February 25, 2023

“I see the value in it, but...”

Longtime friend-of-the-list Zoë Dove-Many wrote in with a fun question about a specific type of price objection (shared by request):

Hey Jonathan!

I’ve got a question that others on your email list might be curious about, too.

How can I use the following information? Is it even information? Or is it just fluff?

In a sales situation, I often hear from the prospect: “I definitely see the value in [thing you’re offering], but it’s not in the budget for us right now.” (Or something similar citing the price.)

If they’re not willing to pay the price, do they actually see the value? And how can I use this information?

Thanks Jonathan, curious to hear your thoughts on this brain-buster, lol!

Zoë Dove-Many

It’s possible that some clients literally don’t have the budget for a particular product or service at a given time.

But I think this particular objection is more about desire than buying power.

Why?

Because if they REALLY wanted the thing, they could reallocate funds from other projects or ask for favorable payment terms or maybe even borrow the money.

So...

When people say “I see the value” in a thing but don’t buy it, I believe what they really mean is, “I’m sure that’s probably worth the price to someone, but it’s not worth that much to me.”

Yours,

—J