Why do they still ask "How Much" first?
Do you find yourself frustrated when potential clients ask about pricing upfront? Are you curious why they don't inquire about the value you bring to their special day first? In this episode, I break down why "How much?" is often the first question and how your response can make or break the sale. Learn ways to demonstrate your unique value before discussing pricing.
Listen to this new 8-minute episode for insights on transforming price inquiries into meaningful conversations about value and results.
If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com
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Want to see about having me come for private sales training, or a mastermind (bring together some industry friends to have me spend a day with you all)? Reach out to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or text or call +1.732.422.6362
I'm Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you'd like to suggest other topics for "The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast" please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
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©2024 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com
Why is it that people still ask how much? First, listen to this episode and see why.
Hi, it's Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. This is another ask me anything suggestion, this time from Randy up in Canada, who writes, why is it that 85% of all brides in caps when they come to booking a professional dj for their special wedding day? All caps. The very first question they ask is, how much do you charge right off the bat? When I hear this red flags go up immediately. They do not want to know, first and foremost, what values you can bring to the table for them on their special wedding day. Very frustrating. Randy, I'm sure a lot of people feel your frustration on this one, and I could give a very short answer, and some of you know that already, probably already said that out loud because you've heard me say it and other people say it.
They ask how much? Because they don't know what else to ask. So let's go back to what else you said over here. Red flags go up immediately. Put the red flags down. The red flags are not going up. When somebody asks how much, I'm sure that you just like I and a lot of people, if not everybody listening, has at one point or another asked somebody how much something cost when it was not really the best question to ask. We just didn't know what the best question to ask is because we've never bought that service or that product before. It's just human nature.
When we don't know what else to ask and we know there's a transaction that's going to be involved, we ask how much. When we have a better question, we ask a better question. So going back to, you're saying that first and foremost, don't ask about the values that you bring and things like that. Well, that's the job of your website, that's the job of your advertising, your marketing, your social, to get across what you bring to the table. So by the time they reach out to you, they want to be a part of those values. They want to be a part of the results. Actually, they want to get the results that you talked about. Because if you're selling products and services as a DJ and it doesn't matter in what you do here, you could be an officiant, you could be invitations, you could be transportation or video or whatever, they're going to ask how much because they don't know what else to ask.
What you wanna make sure is that you're not selling your products and services. You're selling the results they can only get from you. And then when they reach out, it's because they want those results. Now, part of this is also self inflicted. If your website has no pricing on it, then you're encouraging either people to bypass you because they don't have any idea what you charge. Don't even know if they're in the ballpark, or they reach out because they love your photos and your text and your reviews and things. But I don't know how much you charge. So I'm asking that question because you didn't answer that.
And I've talked about this on other podcasts. I've written about this in shut up and sell more. And why are they ghosting me? And wisdom. In the business of weddings, I talk about different ways to talk about prices. And this is why. My favorite way to put pricing. If you're not going to put your full pricing, I'm not saying you should. I'm saying if you are not putting full pricing, then putting a price range gives people that idea of what you charge.
And I'm sure we've all had that thought. Can you give me an idea how much this is? I've never bought this before. What does that cost? And you can't give an exact price because you don't have the details. But you can say that, well, it typically runs from here to here. Most people in your situation are going to end up around here, whatever that is. I don't care if you're selling a wedding or a bar mitzvah or a holiday party or a fundraiser, whatever, you can give them an idea. And that's a big range. It's okay for it to be a big range, giving them an idea.
And when you do that, you reduce the inquiries. And when somebody reaches out and says, how much do you charge? Instead of the red flags going up, I want you to see the dollar signs going up, because that is a buyer who has reached out to a very small number of companies, and you are one of them. You, my friend, are in the game. The coach told you to suit up because you have a chance right now. Choose your sport, get up at bat, get the puck, whatever it is. Okay? So when somebody reaches out and says, how much do you charge? You want to continue the conversation. You want to be somewhat transparent with them to let them know, I'd be happy to give you pricing. I can't just throw you a number because I don't know enough details.
And here's why. And my phrase that pays. And again, I've written about this. I've talked about this. It's in the books. It's in my sales training. I'd love to give you pricing information before I give you a number. I want to make sure I don't leave out anything that's important to you and I certainly don't want to charge you for things you don't need.
Let me get a few details. Be happy to give you a price or our prices range from here to here. Most people like you, most couples, most companies, most parents, whatever it is that you're selling are going to end up somewhere around here. So just pick whatever those numbers are. So whether it's from, you know, these hundreds to these hundreds, whatever, these thousands to these thousands, these tens of thousands to these tens of thousands, doesn't matter. Give them a realistic rate range. Don't hide from your real numbers. So, so you know, most of our fill in the blank, let's say it's a wedding.
Most of our weddings for video they go from 3000 to 8000 plus. All right. Most of our couples end up somewhere around 5500. Again, I'm just totally making up numbers here. But you get the idea and, and then you continue the conversation. Right. If you put that on your website, theoretically, not theoretically, you will get less inquiries, right. Theoretically, everybody that reaches out has a budget within that range because youve told them what that is.
But you also need to be transparent about that. I talked about that on another episode. Youre putting the price but youre really being transparent. I saw somebody the other day who told me they had price on the website but it was so far down the page and just another line of text among lines of text. You really have to go searching to even know it was there as opposed to others where it put it. Boom, here it is. Heres the prices. One of my clients I was just working with, they have two different companies at two different price points.
And the lower price point they put the prices right out there. And the higher one they put a range because the lower one its like we know, were competitive at these numbers were below the middle of the market. So were going to put the numbers out because were attracting those exact people. And at the higher end its a range because they want to attract people with a higher budget. Randy, get the red flags. Put them away. Put up the dollar signs instead. Because when somebody says how much, they're only talking to you and a very small number of people and that is someone that is already interested in the results that they've seen that you are putting forward through your photos, through your text, through your reviews and things like that.
So expect it. Don't be surprised when somebody are upset when somebody says, how much does it cost? When somebody asks me how much it costs to come for sales training or how much to do a mastermind or speak for your event or whatever, you know, I don't go, oh, here's another one. I go, oh, wow, I have an opportunity right now. I have an opportunity. Cause I'm having a conversation that 99% of the people that do something like what I do are never gonna have. So it's a, it's a great opportunity. Put the red flags away, Randy. This is a great thing.
When they ask how much, it doesn't mean they can't afford you. It doesn't mean they won't pay more, and it doesn't mean they're shopping for price. They're still shopping for an experience. And you provide a better experience. Not being offended when they ask how much. And having that be your attitude, but instead being, thank you for giving me a chance to tell you about how amazing I can make your wedding or your event and then tell them how much it would be to do what they want. Ask for the sale. We don't sell to their budgets.
We sell to the results that they want. And that's why so many couples end up spending more and even companies end up spending more than they originally planned because they buy the results, not the number that they came up with on the budget. So keep the suggestions coming. Go to podcast, allenburg.com. click the button for the ask me anything. Make your suggestions there as well. Randy, thank you up in Canada for the suggestion. See you on the next episode.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or you can text, use the short form on this page, or call +1.732.422.6362, international 001 732 422 6362. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:
©2024 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com
