Home › Guides · Updated 9 November 2026 · By Kevin Lim, founder of DUMO Innovations

"All the same lah": how to reply when a customer sees no difference

Short answer: Don't list more features and don't say yours is better. When a customer says "all the same", he usually can't see which difference matters to him, so he falls back on the one thing every quotation shares, the price. Ask what he will use it for, pick one difference, and show what it changes in his own business.

What they meanHe has read three quotations that all say the same things, and he cannot tell which line will matter to him after he pays.

Ask first"Fair, on paper they look alike. What is the one thing you need it to do every day?"

Then send"For that, the difference is this: all four outlets show on one screen, so you see Saturday sales without calling each manager. Can I show you with your own menu?"

Why the café owner stopped reading your quotation

You quoted a point-of-sale system to a café group with four outlets. The owner has three quotations open and replies on WhatsApp:

"I check already, all POS also same lah. Got order screen, got receipt, got sales report. Just give me the cheapest one."

The most common reply:

"Boss, ours is actually very different! We have more features, cloud backup, inventory, staff clock-in, loyalty, a lot more than the others. Let me send the full feature list 😊"

He said he sees no difference, and you sent him a longer list of things he also can't tell apart. The list makes the three quotations look even more alike. He replies "ok, I compare first", and he compares prices, because the price is the only line he understands.

What "all the same" usually hides

He can't tell which feature matters. Every quotation has the same headings, so he compares what he can line up easily, and price lines up best.
He hasn't used one yet. A first-time buyer has no way to know if "cloud backup" or "staff clock-in" will save him a headache.
He was shown features, not results. Nobody told him what changes in his café on a busy Saturday.
He is tired. Three suppliers, three long lists, and a decision he has to make between customers.
He is right about some things. If two products really do the same job for him, say so. It makes the one difference you name more believable.

Pick one difference and put it in his shop

The business, the owner and every number below are an example to show how the reply works, not a real DUMO SALES customer. Only claim what your own product does.

✅ Agree on the basics, then ask what he needs every day

"You are right, the basics are the same, order, receipt, report. Before I say anything else, what is the one thing you need it to do every day without fail? For some owners it is the end-of-day report, for some it is speed at the counter."

You accept what is true and turn the chat from products to his daily work. His answer tells you which one difference is worth talking about.

✅ Show one difference, in his own shop

"Then the difference that matters for you is this: all four outlets show on one screen, so you can see Saturday sales without calling each manager. The others report outlet by outlet. Can I show you how it looks with your own menu?"

One difference, said as what it changes for him. If he has never used a POS, a feature he can picture beats three he cannot.

✅ If cheap really is all he wants, let him choose it with eyes open

"Understood. If you only need orders and a receipt, the cheapest will do the job. Just check two things before you decide: who answers when the system hangs on a Saturday, and what it costs to add a fifth outlet. I'll send you our answers in writing so you can ask the same two questions to the others."

You help him compare on something that can hurt him later, and you do not chase a price war you cannot win.

Copy-paste replies for each kind of "all the same"

Find out which situation sits behind the sentence, then send the matching line. Swap in your own product, terms and numbers.

Replies to "all the same", by what is really going on
They say	Send this
All the same, just give me cheapest	Fair, the basics are alike. What is the one thing you need it to do every day? If cheapest does that, I'll tell you honestly.Agrees first, and finds the one difference that matters to him.
I can't see the difference	Let me show you only one: you see all four outlets on one screen, live, so no more calling managers at closing time. Want to see it with your own menu?One difference he can picture is clearer than a long list.
Same features, why yours more expensive?	The features are similar, the difference is after you buy: who answers, how fast, and what it costs to add more later. I'll put ours in writing.Moves the comparison from the feature list to the part that can hurt him.
I'll just go with whichever my friend uses	Makes sense. What does your friend like about it most? I'll tell you if we do the same, and where we are different.Learns his real standard before you compare.
Send me the comparison	Happy to. To make it useful, tell me your top two things you need, and I'll compare only those.A comparison on his two criteria beats a table of everything.

Practise these replies on an AI customer that pushes back. Free trial →

The one-difference sheet

Before you reply, fill four lines for this customer. If you can't fill the third line, you are not ready to say "ours is different". The example lines are invented, so write your own.

What he needs every day: "See sales for all four outlets without calling managers."
What is the same everywhere: Order screen, receipt, daily report. Say it first, so he trusts the rest.
The one difference: One screen for all outlets, live.
What it changes for him: Saturday sales and stock shown without a single phone call.

Three ways to make everything look the same

Sending the full feature list. It copies the layout of every other quotation, so it looks the same too. Pick one line.
Saying "ours is very different" without showing how. He has heard it from each supplier. Show one difference in his own business.
Dropping the price to win the comparison. If you win on price, you taught him that price is the only thing to compare.

What a study says about comparing similar products

No study looks at Malaysian salesmen replying to "all the same". The closest one comes from consumer psychology, so treat it as a hint and not as proof.

People who know a product well look at its unique features. People who don't, look at the features everything shares. In three experiments with consumers choosing between products, those with low product familiarity relied more on alignable attributes, which are the ones every option has and are easy to compare, such as price or a shared function. Those with high familiarity relied more on nonalignable attributes, the ones only one product has. The authors link this to how useful each attribute seems for judging the product. The experiments were not about salesmen. They are useful here because a first-time buyer who says "all the same" may simply be comparing what is easiest to line up. Show him why one unique difference helps him decide. Yong Zhang, Yuwen Wen and Min Hou, 2021, Frontiers in Psychology. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636922
Experts practised on harder problems step by step. Interviews with 18 B2B salesmen, picked by their colleagues as experts, linked their expertise to deliberate practice at work (Daniel P. Köhler and Andreas Rausch, 2022, Vocations and Learning, doi:10.1007/s12186-022-09301-y). See how to set up practice for a team.

Practise it before a real customer

DUMO SALES is an AI sales coach for Malaysian teams. Your salesmen practise replies like "all the same lah" on their phone, with an AI customer built from your own products and prices. The customer keeps asking for the cheapest if you only list features, and listens when you ask what he needs and show him one difference. After each session, DUMO SALES analyses the conversation, scores it across 8 dimensions and coaches you on the line that decided the deal. Managers get a data-driven view of who needs coaching and which objections the team keeps losing on.

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FAQ

What do I say when a customer tells me "all the same"?

Agree that the basics are alike, then ask what he needs the product to do every day. Pick one difference that matters for that, and show what it changes in his own business. A long list of features makes the quotations look even more alike.

Why does a customer say all products are the same?

Often he cannot tell which feature will matter after he pays, so he compares what lines up easily, which is price. A first-time buyer is more likely to do this than someone who has used the product before.

What if he really only wants the cheapest?

Let him choose it with his eyes open. Tell him to check two things that can hurt him later, such as who answers when it breaks and what it costs to grow, and offer your answers in writing. Do not start a price war you cannot win.