Why Your Buyers Stall (Hint: It’s Not Your Price)

Today’s Skill: Cost Analysis

When I ask founders why people don’t buy from them, a majority of the time I hear the same answer.

Price.

Most say the price was too high or they sent a proposal and never heard back so they assumed that was the reason.

But, your buyer isn’t concerned about your price.

→ They worry about their costs.

Three of them, actually.

• Dollars: The actual money they will have to invest in this product, upfront and ongoing. This directly ties to the value they feel they are getting.

• Time: How much time it will take to put in place and manage. Investing in this takes their time away from other priorities.

• Opportunity: What they’ll have to say “no” to in order to say “yes” to you. This is FOMO at it’s finest. If I do this then I probably can’t do that.

What This Means for Your Sales Conversations

When a prospect doesn’t move forward, don’t assume it’s only about your price. Often, it’s about one (or more) of these hidden costs:

• Will this take too much time to roll out?

• Will it distract from other urgent priorities?

• Is the return on this worth the effort?

• Do I trust that this will actually solve my problem?

• What can’t I buy if I buy this?

• Will anything happen if I wait a bit longer?

• What if I make the wrong choice?

You’ve had those same questions when making purchases. Your buyers are no different.

So don’t skip over them.

Here’s How to Surface If They'll Buy

Uncover The Real Problem

Too often I see founders skip over opportunities to press deeper.

→ The first answer is rarely the full story.

If they say, “We want to improve our onboarding,” ask, “Tell me what’s not working today?” Push beyond surface symptoms. Keep probing until you hear real friction or emotional ties to the problem. People don’t get annoyed from questions that talk about problems and solutions. They get annoyed by general, closed-ended nonsensical questions.

Quantify the Cost of Doing Nothing

Ask, “What happens if you don’t fix this?”

If they say, “I’m not sure; it’s just frustrating,” then keep prying.

Ask, “What is frustrating? or “What’s the impact on your business if you continue doing it that way?”

Try to quantify if at all possible. That’s what helps tie dollars, hours, etc to the project value. Your job is to help them see what they’re losing by waiting. You need to feel out early if they are hurting bad or if it’s just more of a gnat flying around type of annoyance. They might not actually come through and buy if it’s the latter.

Gauge Priority and Timing

Ask, “Where does this fall on your list of priorities right now?”

This helps you understand their urgency. If they say it’s a top priority, now you can align your process to help them move quickly. If it’s # 7 on the list, then pushing too hard might backfire. It also might be an indicator that they won’t have the time to invest in this right now.

That’s fine. People aren’t always ready to buy so knowing priority helps determine if it’s “Not buying now” or “Not buying ever” scenario.

Buyers Don't Always Know What’s Holding Them Back

Sometimes they don’t know how to evaluate your offer. Sometimes they’re uncertain about the time investment or the trade-offs. Your job is to help them think through that.

When you do, you’ll have clearer signals of who is serious and who is window shopping.

Your goal is to find real buyers.

You need to qualify them to make sure they are.

Action Step:

Pick a recent sales call. Listen back to it (You’re recording all of them, right?)

Where could you have asked a better follow-up question?

Identify one spot where you could have gone deeper and make it a point to lean in on your next call.

Skills are cemented through practice.

Make sure you are putting in the reps to improve.