"Your price is too high" is a sentence heard frequently by foreign trade salesmen, and it is also the link with the most dead orders-either hurriedly lower the price and lose the profit, or force it back to the customer and directly lose contact. There are ways to deal with bargaining: first judge what kind of bargaining the other party belongs to, and then decide whether to give in, how much to give in, and what to exchange for. This article provides a response structure that can be followed.
1. Judge first: four bargaining methods and four responses
- Price comparison type:If you have a quote from your peers in hand, you will use numbers to pressure you. The response is to dismantle the cost structure rather than direct price comparison: ask what specifications, materials, certification, and packaging the quotation in the other party's hand corresponds to, and break the "price" into "configuration." In 90% of the cases, the configuration of low-priced quotes is lighter, and the price difference after the split naturally narrows.
- Budget type:Customers have an upper limit on their procurement budget, and if they exceed it, they have to go through internal processes. The response is to give the configuration ladder: give two options according to the budget-the standard configuration with full budget, and the budget version with cut-off non-critical configurations so that customers can choose, rather than you unilaterally refund the price.
- Habit type:No matter what your price is, replying that it is too high is a negotiation muscle memory. The response is to ignore the topic of price, turn to the purchase plan, quantity, and timetable, and use the details of demand to bring the dialogue back on track. Habit bargaining has no specific goal, and most of them talk about demand while cutting.
- Price reduction type:If the intention is clear, you are required to let go below the cost line before placing an order. The identifying characteristics are repeated asking for prices but not the quantity, and putting pressure on "another company 20% cheaper" but unable to produce details. The response is to politely keep the bottom line, the validity period of the quotation and the starting conditions are written in black and white, and the underpriced customer will ask him to take ten steps for every step he asks.
2. The concession ladder: three concessions, decreasing the scope, and changing the conditions each time
When deciding to give in, the biggest mistake is to give in one step-the customer immediately judges that your offer is too watery and continues to cut in the second round. The correct structure is a ladder: the first concession is medium (such as 3%) in exchange for a clear quantity commitment or signing schedule; the second concession is narrowed (such as 2%) in exchange for improved payment conditions (increasing the deposit ratio or shortening the account period); the third concession is the smallest (such as 1%), and it is clearly informed that this is the final price and additional conditions (such as annual framework quantity). The total of the three concessions shall not exceed 6%, and each time corresponds to one condition that the other party pays. Declining concessions sends a signal that you are approaching the bottom line, not squeezing water. In the end, no matter whether it works or not, you must give a step: keep in touch when the agreed price is not suitable, leave a review node for the next purchase cycle, and the list of losers for price comparison customers this year may be your transaction list next year.
3. Six alternative conditions for not reducing prices
If prices remain unchanged, business conditions can be changed, and the cost of these concessions is often lower than direct price reductions:
- Payment method:The price remains unchanged, the deposit ratio is reduced from 30% to 20%, and the final payment node is moved back-capital costs are exchanged for price space.
- Quantity ladder:Increase and reduce prices instead of reducing prices for individual quantities: "This price corresponds to 5000 pieces, and 3000 pieces is another price", transforming the pressure of price reduction into order quantity.
- Elasticity of delivery:When production capacity is tight during the peak season, customers who accept delivery dates will give preferential prices, and factories will exchange certainty for profits.
- Specification adjustment:Packaging is simplified, parts are reduced, and non-key indicators are relaxed, giving up costs to prices.
- Freight sharing:Change FOB to CIF and use your logistics channel advantages to absorb part of it, which is more decent than directly giving the price.
- Value-added services:Free proofing, providing marketing materials, and extended warranty periods-high customer perceived value and low factory marginal costs.
4. Bottom line setting and quotation validity period
Each main push SKU is given two lines: a cost line (including apportioned fixed expenses and minimum profits) and a target line. If the negotiation falls between the two lines, a transaction will be completed, and if the cost line is broken, substitute conditions will be imposed or abandonment will be imposed. The bottom line should be written down the day you receive the inquiry, and don't make decisions on the spot in a conversation where customers are constantly exerting pressure. The validity period of the quotation is part of the bottom line: it is a common practice under the current market to gradually shorten the validity period from 30 days to 15 days. The quotation states that "the quotation is based on the exchange rate and raw material prices on September X", making the exchange rate and bulk price fluctuations explicit, not only protecting themselves, but also giving customers a step to understand the price increase.
5. Common questions
1. What should I do if the customer takes a screenshot of the low-price price of his peers to match the price, but cannot find the other party's configuration?
Don't worry about the authenticity of the other party's quotation, directly give the comparison framework: list the specifications, materials, certification, packaging, and delivery period of your quotation item by item, and ask the other party to compare the quotation item by item. If there is a real gap, the gap is clear at a glance; the other party cannot provide configuration details, and it is mostly because of underpricing. At the same time, express your attitude: Being willing to talk again under the same configuration does not mean being at the same low price.
2. Old customers also bargain, are they handled in the same way as new customers?
Different. Old customers bargain first look at historical gross profit: cooperation gross profit is healthy and growing, and value-added services and quantity ladders are used to respond to maintain the price system; old customers whose gross profit is already very thin haggle again, indicating that the market conditions have changed, and evaluation specifications are adjusted or simply Talk about locking prices in the annual framework to turn an uncertain game into a definite cooperation. The concession rules for new customers should be stricter because you don't yet know what type he is.
3. After making concessions twice, the customer still doesn't sign it. Should we make concessions for the third time?
Let's go back and judge the type of bargaining first: price comparison customers are usually stuck not because they are less than 1%, but because they have not received internal support or are still waiting for someone else. Before making the third concession, I asked a promotional question: "We are close to the price. If this order is settled, what else do you need for your procurement process? "Change the topic from price to transaction path. The other party cannot answer the process, which means that the purchase has not started yet, and it is useless to let it go. Stop the ladder for the second time and keep the pace for the next round.
