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Cost-related objections are far from uncommon, but they are still the part of negotiations we all dread. You need to keep your profit-margins healthy, but your customer or prospect is holding out for a serious discount. The key to overcoming cost-related objections is to remember the answer always comes back to your product’s value -- you have to be able to prove why your product is worth its price tag. Here are the top ten mistakes that reps make when faced with cost-related objections and how to overcome them.

Mistake 1: Having an Incorrect Objection Mindset

Rule One: Don’t look at pricing objections as roadblocks or deal breakers. Instead, switch up your mindset and see them as a good thing! Hearing your customer’s objections gives you an excellent opportunity to neutralize their fears -- a way to prove your product’s value.

Mistake 2: Giving Up Too Soon

If you run scared at the first cost-related objection and offer to slash prices, your profit margins will seriously suffer. Instead be brave and hold your position - view a cost-related objection as the beginning of a conversation, not the end.

Mistake 3: Talking Too Much

Not hearing your customers out is a disempowering and big turn off. Let them talk, even if you don’t particularly like what they have to say. By hearing them out, you can get to the root of the problem and work on a great solution together. This can be the start of a profitable long-term client relationship.

Mistake 4: Not Taking Time to Understand the Objection

If you don’t truly understand why your prospect is objecting, how will you effectively counter it? Use questioning skills to delve deep so you can give a convincing response: for example is it down to lack of budget, perceived necessity of the product or concerns about quality?

Mistake 5: Misreading the Situation

Here’s where your empathy and listening skills really come into their own. If you misread a customer or their business pain, you can end up scoring an own goal. Pay close attention to your customer’s personality type and their nonverbal clues so you can learn when a person is really ready to walk out the door or when you have some wriggle room to keep pushing.

Mistake 6: Not Fully Addressing the Objection

It’s not always possible to answer cost-related objections on the spot; you may need to provide more data or research to demonstrate your product’s value fully. While it’s frustrating to walk away and postpone the close, not adequately addressing objections will only result in them resurfacing when it’s time to close the deal.

Mistake 7: Negotiating With Yourself

It’s easy to talk too much, over-justify your position and end up talking yourself out of a good deal. The art of silence in negotiations takes confidence, but done right it can force your buyer to fill the silences with a climb down.

Mistake 8: Walking Into Traps

A casual, easy question from someone on your prospect’s team can be a hidden trap -- they may be looking for ammunition to choose a rival’s product over yours. Take time to answer all questions thoughtfully. Always remember that the goal is to prove your product’s value and so you must do so in every response, no matter how innocuous the question might seem.

Mistake 9: Not Having a Reservation Price

Again, it comes back to mindset, if you walk into a negotiation without a redline or reservation price in mind, you’re going to end up killing your profit margins. Have two rates - the one you offer up first and the one you will not go below - and never go below your redline.

Mistake 10: Not Practising Objection Handling

Objection handling requires the ability to think on your feet, but you’ll do much better if you go into negotiations well prepared. Take time to practise your answers to common price objections so you don’t get derailed when they arise.

Objection handling skills (and specifically overcoming cost-related objections) are some of the most important sales skills to one. See how training from the CPSA can help you develop effective sales negotiation strategies and make facing cost-related objections a breeze.