Sometimes customers make a low ball offer, one that may offend us. How we respond is important. Even if we don’t like the offer, we want to maintain the relationship.  After all, they may buy in the future. 

 

Recently I visited a furniture store and saw an item on sale that had some light damage. However, the price was more than I wanted to pay; so I made an offer that was half of the ticket price. The sales person spoke with the owner, who displayed his feelings and said “If I took that price, I would be paying you to take it away. I need to feed my family. Selling at that price would take bread off my table.”  While his response might reflect his reality, the tone of his response made it unlikely that I would become a regular customer.   

My belief is that any offer is more compliment than insult. The buyer wants to do business.  Even though it’s not at your price; they still want to buy. Far better to respectfully say, “I’m sorry; but I can’t accept that offer” or “The ticket price is the best I can do” or even counter with another offer that might be acceptable. You never know when you might make a sale. 

King Solomon wrote, “The buyer haggles over the price, saying, ‘It's worthless,’ then brags about getting a bargain!” (Proverbs 20:14, NLT) Buyers will attempt to negotiate to bring a price down. We need to respond in a professional and respectful way so we don’t lose a relationship and future business.  

Steve Marr, Your Christian Business Coach