What If Prospects Say, "I Can't Afford It." How to Handle Price Objections

One of the most uncomfortable moments in a professional martial artist's life is when he or she must face prospects and answer enrollment objections. In a perfect world, the prospects would just pay the enrollment fee without any comment or questions. Unfortunately, enrollments rarely happen that way. The reason most instructors dread answering objections is that they don't understand what prospects are asking, and they fear the objection is a sign that prospects don't want to enroll; but, as you'll discover, that's not true. The first objection I want to dissect is when prospects tell you that your lessons cost too much. What does it mean when someone says your classes are too expensive? Does it mean they can't afford it? Usually not. The cost of martial arts lessons is an insignificant expenditure for the average household in America. That being the case, cost becomes a weak excuse. When prospects say your lessons cost too much, it means they haven't yet heard the information they need to understand the value of martial arts training. Here are a couple of hard and fast rules every instructor should know about parents and adult students.

• Their children and their money are the two most important things in the world to parents-and always in that order. Parents will do without money (their second priority) for their children (their first priority), if they are convinced the expenditure is worthwhile.
• Their safety and their money are the two most important things in an adult's life, also in that order. The same rule applies to adult prospects as the parents of juvenile prospects-if you can show adults that martial arts training is worthwhile, they will enroll.

The procedure for handling price objections is first to understand clearly the specific reasons that price is a problem for a prospect. If the person says to you, "It's just too expensive," then you should reply by asking him or her a two-part question: "What is it about the investment that you're finding a challenge? Is it the initial enrollment fee or the monthly tuition?" It may be just the initial enrollment fee that the prospect can't pay at once. In that case, you can simply accept a partial payment on the enrollment fee (maybe half) and delay the balance until next month, or whatever arrangements you can make. If prospects say the monthly tuition is too expensive, use the "Feel-Felt-Found" method to assure them that martial arts lessons are a worthwhile investment. This is how the Feel-Felt-Found method works: You tell the prospects you understand how he/she feels, others have felt the same way, and those others have found… For example: "I understand how you feel, Mrs. Jones, some of the parents of our best students also felt that way when they first came to us, but they found, as I'm sure you will, that an investment in a martial arts education for their children was one of the best decisions they ever made. Think of it in terms of your child's college education, and then it really becomes quite a bargain, doesn't it?" For an adult student: "I understand how you feel, Ron; in fact, some of our best students felt the same way when they first came to us, but they found the training to be one of the best investments they ever made in themselves. The added personal security and peace of mind are certainly worth a small investment every month." As I noted earlier, knowing the "order of priorities" for both parents and adult students will enable you to speak to each person's highest need. In the case of a child, comparing the low cost of martial arts training to the high cost of a college education will cause the parents to value your training more highly. For adult prospects, peace of mind and personal security will matter more to them than money.