Sales Blog with Sales Tips

“What is your price?” That question can really get to be annoying to sales professionals because:

1. We’re tired of having to respond to it.
2. We know that price isn’t really the most important issue to our prospects and customers. Risk, service, quality and availability always come in ahead of price in virtually every study that’s ever been done of buyers’ real concerns.

“You’ve just dodged a bullet.”

We know not to answer a price question without first getting all the information we need. We also know to provide price information only when we are ready. These are just basic sales tips. However, what are the
sales skills to effectively do this?

Step 1
If the customer pops the “What is your price?” question on a product or service, then simply respond with, “How many do you need and when do you need them?” This will lead into one of two directions. If they say they don’t need any, this indicates they’re just price shopping and you can respond with something like, “When you know the quantity you need and the delivery timeframe, I’ll be happy to research a price for you.” You’ve just dodged a bullet. If they do have the answer to those questions then move on to Step 2.

Step 2
Now that they’ve told you how many they need and when they need them you can continue the conversation by asking, “Can I ask you some questions in order to get the information I need to price correctly?” You then proceed to ask them about whether the purchase is budgeted, how they are currently being supplied, who the decision makers are, etc. All of this buys you time to get more information, demonstrate your added value and negotiate the details.

The best part about this technique is that it gives you some control over when and how you quote pricing to a customer, ideally when you are ready and when you have enough data.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Do your price quotes have ED, also known as Expense Dysfunction? Do you just throw out prices and assume your prospects and customers understand all the added value and sales help you and your company are bringing to the transaction?

The Summarized Price Quote
You’ve been working hard putting together a price quote for a customer and you’ve reached the point where you have to send them a price. During the sales cycle you’ve given them all the brochures you could find and used all your best sales skills including some from this sales blog, I hope. Shouldn’t you be able to simply provide them a bottom line total price with the words “all items included” next to it?

“If the customer starts to fuss about pricing then we have some ammo to respond.”

Why This is Bad Sales Advice
By going the “all items included” route you have missed an opportunity to tell the customer all the added value they get by buying from you. Oh, I understand, you’ve shown and told them everything already. Forget it. They’ve forgotten everything. The best place to show the customer the details of the hidden value they are getting from you is alongside the bottom line price. This is the one place you know the the customer is going to focus their attention.

Assumptions, Assumptions, Assumptions
Have you ever noticed that the word “assumption” has a negative connotation? Want to know why? Because in most cases we assume something that isn’t true. In sales we assume that the customer knows all the additional value we bring to the table. The fact is, they don’t. It’s our job to remind them of their return on investment by doing business with us and the best place to do this is by including the details right by our final price.

Examples
Free Delivery N/C
Project Coordination N/C
Safety Training N/C
Pre-sale Design Services N/C
Customized Packaging N/C
Assigned Account Manager N/C
Post-sale Engineering Support for 90 Days N/C

There are a million of these depending on your industry and product. You get the idea.

One Final Note
One additional feature is this gives us some negotiating room too. If the customer starts to fuss about pricing then we have some ammo to respond. “If we were to lower your price by 10% we wouldn’t be able to include the additional services at no charge as we have proposed.”

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

I love sales and marketing but occasionally I run into companies that use sales skills and marketing techniques that are a little nauseating to me. I don’t want to name any companies but the one I’m thinking of uses pink Cadillacs to reward their sales superstars. But hang on lipstick lovers around the world – this story has a twist.

What bothers me?
I hate when they teach their salespeople when prospecting, “every ‘no’ means that we’re just that much closer to a ‘yes’!” Just hearing that kind of sales advice makes my skin crawl because it’s so superficial sounding.

“It’s a backwards kind of engineering…”

What is good about it?
As much as I hate to admit it, they are actually giving their sales representatives a good sales tip. In fact, they are giving them many sales tips rolled into one statement. If we imagine all the companies that will never buy from us and those that will buy from us in one big pile, isn’t it our job to both eliminate the non-prospects and identify the qualified prospects?

Some more thoughts.

• We tend to have a fear of “no’s” when prospecting. They represent the boogey man in the closet. Let’s think differently about “no’s” in the future.
• We can’t stop when we get a “no.” A “no” means a “no” from that prospect at that moment, and that’s all.
• When we get a “yes” we sometimes stop asking other questions for fear of getting a “no.” We need to keep asking product questions, decision maker questions, etc. from a “yes” prospect until we get the information we need.
• Setting a “no” minimum quota while prospecting can go a long way in removing the psychological fender bender we experience when we hear one. It’s a backwards kind of engineering, but enough “no’s” will generate your “yes’s.”

Even though this company’s sales help might sound corny, this respected organization is actually providing good sales tips on how to sell.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer