The Power of Price Objections
I went from being a pawnbroker to a vendor after 16 years in the business. As a result, I know how pawnbrokers and vendors think and feel. And one of the most prevalent issues I'm seeing is that as pawnbrokers, we despise price objections from our customers.
We hate it when they lie to us. We don't like it when they believe something is too expensive that we're trying to sell them. Yet we do it all the time on the other end.
As a vendor, I'm fine with someone saying, "Hey, Yigal, the Pawn Leaders Mastermind isn't for me at this particular moment" or "Hey, you know what? This software is not for me. It's not for me. I don't see the point in it."
So many times I remember being a pawnbroker, and just lying. Saying, "I gotta talk to my wife or my cousin or my brother..." or "you know right now is not the best time." I would say, "you know, right now is not the best time. I'm really, really busy right now. I'm so overwhelmed with stuff." Yet I would waste time in the store and browsing on Facebook.
I recall going to a pawn shop in the past, where they discussed how expensive being a member of the NPA is and how costly their software is.
And here's the thing: when I go look at their goods, guess what? They're exorbitantly pricey!
They had stuff piled up on the porch and out the door, you know. You can barely walk in because of all the clutter. The goods were costly. They weren't organized yet they kept complaining nonstop.
So I think that energy and power have a lot to do with it. I believe that if we continue to offer untruthful price objections, our customers will get from us what they expect to get.
SCARCITY MENTALITY
A scarcity mentality is one in which we believe that "I can't afford it," "I can't do it," and so on. That's what our customers will offer us if we have a scarcity mentality. The difference between an epic pawn leader from those who have a scarcity mentality:
- New technology? I'm in!
- Coaching consultant? How much is it? Let's do that!
- I want to learn more so I can be better at what I do? How much is that course? Sign me up!
When we have a scarcity mentality, we tend to see things as "either/or." We think that if we spend money on "X," then we can't spend money on "Y." We think that if we take care of our family, we can't focus on our business. We think that if we invest in ourselves, we can't invest in our team.
The truth is, when we have a scarcity mindset, we are really only cheating ourselves. When we focus on lack, all we can see is lack. We miss out on opportunities because we're too busy focusing on what we don't have.
If you want to be a true pawn leader, it's time to let go of your scarcity mindset and stop lying and making excuses. When you shift your thinking from scarcity to abundance, amazing things start to happen in your life. All of a sudden, opportunities open up for you. You start to see possibilities instead of limitations.
BREAKTHROUGH
I've spoken with pawnshop owners who wish they had another two stores open but are afraid to fail. That dread of, "oh, I don't want to spend that money, but I'll hoard all my stuff." But when someone comes in and asks for a $10 discount on a three-month-old saw, you're like, "no way...it's worth more on eBay."
Get out of that mindset. Get out of that scarce.
You're thinking like your customer. And if you think like your customer, you're going to have what your customer has. If you do business like your customer does business with you, you will have the income that your customer has.
That's what I truly believe.
If you think about scarcity all the time, your bank account will be filled with it. You've got to take risks. We don't have three balls for no reason; instead, we can't hide behind the counter and not take those chances.
When you're on the other side of the counter, when you're in your office and have to do a marketing campaign or enhance leadership and culture, or strategize, you can't just sit there and wait for people to come in.
We've got to get those three balls and put them on the table; Take significant action. Do you want to accelerate your company's growth? Step outside of your comfort zone.
What now?
So if you're tired of being comfortable and, and not making as much, if you're tired, look around your store right now, don't look down at the screen. Look around your store and see how much aged inventory you have on a scale of one to 10. How's your culture right now? How great is your leadership? How great is your marketing? Are you strategizing? Are you just so busy? Are you consumed with a day-to-day operation that you can't get out of it?
Yigal Adato
Yigal is a 3rd generation pawn broker, and is now a mentor, coach and educator with the pawnbroking industry.
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