Comments on: Selling Price: How Not To (Part Three)

By: S. Anthony Iannarino

S. Anthony Iannarino — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:28:57 +0000

Thanks, Mark! Nobody every says you they drive a Yugo, do they? Then your strategy is shot!

By: Marc Zazeela

Marc Zazeela — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:20:25 +0000

Anthony,

You are right. The sales cycle will almost definitely be longer but if you make the sale you will usually have gained a better customer. Selling on price means you will lose your customer to the next supplier that offers the same thing for $0.05 less.

It’s not easy to demonstrate real value unless you truly understand your prospects business, their objectives, and their motivations. Of course they may be incapable of thinking beyond the price no matter what you do.

I like to try to keep things as simple as possible. I may ask them what kind of car they drive. Unless it’s a Yugo, you can usually make your point. “Mr/Ms Prospect, why did you buy a car that is more expensive than some of the other models? After all, they all have motors, they all get you from point a to point b, none of them have a leak in the roof. Despite theses similarities, you chose one that was more expensive. Why?”

They may say that they like leather seats, tinted windows, more chrome, more horsepower, larger interior, etc. So, they understand value. Now it’s time to begin making the comparisons between your offer and your competitors.

By: Juan

Juan — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:23:51 +0000

Anthony,
You are right, when you are focused on selling your value, the selling cycle time is longer, as you have to educate your customer on the value you bring, you need to quantify the $ benefits and also the intangible ones, usually requires to educate more than one person, that requires time, it also requires being there when the other supplier does not deliver on its promises, by then you should have planted the seeds way beforehand. Sometimes they will test you, they will call you for help about stuff that you do not even sell, that’s why you have to have an strong network of contacts. You have to remember that YOU bring the value, You the person not your company, You are the problem solver, if they do not buy from me, that means they are not buying me, they do not trust me enough to give their business. My best sales ally is TIME, Once I planted the seeds, outlined and quantify clearly the benefits, all I do is wait for the opportunity, as surely with time will come.

By: Daniel M. Wood

Daniel M. Wood — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:41:43 +0000

Becoming a good salesman is very difficult.
Especially with new salesmen you often see them trying to take the short-cut by trying to sell on price alone.

But even if you sell on only price there are problems.
First of all you still have to create a need for the product, if they don’t need your product it doesn’t matter if it costs 1 cent, it is still a waste.

Second of all is that it is so easily mimicked by your competitors that they can do the same.

By learning to be a good salesmen and start differentiating your products you will be able to show your customers why your product is superior to the products of your competitors that way earning you the sale and the chance to charge a premium price, both earning you a higher commission.

I am glad you discussed this and I will be staying tuned to future articles.

By: Tweets that mention Selling Price: How Not To (Part Three) -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Selling Price: How Not To (Part Three) -- Topsy.com — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:06:31 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bill Rice, Anne Thornley-Brown, S. Anthony Iannarino, S. Anthony Iannarino, troywilson and others. troywilson said: RT @iannarino Selling Price: How Not To (Part Three) http://bit.ly/axNWp0 #sales [...]