When to talk about the price?

The starting point for this discussion is an interesting blog post from Anthony Iannarino who talks about the tendency of many sales people to only reveal price at the end of a presentation or meeting and the problems this causes. It's a tendency for many, including myself, because that is the way sales has been taught for many years, following the 7 steps to a sale methodology common in early sales training.

One problem it causes is the appearance that you are hiding something if you are asked about price and defer answering until the end of your presentation - which was the common way of dealing with such client "interruptions" or questions. This can lead to an initial breakdown of trust, or suspicion from the prospect that the price will not match the value offered. So a potentially negative thought enters their mind early on - not a good thing!

Another related problem, highlighted by Iannarino is that leaving the question of price until the end gives you less time to justify that price or build value before trying to close the opportunity. This can create a lot of unnecessary pressure and give you less time to differentiate your offering.

It also establishes a slightly negative mindset about price - something to be avoided or feared - when in fact it is obviously a necessary part of the process.

A counter argument might be that if your prospect has not asked about price you have an opportunity to build your story, excite them about the offering and how it can solve their problems, leaving the only remaining challenge how they can pay for the solution.

It's true too that the price may vary on what services the buyer requires and if you give a price too early without knowing what they are interested, or what they need, you may be misleading them on the investment required to get the best out of your services. Then you may face a similar negative response when they realise the full extent of the investment required.

What does the data tell us?

Interestingly research from Gong.ai analyzing 25,537 B2B sales conversations using artificial intelligence, showed that when pricing is mentioned or discussed less than 3x in a sales meeting "win-rates" tend to decline. Price conversations therefore need to be had more than once suggesting a mention earlier in the presentations. Though the research does go on to suggest top performers “talk price” between the 40-49 minute mark of their presentation/meeting. Also note that both top performers and average performers talk pricing with some frequency between the 13-20 minute mark also. What's not clear from this data is whether the prospect or seller initiated the price conversation. This suggests perhaps that you don't want to discuss pricing too early or too late

So...do you mention at the beginning, the middle, or at the end?

Two aspects to this. The first, if the client asks, in the past I would have said that I would explain the pricing in a little detail at the end. However I now agree it does sound like you have something to hide or that you are being manipulative. Plus if the client asks something you should give frank answers wherever possible to build trust and avoid frustration. (I remember my own annoyance on entering a Gym a few years ago to get pricing information only to receive the response..."it depends...let me make an appointment with our sales person to explain it to you.")

The second aspect is when should you introduce price? That I think depends on a lot of variables, your selling process, your offering and the client. My preference is a little of a compromise in that I do like to build up some value in the presentation first before moving on to price but also leave enough time to discuss price and the value and outcomes I am offering.

That said I do use price, or price ranges early on in my qualifying. Time is at a premium not just for buyers but sellers too, and I want to be sure my prospect has the budget for the solution I am offering. Before any meeting, in person or increasingly via Zoom I give my prospects some preliminary information that includes the likely levels of investment, for a range of options, to be sure we are not both wasting our time - I owe that to myself and my prospect too.

Rather than something to hide or be fearful about I think you need to recognise everyone has lower cost competitors. If you believe that the prospect may perceive you to be offering services at a high price the message should be, "people prefer to pay more to work with you for the value or outcomes you produce." Just that mindset alone should enable you to deal with pricing issues with confidence.