Practical Sales Training™ >How To Convert > Invisible Costs

What is it?

Often people choose cheaper alternatives or DIY because they simply don’t see the true cost of their actions. Just because you don’t get an invoice for something doesn’t mean it’s free… As such, we need to highlight these hidden costs to our buyers.

Why does it work?

It works because, respectfully, your buyer is often ignorant to some of the harsh realities they are facing. It’s up to us to spell out the consequences of their actions to help them make the best decision possible.

How can you use it?

To do this we need to (politely) broach the subject of the costs your buyer will incur. These could include, but aren’t limited to:

Lost opportunities
Reputational damage
Delays from errors
Delays due to lack of ability / capacity
Liability if things go wrong
Having to purchase equipment/tools

Typically if a buyer proposes to do something “in house” they need to be reminded that they are already paying the salary for the person undertaking the work- so they are already “paying” for the job to be done.

Hypothetical Example:

A small business is considering designing its own website instead of hiring a professional agency. The owner says, “We’ll just use a free website builder to save money.”

The agency responds by highlighting the hidden costs:

“How much time will your team spend trying to learn the platform instead of focusing on sales?”
“What happens if the DIY site looks unprofessional and costs you credibility with new customers?”
“If you lose just one big sale because the site loads too slowly or doesn’t look trustworthy, that ‘free’ website could cost you thousands.”

By respectfully pointing out these unseen consequences, the agency reframes the conversation: the “cheap” option suddenly looks expensive.

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