How do you deal with prospects and customers who, after a proposal or bid, show your prices to your competitors? This week we have a question from a listener who is facing this dilemma and looking for answers.

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We received this question from Amy, a Sales Professional from Winter Park, FL, “ I sell for a small business and sometimes when a client asks me for a price they tell me that they are going to give their current vendor the right of first refusal.  To me it should be illegal to give out my pricing to another competitor - any advice?”

Amy, salespeople around the globe just stood up and cheered you and they’ve already begun writing to their governments asking that a law be passed making in illegal for prospects to use the prices we give them to get a better deal from their current vendors. Of course the Purchasing Managers Association, which closely monitors our show, is at this very moment deploying lobbyists to make sure this legislation never passes.

That’s a little bit tongue-in-cheek but as long as there have been salespeople willing to hand over pricing there have been customers willing to use that pricing to get a better deal from their incumbent vendors. At least your prospects are honest enough to tell you upfront that they are just using you.

It’s just business and until you get burned enough to stop doing this you’ll keep on doing it. But perhaps, because you took time to write me, you are ready go cold turkey. If you are then raise your right hand and repeat after me, “I will not give prices to unqualified prospects, I will not give prices to prospects unless I have provided them with a reason to do business with me other than price, and I will not give prices to prospects who are happy with their current situation unless and until I’ve shown them why they should be unhappy.”

It’s easy to give a price and it is just as easy to beat a price. If a potential client calls you and asks for a price and you give it to them and they show it to their incumbent vendor your chance of winning the sale is likely less than 1%. In fact you might have better odds playing the lottery. In sales you just can’t win by giving up price. You can win though by holding back price.

When prospects call you looking for price it is because they need that price for something. If you call them and they ask for price it is because they are disqualifying you. In either case if you give them the price you lose. The key is to use price as leverage to get more information that will allow you to make a strong case for doing business with you.

The essence of professional sales is uncovering problems and providing solutions to those problems. So the first thing to do when someone asks you for price is to qualify them to ensure that they will engage and allow you to look for and uncover problems. Just say, “I will be happy to quote a price for you. However, we specialize in building customized solutions that meet our clients’ business needs so before I can give you a price I need to find out more about you. May I ask a few questions?” This is the moment where the rubber will hit the road. The prospect will either say yes, set an appointment with you to go over their current situation and needs, or tell you they don’t have time for all of that and they just want a price.

In the last scenario, whatever you do resist the urge to give it to them. If you are tempted just repeat the oath you took earlier: “I will not give prices to unqualified prospects, I will not give prices to prospects unless I have provided them with a reason to do business with me other than price, and I will not give prices to prospects who are happy with their current situation unless and until I’ve shown them why they should be unhappy.”

Instead simply say, “Before I can give you a price I really need to get to know you and your company better. It won’t take much of your time. We just need to go over your current situation, understand what is working and not working, and determine if it makes sense for us to move forward. It sounds like you are busy can we schedule an appointment for a time more convenient for you?”

This says to the prospect that you are a professional and that you care about their business. It also sends a message, “If you want what I’ve got – my price – you are going to have to give something back in return.” In most cases you will be able to convert the prospect into an appointment which will allow you to thoroughly qualify them and get an understanding of their problems. And once you do that you will stand a much better chance of getting a deal done.

However, if they still insist on getting a price gather up your courage and your self-respect and refuse. Just say, “If you are just looking for price we are really not the company for you. Our focus is on crafting real solutions to our clients’ problems and developing long term, mutually beneficial relationships.” You’ll likely hear stammering disbelief from your prospect while at the same time feeling much better about yourself because you maintained your integrity as a Sales Professional.

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This is Jeb Blount, the Sales Guy. If you have a question about sales and sales management please send it to salesguy@quickanddirtytips.com. For more free tips on sales join more than 70,000 sales pros and business leaders who subscribe to Sales Gravy eMagazine. Just go to www.SalesGravy.com for your free subscription. This week will you please take a moment to complete our listener survey? You’ll find it on the bottom left corner of the Sales Guy page a www.sales.quickanddirtytips.com.