johntabita - 12:21 am on Nov 6, 2005 (gmt 0)

I heard someone talk on the subject of time management the other day, and she made an interesting comment: We find time for the things that we value. The same is true with our prospects and their money. I've spoken with people who only had a few hundred to spend, but ended up paying more, because the saw the value in my solution.

Yes, a website is a "thing," and to overcome the commodity mentality, I emphasize that it's a tool not a strategy. I could design the most beautiful 4-color, eight-page brochure for a client, but if he has no plans on how to get that brochure into the hands of his prospects, then it's useless, isn't it? Same thing with a website, so I pitch the strategy, not the website.

What Alan Weiss probably isn't saying or doesn't practice is that you close the conceptual agreement by getting the prospect's verbal commitment to do business with you, conditional on price, and that the proposal doesn't get presented until you have that commitment.

Perhaps the problem is the prospect, maybe you need a certain criteria for the prospect before you even begin the process. Once you have that exact type of prospect maybe these other steps fall into place better. What are your thoughts?

Your dead-on here. This "criteria" is a prospect who needs, wants, and is able to afford your services. Determining if you have that type of prospect requires that you "dis-qualify" the people you speak with. That is, you actively look for reasons why someone wouldn't buy from you. One of those reasons may be price, so when the "P" word gets brought up, I don't avoid it, but use it as an opportunity to do just that.

Now, I firmly believe that you ought to discuss value before talking price, but your prospects don't always give you that opportunity. Avoiding the subject when they bring it up only makes you appear shifty. If the other person brings up cost right away, and I know nothing about the scope of the project, I'll give them a minimum cost. If we've had enough dialog to give me an idea of project scope, I'll give a ballpark price range. If my price is going to blow them away, I'd rather know that up front, rather than two meetings, five phone calls and a 10-page proposal later. Personally, I want to get to the subject of price once the conceptual discussion is over, because that means I can close that step in the sales cycle.

It's been my experience that people generally start talking about what's most important to them. I've yet to close a deal with anyone whose first question is "how much?" The people who start talking about why they want a website or why their existing one's not working generally are the ones who end up becoming clients.

Any more questions? Fire away, and I'll try to answer them, if I can.