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Over
the phone, you’ve nearly booked a 300-person, five-hour
wedding. Just a few more details remain. As you’re approaching
the final hurdle, the bride excitedly asks: “So how much
do you charge?”
Crossing
your fingers, you tell her. It feels like a confession.
“How much?”
You
repeat your price, hoping her question was caused by a poor
phone connection and not what you fear—the dreaded Price
Objection.
“Oh,”
she says. “I didn’t realize you’d be that expensive. That’s
over our budget.”
Sound
familiar? “How much” is by far the question that clients
most frequently ask. But your clients wouldn’t dream of
asking a gown designer why a dress is so expensive. So why
do they question you? The answer, in part, is that a DJ
service is intangible. Since clients can’t immediately experience
your product, selling your service isn’t as easy as pointing
out quality stitching and fabric. Unfamiliar with the DJ
industry, clients don’t really know how you determine your
prices. A basic understanding of what your clients’ objections
are really about can help you untie the knots they’ve twisted
themselves into.
First,
it’s important to understand the inner workings of objections
(price or otherwise). According to the Web-zine Entrepreneurial
Edge, objections stem from skepticism and misunderstanding.
If you begin your sales pitch by reciting a laundry list
of your company’s special services (“We have light shows,
dancers, human chess games!”), you’ll promote skepticism
in your client because, to them, you’re less interested
in what their needs are and more interested in getting their
money.
Deal
With The Skeptic
Avoid
this trust-eroding skepticism by listening intently to your
client’s concerns and then responding to them honestly.
Develop the art of listening: Allow your client to speak
to you, and avoid jumping in with suggestions, especially
when you’re excited about something. Wait for your client
to finish what they’re saying, be sure you understand it
and then respond. Your attention demonstrates to the client
that you care. A good technique is to rephrase the client’s
request and follow it with your own suggestion or question.
For example, your clients want you to play Metallica during
their grand entrance. Instead of jumping in right away to
tell them why that won’t work, say, “So Mr. and Mrs. Harris,
you’d like the DJ to play Metallica during your introduction.
We have other music that will let your guests hear the introductions
and is just as energetic.” Repeating the clients’ request
lets them know you’re listening and that you understand
what was said.
Doing
this also prevents misunderstandings, the other ingredient
in an objection. Misunderstandings occur when you lack understanding
of a client’s situation. For example, you have a bride who
wants the entertainment to be a backdrop to her wedding.
You then tell her all about the great new interactive dances
your DJs learned at the last International DJ Expo. Would
you trust someone like that with one of the most important
days of your life?
While
listening plays a big part in avoiding objections, it’s
not everything. The client is calling you with a problem.
They need the right entertainment for their event. When
they’re evaluating your solution, two elements clients are
looking for most, according to Hal Slater, author of The
Secrets to High Ticket Selling, are your experience and
your concern. How you handle the initial conversation will
say a lot about how you’ll handle their event. Your client
will undoubtedly have some questions. How you respond to
these questions is a key indicator of your knowledge and
experience. Answer them, all of them, no matter how trivial
they might seem to you, as honestly and as completely as
you can. This reflects an understanding of your client’s
needs. Giving incomplete answers will make your client think
you’re hiding something. For example, if your client asks,
“Well, for $1,500, what’s included?” and you respond, “We
bring in lights, dancers and we hand out favors,” you haven’t
impressed upon the client how these features will benefit
their event. In their minds, they can get lights, dancers
and favors for $1,000 from the company listed right below
yours in the Yellow Pages. Tell the client specifically
what kind of lights you have, what they do; tell them what
kind of dancers will be there, and what they’ll do; and
tell them what kind of favors they’ll get. This helps justify
your price and provides your client with a clear idea of
what they’re getting for their money.
“Paint them a picture of their event,” says Randy Bartlett,
of Sacramento, Cal.-based Premier Entertainment. “Clients
don’t care about how many watts your speakers have. They
care about value. What you’re doing is selling the value
of your services to your client.”
A
Winning Rapport
What
you’re doing when you handle clients this way is developing
rapport. In the psychology of persuasion, rapport tops the
list of behavior patterns that provoke compliance. In business-speak,
this means that a client who is convinced you understand
them will be more likely to buy your service. Why? Because
you’ve established, at some point in your conversation,
common ground. Rapport, when invoked during this initial-problem
level, says Slater, reflects your understanding of a client’s
situation and the problem they’re trying to solve. And if
you develop rapport, clients will be less likely to squirm
at your prices, because they feel you’re on their side.
And you are, because you’re going to give them the best
service for their money. Practice this and watch the gripes
decrease.
Still,
all the rapport in the world won’t prevent some price objections.
You should expect them. If a client’s jaw drops when you
quote your price, don’t react defensively. Fight the urge
to scream, “Do you know how expensive my overhead is?” They
don’t, and besides, your overhead doesn’t matter to them.
Instead, switch on your knack for performing that got you
into DJing in the first place and respond enthusiastically,
as if it’s the most thrilling part of the conversation for
you. Be prepared with a well-conceived response that justifies
your price. That’s what the client is asking for. Help them
by pointing out what differentiates your service. Why is
your service unique?
“Far
and above what you think people are paying for, they’re
not paying for the music,” says Bartlett. “They’re paying
for your MC skills and your ability to run everything.”
Raise
the visibility of your value by showing the customer that
the price of your service is only one element of the total
cost. For example, let’s say the average bride spends an
average of $1,330 on her dress. Cost, though of some concern,
isn’t the primary factor in choosing it. Otherwise, gown
designers would be out of business. Now why would a presumably
sane person spend more than $1,000 on a dress she’ll wear
once? It definitely isn’t cost-effective, but that isn’t
the point. Says Bartlett: “The prestige for the client is
the big deal.”
The
bride wants a dress that will make her the most beautiful
bride ever, the most memorable, or whatever image the bride
is looking to project on her wedding day. It’s for this
that she’s willing to pay $1,000. You need to show her that
the same consideration should go into the entertainment.
The
Silent Objection
So
you’ve demonstrated your experience and concern. You’ve
developed rapport, handled all the verbal objections. But
there’s a whole other set of objections that are silent,
according to Entrepreneurial Edge. These can be tricky because
you’ll need to fish around for what exactly is bothering
the customer. When you get the feeling that, though every
question has been answered and you’ve covered every possible
ground, there’s still some resistance, try addressing it
outright: “Is there anything else you’d like to ask me?”
Next, poke around a bit and ask specific questions to try
and pinpoint the real problem. Ask, “Is it our pricing that’s
holding you back? Is it the lack of a light show that’s
stopping you?” This way you’re more certain of what is troubling
your customer. Once you know, then you can decide how, or
if, it can be worked out.
Probably
the most common silent objection lurking around in a potential
client’s head is “Why should I do business with your company?”
Have testimony ready from past clients or, if you have a
website, refer them to it so they can see for themselves.
This works well because other customer testimonials add
a little more credibility to your pitch, and, therefore,
your price. “The price a client pays is directly proportional
to the quality they receive, which in turn, is directly
proportional to the success of the event,” says Bartlett.
“In the end, it’s a matter of convincing them that they’re
making the best choice.”
If
you have any questions for TCB, please write to
DJ
Times c/o TCB,
25 Willowdale Ave.
Port Washington, N.Y., 11050
fax 516-944-8372
e-mail djtimes@testa.com.
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