"It Costs Too Much"

"I'd love to but I just can't afford it."

"I'm pretty sure that I can get it cheaper somewhere else."

"I'm sorry but it just costs too much for me right now."

Anyone who has been in network marketing, or any kind of sales for that matter, for more than a few days has heard dozens of variations of "It costs too much." Is that the end of that sale? It all depends on how you respond.

The first thing to realize is that for most people "It costs too much" almost never really means that they think it costs too much. Instead, they are telling you that you have not communicated the value of your proposition to them clearly, or that there is information they need to make a decision that you have not provided. When you hear the cost objection, your job is to uncover the real issue(s) and resolve them. If they really just cannot afford your product or service, why are you still selling to them? You should have uncovered that key fact in your qualification process.

Once the cost issue has been raised, you need to probe deeper to uncover the real concerns your prospect is raising. Two things you should definitely not do are offer a discount (aka, lowering your income) or get into an argument over whether or not it really does cost too much. Instead, do what you always do whenever an objection is raised in the sales process. Empathize and establish that you understand their concern, maybe shared it at some point, and certainly do not dismiss it. Then get to work asking questions until you have the information you need to address their concern(s). Here are a few that you might find useful.

"Yes, I completely understand. Let me ask you, if the price were not an issue for you, is there anything else that would hold you back from getting involved with the program today?" Isolating the issue this way will often uncover the real objection.

"I understand. Tell me though, in today's market, what would you expect to pay for a product that would .... " Refocus them on what they are getting for the investment, the value they will receive.

"Yes everyone is concerned with controlling cost these days. Have you considered what it might be costing you to not give this a try?" Presumably the are speaking with you because you've indicated your product or service will solve a problem they are dealing with. What is the cost to them of not eliminating the problem?

"Where does this fit with the rest of your important priorities?"  If someone wants something, they can usually juggle around their priorities to get it. They may not have even considered that getting involved with your product or service might save them effort or time or money in other areas.

The important things to remember are:

1. "It costs too much" probably doesn't mean it costs too much if you have qualified your prospect.
2. Empathize! Let them know you really do understand the financial concern.
3. Find out what they really want and re-focus the discussion on how your solution will get that for them.

"It costs too much" is just another bump on the path to "Yes!"

A Nation of Sugar Junkies

Fat and salt get a lot of attention when the SAD (Standard American Diet) is under discussion. Sugar might deserve a lot more attention than it gets. The average American today consumes about 140 pounds of sugar a year - roughly 45 teaspoonfuls per day - and most of this by far is not sugar that we are adding in ourselves. Roughly half of this total consumption consists of sugars that are added to foods during processing, including foods that we are used to thinking of as "healthy". For example, some brands of yogurt contain as much as 11 teaspoons of sugars. And the trend is toward even higher consumption. "Sugar consumption has been going through the roof," says Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "It has increased by 28 percent since 1983, fueling soaring obesity rates and other health problems."

Most of the sugar we consume comes in soft drinks, candy, pastries, fruit drinks and milk-based deserts (ice cream, yogurt, etc.). As usual, it is not always easy to know how much you are consuming as the labeling on food products is ingeniously confusing - if not actually misleading.  Honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, corn sweetener, glucose, sucrose and dextrose are all sugary names that you probably recognize. But what about barley malt, galactose, rice syrup or the supposedly "healthy" agave nectar? All sugar.

Besides packing on the extra pounds, sugar has many other deleterious effects on our health and well being. It pushes us toward diabetes, decalcifies and demineralizes our bones, created a disease friendly acidic environment in our bodies, interfere with hormone balance and reduces the effectiveness of our immune responses. Further, like alcohol or narcotics, sugar is addictive because it briefly but powerfully elevates level of serotonin in the brain.

What's a person to do?

First, just become aware of the sources of sugar in your diet, and how much of it you are consuming. Don't try to eliminate it too quickly. Consciously ease up, reducing the amount you take in little by little. Like smoking, going "cold turkey" is likely to fail. Substituting fresh foods, especially sweet fruits and vegetables, for processed convenience foods and water for sodas and sweetened fruit juices will carry you most of the way.