5 Steps for Dealing With Telephone Price Shoppers

 Question: How do you handle price shoppers on the phone?

Stephanie,

The information was informative but I don’t know if it will work for us in a small town for a floral shop. I am going to try it on my next email and see.

I see where this could work for most everyone. The practice is good to know about how people overall feel and think. I believe you are right on how we have to treat our individuals and change it up to be more successful. I am looking forward in trying it to see how it will work for us.

We do have a lot of price shoppers by email and by phone.

How do you handle them by phone when they are wanting a quote???

Susan Hill

Answer:

I’m so happy to hear that you’re trying out the Price Shopper Email response with your business. These principles will work for every business, but it takes a little adjusting to adapt it to your individual needs.

Yes, we do have some ideas for dealing with price shoppers on the telephone! In fact, we just did a training for the members of our Automatic Expert System (a follow up system) on just that.

5 Steps to Move From Price to Profit

1. The first question will usually be about price. DON’T ANSWER. Instead say, “Great! Who am I speaking to?” The idea is to ask questions that let you take control of the conversation and guide it away from price.
2. Greet the caller by their name after they give it and say, “What kind of event are you planning, [Name]?/Who are these flowers for?”
3. Say something positive in response and then ask more questions: “Congratulations (if it’s a wedding), where will your wedding be?” “What is your date?” etc.
4. Keep them talking, then invite them to take the action you want. You might say something like, “Most of our couples like to come in to the shop to get ideas for the wedding. Are you available on Wednesday at 5pm?” If they don’t go for a meeting, offer to email them some info and collect their contact info.
5. Only mention your price if they bring it up again. In that case, give a starting range and say, “It really depends on what you want. How many people will be in your bridal party?” and start taking control with questions again.

95% of people will let you take control of the phone conversation when you do it in a confident, friendly way. The longer you talk with them before getting into the price, the better your chances of booking them.

It takes a little practice, so I highly recommend some role-playing. Have your partner or spouse help you. (No, not that kind of role-playing!)

Write out a script you can loosely follow when someone calls to ask about your services, and take turns being the price shopper and answering the phone.

The more comfortable you are answering those tough “price shopper” questions, the easier it gets to take control of the conversation and move the bride from “How much?” to “Yes, please!”

How do you handle price shoppers?

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