How to answer: “How do you respond when a prospect says you're too expensive?”

What they’re actually asking

'Too expensive' is the most common objection in sales and usually means 'I don't see the value yet' — they're testing whether you know that. Discounting on reflex tells them you'll give away their margin. Getting curious tells them you can defend a price.

How to structure your answer

First move is a question, not a defense: 'expensive compared to what?' Then re-anchor to the cost of the problem, not the price of the product. Show you know when a discount is strategic and when it's surrender — and that you never cut price without cutting scope or getting something back.

Example answer

“My first response is always 'help me understand — compared to what?' Half the time it's compared to doing nothing, so we requantify the problem: if churn is costing them $30k a month, a $2k tool isn't expensive, it's mispriced attention. If it's a real budget wall, I'd rather trim scope than price — fewer seats, phased rollout — because a discount without a trade teaches them the price was fake. I hold rate unless there's a concession coming back: a longer term, a case study, an intro.”

What sinks people

• Reaching for the discount before understanding the objection
• Getting defensive about price instead of curious about the comparison
• Never naming the give-get rule — free concessions train buyers to push