Sticker Shock vs. Sticker Trauma
by Hal Slater

In the late 1970s, a U.S. Senator responded to the combined effects of newly instituted auto safety and emission regulations with steep inflation by coining the term "Sticker Shock" to describe a shopper's response to an unexpectedly high price. Most high-ticket-to-consumer industries are quite familiar with this phenomenon.

Although "sticker shock" doesn't make selling any easier, except as a gauge for determining how serious they are, it is usually not fatal to the sale. "Sticker Trauma" on the other hand, is frequently fatal to high-ticket, discretionary sales. Sticker Trauma is different from Sticker Shock in that the shopper is exposed to a series of shocks to the point that they lose their enthusiasm for the purchase. They take the money they were going to spend on the thing they over-shopped for and leap into an entirely different type of purchase.

What causes this to happen? Simple FEAR, the fear in the salesperson of the shopper's response to the price. As a salesperson, it is difficult to accept that your fear of their response is traumatizing them but I can assure you, if the price bothers the salesperson even the least little bit, it will absolutely mortify the customer. If your fear of price causes you to start by offering the shopper the lowest priced option that could be had, you are setting them up for sticker trauma. No matter how low your lowest priced option is, they will be shocked. That is a not a bad thing, it means they are real buyers.

Until, that is, they ask about some extra-cost item and you have to tell them that it is not included and how much it will raise the price, at which point, they are shocked again. By starting at the bottom, you set up the cycle of repeated disappointment and shock. This will ultimately result in sticker trauma and they may decide that they don't really want one, after all.

The easiest and best way to avoid sticker trauma is to start with the loaded model or design and let them tell you what they want to remove to lower the price. This means that they will only be shocked once and, after they recover, most of the news they hear will be good. If they ask if it is included the answer will be "yes". If they want to reduce the price, you have plenty of options you can delete or replace.

In his landmark 1984 book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Robert Cialdini describes some behavioral patterns he calls "compliance triggers". One of these triggers is the Principle of Contrast which says, when given a difficult choice and an easy choice together, we tend to grab for the easy choice rather than making no choice at all. By starting with the most expensive option, you make all other choices the easy one.

Sometimes they surprise you and buy the most expensive option you offer up front. You will never know until you ask. As my fellow speaker Lew Akins says, "It is not your job to spend their money." Just give them all of the options and let them tell you what they want to keep.

If price is what they care about most, do you really want their business? If you sell from low price up, your style will work primarily with price buyers and you will miss quality buyers because you will rarely stand out from the crowd, no matter what you say about your company. To stand out to quality-oriented buyers, you will have to risk blowing the real price buyers away. Make your choice: attract people who want to save every dollar they can or attract people who are more concerned with quality and understand that it costs more.

Differentiate yourself from the crowd of bidders at the bottom of the ladder by opening with a shockingly high bid that includes everything in their dreams. Let them respond and, if necessary, inform them that you can reduce the price by eliminating or exchanging options. Even though you may frequently not expect them to buy your full-out proposal, the psychological value of the first number is immeasurable in price conditioning them for a respectable sale.