That Cost Too Much

In media training, we always say there are no bad questions, only bad answers. The same is true when meeting sales objections.

For example, let's take media training. The potential client responds: "That's too much for a one-day session for four people."

Is "Today, we can give you a 25 percent discount" your first response? Or is your answer, "What if we train six people for the price of four?"

Both answers are, of course, dead wrong.

The first shows that you were not giving a fair price in the first place. It sinks your credibility like the Titanic. The second option is simply not feasible. Professional media trainers know the benefit of training has an inverse relationship to the number of trainees.

A better response from the agency to the "that's too much" response might be: "I appreciate your thoughts, but a credible spokesperson in a time of crisis can save your company hundreds of thousands of dollars. How much would you consider fair?"

Potential client: "I know that the Acme Agency down the street will train my top people for $3,000 a session."

Agency: "We really don't compete with other agencies in this category. We believe our training best simulates real-life media situations. We use former professional journalists in our training. Clients like … have found our training invaluable. We can give you references. Are we more expensive than others? Yes, perhaps, but you want the very best training your people."

The important thing in offering training or other services is not to be discouraged when objections are raised. Objections mean the dialogue is continuing. They represent opportunities.