How much do you charge?

Do you get that question often? It can seen like a silly question. Imagine walking into a restaurant and asking the doorman, “How much do you charge?”

The most likely response is,
“Do you want hamburger or steak?”

Would a person walk into a store and start the conversation with:

How much to buy a computer?
What does a TV cost?
How much for a vacation?

When a person is going in for open heart surgery they don’t ask, “How much is this going to cost?”

So, why would that question be part of an opening conversation?

Perhaps they don’t really want what you sell.

Perhaps they see your product as a commodity.

Perhaps they are simply collecting prices.

How can you respond?

You could ask, “What’s more important, fixing the problem or staying in budget?”

The answer is, “Both”.

You follow up with, “Okay, then tell me about both of them.”