One place. Relative value.
We process the world largely by comparison.
And that is especially true when it comes to how we value things.
When someone says, “that’s a lot of money…”
Compared to what?
The amount they budgeted or had in mind? Where did that number come from? Their grocery bills? Their car payment? Their mortgage or rent? Their bank account balance?
Do they have the experience and skill to compare it to a likely return in the future or just the immediate reality?
Are they comparing it to how they value other things in general?
Or maybe some alternative service that might give them the same result…
They could be comparing it to the time it will take you to do it and their own hourly wage.
They could also be comparing it to the values imposed on them by family and friends.
What does it cost them emotionally?
And what it will cost them in their time and opportunity?
The bottom line is that lots of things go into people’s determination of value.
But when people object to price, they are fundamentally saying:
“I want what you are offering, but the value I place on what you are going to give me is less than the value of what I am going to have to give up to get it.”
Maybe they have a point, and you are overpriced.
Or maybe you’re talking to the wrong audience.
They may just object just out of conditioning – being taught to haggle on everything because everyone is lying, everything is transactional, and there is great value to be had in getting a better deal compared to someone else.
They may object out of narcissism. Nothing is as valuable as they are. But then again, narcissism usually arises as a reactance to being shamed and devalued.
And perhaps they’ve been beaten down by life so much that they just came to believe they aren’t valued by anyone, so why should they value anything else?
All of these are potentially limiting considerations, be they conscious or unconscious.
When we get to the harvest, sometimes we find the fruit isn’t as sweet as it should have been.
That’s often because there was a deficiency in some nutrients in the soil. Potassium probably, or maybe magnesium.
And in your deals, if you don’t want price objections souring things at harvest, you have to make sure you’re cultivating those opportunities in fertile soil.
That means you either don’t try selling to people that will have a hard time valuing your service, or you fertilize the process with whatever true stories, information, or beliefs they need to make a proper comparison.
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