[Simon Gerrard]

We all have them, price shoppers; the person who is just looking for the lowest possible price, believing that regardless of how much they pay the quality of the end product will be the same. It’s almost like they are buying a packet of Corn Flakes from Asda or the corner shop, whatever price they pay they still get the same quality product.
How do you deal with these people?
How do you construct the conversation?
Do you give them the price first or give them the Truck Mount quality spiel first and the price second?
I’m looking in particular for workable strategies to deal with these people and if possible convert them into customers.

Simon

[Paul Redden Countryfresh]

Hi I'm no expert, but we need to build some rapport, show interest in them, how old is carpet, what colour, problem stains etc explain difference in methods,and can only give accurate price on inspection at no obligation.

We want to do the best job possible for them and are not tied to a time limit. Fully Insured, trained etc. recomended by local retailers etc.

Show pics before and after. I explain they will always get a cheaper price, but if they had a nice BMW car for instance, would they get it serviced at a qualified dealer or a fly by night under the arches repairers.

Hope this helps

Paul

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

My approach is to quickly acertain if they are likely to listen and if not then say bye.

If they show an inkling to reasonable persuasion then one can discuss the merits of technical knowledge, experience etc but not much point if they want a through lounge cleaned for 30 Pounds.

My website approach is very much geared to high quality, problem solving , speciality (green,Dry etc) so that most enquiries are looking for one of these things rather than how many pennies.

How and where you advertise has a lot to do with the number of price shoppers.

That is one reason I do not like YP/Thompsons as to the customer we are all the same, some even have the same adverts

At least with leaflets/websites you get a chance to sell your qualities.

Cheers

Doug

[Mike Osbourne]

lots of good tips there.

build rapport, qualif,y build value, give price , check close, close, rebut  objection if need be and reclose.

yesterday got a 250 job. another local guy quoted 100. They wanted me out the door. I walked them through how on earth any person in any business could do all the work to even a reasonable standard for 100. They agreed and I booked the job.

Of course it doesn't always go like that. Sometimes you best move on to the next one, but quite often it's worth a good go.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Yes I can relate to all those approaches and results obtained.

I suppose my twist on it is to concentrate on selling myself as an individual first. Then when they are happy talking to me as an individual they are more likely to then listen to me and what I have to say as I go into "selling spiel".

[Simon Gerrard]

So what is a good 'searching out question' to use right at the beginning of the call.
For instance, 'What is it you are looking for, the highest possible quality, or the cheap price?'

Sometimes asking such a direct question makes them think about what they do want. My experience is that people think they are getting the same product from a range of companies offering very similar services and that all that divides them is the price they charge.

Simon

[Mike Osbourne]

Simon,

Suprised you have to ask, surely what you do seems to be working  and suites your market.

One thing I would say is your logo looks nothing like you.

[Simon Gerrard]

Mike,
That was me in a previous life!

I asked the question in the hope that someone would have a really good one liner you can use to test the prospective customers intentions.
No one's come up with one yet!!!
Simon

[Shaun_Ashmore]

To be confident to say no to customers you have to have a steady stream of calls coming in IMO

Shaun

[Mike Osbourne]

well i'm a big fan of qualifying people as it has so many benefits. Mainly finding out whether you are flogging a dead horse.

You know what to ask to get a profile of a caller and you can just tell can't you.

beyond that.


if you want to get clever find out why they want it doing NOW, then take the answer (if they don't say they ain't fussed whether now or next year) and say what's important to you about ......... when you do this you are starting to get their values in the context of CC which when you close you talk about the solution in terms of their values.

I use stuff like this everyday not just in carpet cleaning so don't tell me it doesn't work.

ps I'm getting ahead of myself as this is for qualified prospects

[Neil Williams]

I can relate to a lot of advice given, but it doesn't matter what you say / promise / beef up / web sites etc when someone is looking for the cheapest they are looking for the cheapest.
Last week I even went out to site visit in the evening. All the yap about getting out all the draft marks, each room had them, drink spills, drying times, techniques, insurance, quality guarentees etc etc (that was 30 minutes of my life I won't get back) and she was happy with £120.
Call her the next day as arranged to confirm date because they were moving in when they could get furniture out of storage, only to find hubby had arranged with another cc-er because he was cheaper. 
Sometimes you just can't tell

[Mike Osbourne]

Neil

I'm with you on that. So first you need to make sure you are talking to the key decision maker (which you probably were) but you have to also set things up so she won't change her mind.

If you get a whiff of this the easiest is to take a deposit. Or you could do whats called innoculation you set it up so you cue her to think a certain way when he says HOW MUCH, we'ere not spending that. Like what expensive things does he do, surely you allowed your own little comforts, after all it's your home (you need to soften this or it may backfire).

[Simon Gerrard]

Come on guy's, surely one of you has a good, well thought out line.
The phone rings, you answer and the caller says, 'Can you give me a price to clean xxx' and you say, 'have we worked for you before?' The caller says, No! So you say ' ? '(because you want to know whether this caller is a price shopper or not)

Surely one of you geniuses has a good line?

Simon

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Mike has the idea, pulling info out of them to find out hat they want first and price second, if they are just ringing for quotes you need to push the TM or experience and put the positves and negatives in their head, most cheap carpet cleaners just give a price so they don't sell the service but YOU can. Change the words to adapt to your customer.

ie "is the carpet very dirty?well I use a state of the art TM that specialises in cleaning very soiled items to like new"


Shaun

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Simon

Once I have price shopper alarm bells I just ask politely 'are you interested in the quality or do you just want the cheapest quote'.

If they just say cheapest then I say it's highly unlikely with my quality cleaning that we will be the cheapest but I'm sure you will find someone who is.

This will sometimes shock into 'oh there is a quality issue here' and if not, I have not even quoted, have been polite so have lost nothing.

Obviously if they say quality is important then one can go from there.

As Shaun says it depends on how many calls are coming in, if lots I can't really be bothered but if quiet then I will make more of an effort.

Cheers

Doug

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Not sure where this fits into the conversation but a useful question to always ask when dealing with a price shopper is...


"Did you have a figure in mind?"



But there again sometimes it turns out that a price shopper isn't really a price shopper.

Yes they are interested in price but the real deciding factor is can you do the cleaning in the time-scale that they want. if so then providing your price fits into their perceived acceptable figure, you'll get the job.

Does this help drive the discussion forward?

[Jim_77]

Good topic!

Bit of a tricky one, because there's nothing so diverse as human personalities so I don't think there is any "one size fits all" approach.

As said above, the majority of price shoppers come from either paper or online directories.  I think your advert has to be the first "filter".  It needs to convey the quality and professionalism of your company.  Don't mention money at all EVER in an advert!!

The "filter" I use on the phone is to tell the customer that I don't give prices over the phone.

Q: "Can you give me a price for .........."
A: "I don't give pricing over the phone.  The sort of work we do needs to be assessed on-site. This means I can give you an accurate price rather than an estimate, and also means that you can check ME out too.  Can we arrange an appointment for a quote?"

Q: "Other firms have given me a price on the phone"
A: "Have they given you a 'quote' or an 'estimate'?  It's impossible to price exactly until the work has been inspected - it's a bit like going for a dental check-up via email [hopefully injects a bit of humour into the conversation and breaks down barriers a bit].
A: "You may find that someone's estimate will be artificially low, to get their foot in the door.  If they do end up working for cheap prices they'll be doing a rubbish job, which may actually COST you money to either have the job done again properly, or they'll hike the price up once in your house"

I warn about bait & switch and splash & dash at this point.

If this doesn't persuade them I politely advise them that they'd be better off ignoring the professional looking ads and phoning the ones full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, as their attention to detail in their advertising probably reflects quite well their attention to detail in the work they do for customers.

Sometimes the calls don't get further than this, and that's fine with me.

I find that this tactic leaves me with prospects that have the price shoppers mostly filtered out.  I'll convert about 80% of home visits into work.  I know some people might go into shock at the idea of going out to quote every job, but I find it not only works better than quoting on the phone but actually saves me time and energy.  The less time you spend on the phone the quicker you get your job finished that you're working on.  Most calls are received whilst cleaning, in day hours, aren't they?!  I can schedule most quotes into my working day, or I allocate one or two evenings (normally Mon & Tues) where I'll go out and make a round trip doing a few.

[Mike Osbourne]

Nice post Jim.

[Simon Gerrard]

Jim
Excellent post.

Doug,

You too. Just what I was looking for.

Simon

[Mike Osbourne]

Simon,

There's no magic line you need quite a few.

Try this, I think this is what I do but don't think about it much.

How much for......

My reply is Yes of course, (agreement) where are you based?, oh right, I was doing a job there yesterday, do you know Mrs Smith?/do you know the house..., so why are you looking to have it cleaned now? That makes a lot of sense and what's important to you about....



Don't forget questions tell them about you and the questions you ask in response to their answer subtle sells them.

After a couple of minutes I say well I really need to see it because.....only fair on you.... you don't want someone charging more when they finally turn up.

Still don't know Simon why you are even bothering asking, just tell them you have the biggest t/m in the world and you have to pay for it.