High-Ticket Sales: 12 Ways to Sell an Expensive Product

 Salespeople who don’t work for the low-cost provider in their arena often struggle with losing deals based on price. Prospects are only human, and no one likes to pay more when they could pay less. That's why pricing in sales is one of the biggest barriers to purchase and a roadblock for many reps.

This roadblock is particularly difficult to overcome in the world of high-ticket sales. 

What Are High-Ticket Sales?

A high-ticket sale is the sale of an expensive product or service. Because of price resistance, closing a sale of a high-value but high-cost item often results in a longer sales cycle and requires a great deal of sales skill.

While there are certainly steps you can take to win against a low-cost provider, you’ll never come out on top with a poor product. If your product is only marginally better than your competitor’s — but costs significantly more — you’re going to lose deals. It’s just that simple.

However, if your product’s price reflects significant points of differentiation, you can come out on top. Here are nine tips for convincing the customer to buy a more expensive product.

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How to Sell Expensive Products

1. Understand your buyer persona.
2. Use a high-ticket sales script.
3. Help them envision what success looks like.
4. Figure out your competition.
5. Eliminate low-quality competitors.
6. Talk price only after you're in the lead.
7. Ask about when low-cost choices let them down.
8. Use examples of customers who switched from a less-pricey option.
9. Use a trial close.
10. Close for the technical win.
11. Learn stakeholders’ buying histories.
12. Formally close for a champion.

1. Understand your buyer persona.

Your product likely solves a specific pain or problem your ideal buyer is experiencing. It's not enough to talk nuts and bolts, features and pricing... especially in high-ticket sales. 

You'll need to identify your prospect's motivations, pains, and triggering events — perhaps before they even pick up the phone. To do that, create a buyer persona of your ideal customer and explore why they'd consider a premium solution for their situation. 

The information can give you an edge while building rapport, and you'll have a profile to compare against as you qualify prospects. 

2. Use a high-ticket sales script. 

Your conversation will take you in a number of directions, so it's okay to rely on your knowledge of the product/service and competitors during your sales calls. However, to sharpen your sales process, you should have a sales script for the primary stages of each deal: 

Intro:

The goal of the intro is to, of course, introduce yourself but also get their attention as quickly as possible.

"Hello [Prospect Name]. I'm [Your Name], and I help [Their Title] like you [What Your Product/Service Solves]."

Then, you'll lead into the conversation with an open-ended question. For example:

"Hello, [Prospect Name]. My name is [Your Name], and I help hiring managers like you reduce the time it takes to interview, hire, and onboard new talent in 50% less time than the industry average. How many new hires do you have planned for the year?"

If they do not want to continue the conversation, you can ask to schedule a meeting. If they say yes, continue on by providing more information and opening up a dialogue.

"We offer [Product/Service] because we've noticed that other [Their Title](s) have been experiencing issues with [Pains]. Are any of those areas you are concerned about?"

The Pitch:

Here is where you discuss your product/service, the pains that it solves, and how it does it differently than similar solutions.

For example: "We know that you have issues with [Pains], so we aim to solve that by [Solution Description]. This goes beyond other solutions on the market because [Value Proposition], resulting in [Concrete Case Study Details]."

The Close:

The close finishes the current conversation by asking them to take the next step. In order to have a great close, you must have the stages of the sales process mapped out. This is particularly important with high-ticket sales because many premium products and services have too long a sales cycle to finish the sale on the first call. You might wrap up with:

• "I don't want to take up more of your time today, but I want to continue learning more about your goals and strategies. How would you feel about a 30-minute conversation next Tuesday?"
• "I'd love to share more information about this product. Do you have time to hop on a call for a quick demo?"
• "You've asked some good questions, and I think the best way to give you answers is by giving you a quick preview of the platform. Would you be interested in a free trial?"

We've also included some sample sales tactics throughout the rest of this article, so read on for more ideas to include in your script.

3. Help them envision what success looks like. 

You know that the prospect has a problem they need to get solved. That manifests as a gap between where they are and where they need to be. From a practical standpoint, you should be explaining how your product/service fills that gap. 

But don't stop there. Paint the picture of what success looks like, what their life will be like if their problem no longer affects them. This will indicate to them that you know the stakes, and it will strengthen the emotional association with the conversation.

4. Ask about the competition early.

Reps typically wait too long before asking about the competition. Especially if you’re selling a premium offering, you want to ask buyers about what other vendors they’re considering early and often.

But questions such as “What do you like about Company X?” won’t garner you valuable information. Instead, probe into the following areas:

• “Which vendor is winning as we stand today?” Get the buyer used to thinking in terms of “winning” and “losing.” This will reveal which provider they ultimately prefer — regardless of price. Remember: Prospects will never buy from your company unless they like you more than the competition. If you’re not “winning,” price becomes a moot point. If you are winning, you can work on the price.
• “Where are you in the buying process with competitor X?” Make sure you’re keeping pace with the competitor’s sales process. Alternatively, this can alert you to situations where you’re being used as a last-minute entry to justify the decision.
• “Who is the internal champion for competitor X?” In order to neutralize objections to your product from stakeholders, you have to be aware of them in real time. Discover who’s rooting for your competition, and reach out to them directly.