a piano, would be. The reality is that many sales individuals go “diving to the bottom line" faster than a submarine, even faster than the instant gratification buyer does. Why? There are a plethora of reasons; none of them make sense. They need a sale. They are not disciplined. They don’t know any better. They treat luxury items like commodities because that's what the culture around them does. They simply haven’t learned how best to sell large ticket items.   

So you say, “I agree that I don’t want to lead with price; rather, I want to build the value first. But what if they are stuck on knowing the price and I feel like I might make them mad if I don’t simply answer the question and tell them the price."    

The FIRST THING you need to do when someone goes “bottom line diving” is to pull them back up above water where they can breathe! The best way to do this is to first acknowledge what is important to them, which is price. Here is an example:

“Well John, I agree with you that price is very important, but may I have permission to ask you a question?” 99% of the time (unless someone is a real jerk or totally one dimensional) they will say, ”Sure.” At which time you continue to lead the sales process in the proper direction by asking another question after a statement, "I've always done my best job of helping people get the best price on the perfect instrument by learning a little bit about their specific needs. We could then talk about the best price on the perfect pianos for them to consider. May I ask you a couple of questions so I can learn which ones it might best to save you money on?” 

What did we do here? First you communicated that you heard what was important to them. Then you positioned yourself as a concierge, and what does a concierge do? Ask people what they like and need most and then send them in the right direction. 

Hopefully you are performing some discoveries online, some via text, and some on the phone. This always depends upon the client’s preferred method of communication. The positioning that you must achieve to be in control of the sales process is the one that allows you to ask questions and get them to open up.

Price is what they know to ask about but a thorough discovery often uncovers their true priorities. 

It is totally acceptable, if approached by asking permission, to first discuss the difference between price and value. A diplomatic way to answer the question, ”What is your best price on an XYZ (insert brand and model)? That’s the one I am interested in if I can get the right price. I’ve been researching them online.”

The response is the same whether via phone conversation, text or email: “Well Bob, since you’ve been online you know the price for that particular piano is in the $___ range and we are very competitive. I don’t have it committed to memory but I could get that for you. That is an interesting choice. Why did you land on the XYZ? What is it about that piano you like so much?”

So what we have done here is let the prospect know we aren’t afraid to talk price and would be willing to look it up, but also showed interest in their decision making process. People love to tell you what they like about things they are shopping for and eight times out of ten, the question of price won’t resurface until you’ve had a chance to sell the experience. You’ll recall that the topic of selling the experience was covered in detail in the last chapter.

When you constantly steer the conversation back to the visit and meeting the pianos it makes the most sense to have a price on, it discourages premature decision making which is the seedling of the price question. The consumer needs to be slowed down, but thousands of well-meaning sales associates everyday all over the world need a sale so badly that they allow the prospects to set the pace, subsequently losing sales by not controlling the sales process. You must ask questions well enough to guide the prospect through their journey with the right information, which allows the price to make sense. Understand this: unless the potential buyer meets its new family member candidates in person, the price is just a number for them to digest without context.

Have you ever fallen in love? I have, with my wife. I’ve fallen in love with a horse, a sport and a guitar; I entered into a relationship with all of them placing the cost firmly down the list of considerations. Price means nothing without context; that is the gospel. That is why value is different then price. It takes into account the worth of something.

Will those people come along that are truly sold on one particular make and model and want nothing to do with a selection process? Yes. Thankfully they are the anomaly, but some shoppers already know exactly what they want and won’t move off of it. How do we handle this type of a prospect? The one who doesn’t want us to position ourselves as the concierge and just want the price of an XYZ? Here is a method that stays true to the goal of making the in person visit the most valuable way for them to purchase: “Well Bob, seems like you’ve done your research and don’t need any information about an XYZ. Is that correct?”

Upon an affirmation: "We do have one but I never recommend a person purchase without playing an instrument, so can we set up a time that is convenient for you to come in and meet the one (2 or 3) we have in the showroom floor, Sir?”

Kudos if Bob bites but in extreme cases you may hear, ”No, I don’t want to play it unless I know its the best price before I make the trip in. I just need to know the price.”

In this instance you may want to reply, ”Bob, we don’t recommend that people buy on a price over the phone, text or email, but if you must have a price I have to tell you we have three of them. The one I can quote over the phone is the “manufacturer suggested retail price” or if it is used piano the “market value.” The second price is the one I have permission to give if someone comes in and decides a piano is the right one for them. The third one is the lowest possible price we can let a piano go to a new home for which is usually reserved for churches, schools, charities or occasionally a needy student.

This is a special place and we really do treat people well and save them money if they come in and see us; That’s just how we do business. Do you already know the manufacturer price?”

Then you hold your ground unless you have an e-commerce site you want to send them to. In some instances, if they soften up and give you a good reason why they can’t come in, you can send videos, links and pictures and do so virtually, but in most cases they will get a price and go away and try to beat it. You’ll never hear from them again unless distance selling of small acoustics is your thing. If you don’t want to hold your sales process sacred and need to make an exception from time to time because it's the only shot you have, do it. Give them control and if the margin is OK, sell on price over the phone, BUT don’t make it a habit. Don’t think you’ll ever make as much, or put as much music in people’s lives, by selling on price instead of value. 

The commoditization of the piano and other luxury marketing items is “price selling.” It is not unethical legally but in my estimation, morally. How do you determine value? Only by experiencing the quality and personality of an instrument or luxury item. In the case of a fine piano, you can buy a handmade piano, pay a fair price and not get a good value, even if the piano is a solid purchase and has nothing wrong with it. It may simply not look and/or feel and/or sound as it did in a video or a virtual presentation.

Allow me to tell you a painful personal story which qualifies me to speak with experience on the subject of distance purchasing. I’ll give you the greatest hits version: After promising to never again make an important distance purchase, we entered the house hunting market when it was hot. We purchased after Facetimes and family members checking out the property and proudly became the new owners of a house in Tucson. Pictures and video and cost made it seem like a safe distance purchase. 

Then the day came when the pods were coming from Tennessee and it was time for us to drive through our new neighborhood and pull up to our new home. As we turned into the community it felt like we were in the wrong part of town compared to our past Tucson homes. Then we pulled into the driveway. Mind you, the price was good but when I looked over to the passenger seat and got my wife’s first impression, I knew we were in the wrong place. The feeling in the pit our our collective stomachs was the same. The pictures, videos and information from a distance did NOT match the house standing in front of us. We had a hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars problem to solve. 

Moral of the story? NEVER make an important lifestyle decision based upon a picture, a description, and a price from a distance. You must experience a boat, plane, piece of jewelry, or an instrument to formulate a truly informed opinion of its effect on your life. Luxury marketing items should be purchased on value, not price. 

Would you buy a case of oil that doesn’t go in any motor you have because it’s 50% off? The motor you have is YOU! If something doesn’t fit your needs, the price is 1000% irrelevant. That is why the discovery is critical and matching a buyer with their benefits is the best way to sell… NOT by price. It is also the reason why this question, "May I have permission to tell you what I believe the best way to buy a piano is?” is your best friend. You must acknowledge the fact that ”Price is very important, and I vow to save you money, but I would be most comfortable giving you our best price on the proper instrument because we have many, many that wouldn’t fit your needs. Does that make sense?” Acknowledge but defer using the power of asking questions that lead them down the path to their best decision making process. Remember, they need a specialist more than they want to admit. Steer them back into the discovery until they firmly land on a piano type that most fits their needs. Random price spewing is counterproductive. You’re not running a museum of instruments for auction. Your job, which you need to be able to reiterate, is not as much of being a salesman (no gender intended) than a matchmaker. That is why you don’t have an ecommerce site that is the best place to purchase fine pianos. 

Great sales professionals sell value. They know how to build it and sell benefits instead of nuts and bolts and dollar figures. They tell stories and romance the piano, where it comes from and what it can do for their lives. If you sell everyday to the low hanging fruit only, and sell on price instead of benefits and value, you are exhibiting weak salesmanship and you are commoditizing a luxury marketing item. You are a problem to the overall health and well-being of the fine piano world. You need a personal, not a digital conversion, BUT if you want to be a successful concierge, you will assess peoples' needs and give them options that will enrich their lives. That my friends is our purpose: to sell value and life enrichment, not simply “move a unit.” With the proper sales psychology in place that focuses on selling value and fulfilling needs properly you WILL move more units and help people, yourself and your company in a very satisfying way, emotionally and financially.

"The reason it seems that price is all your customers care about is that you haven’t given them anything to think about.” - Seth Godin