Despite what you might think from all the television commercials and other adverts, price is just one part of the sales equation.

Often it’s used as a shortcut: if something is more expensive, it must be better quality mustn’t it?

But quite often price is fairly low down the list of considerations that buyers make and if you do things right you can make sure it stays that way.

Whilst it’s not particularly British to knock the competition (and that approach can actually backfire), there are ways to word things so that the other person in the conversation can put two and two together and draw their own conclusion.

A sneaky way of gently knocking the competition is to start the sentence with something like “Obviously I wouldn’t say this but ….”

Moving on from what the competition is charging is a good tactic.

Instead, focus on either features or – much better – benefits that will be gained from buying your product.

The precise benefits will depend on what you’re selling.

A hairdressing salon might talk about how gentle their products are, how the appointments are kept to time, how you always get the same person cutting your hair so they know you, even the free cup of coffee or tea that everyone gets. All the different little touches that help justify a price premium.

Other businesses will have similar benefits.

One stationery company I use makes the claim that their phones are answered by real people rather than an electronic “on hold” system. Which is a simple way to differentiate themselves from their larger competitors and is probably cheaper than installing a large phone system.

So put your thinking cap on and work out a list of benefits to your customers that will deflect the emphasis away from price.

Or be cheeky and ask your customers why they use you. You could be pleasantly surprised at the answers you get and they may well help you gain more sales in the future.

You can find out more about taking the emphasis away from price in this video: