Nobody wants to be called a “pricing coward,” but that is exactly what many salespeople are.
They talk tough with regard to price and holding firm with the customer, but the second there is even the slightest hesitation on the part of the customer, the salesperson throws out a discount.
Being a pricing coward is a real problem for one simple reason: You give up a lot of profit that simply does not have to be given away.
The tendency to give a discount to close a deal is due to one simple thing. The salesperson doesn’t have a clue what else to do.
Sell based on the benefits and outputs the customer is going to get from buying from you, rather than some stupid game of low-price.
I tend to get a little hot about this issue for another reason as well. Salespeople will never admit they don’t know how to sell, but they’re quick to state how they could sell a lot more if the pricing was just in line with what the customers were looking for. Sorry, if you start going down this slope, you’ll wind up with a simple price. It’s called free!
Don’t start arguing with me about how I don’t understand your business and the competitive nature of your market. I do understand it, and unless you’re in a very small niche group of commodities, there is no reason for you to try to argue with me.
When we as salespeople are meeting with a customer, our objective is to learn what they’re looking for — not the color or size, but the reason they/re looking for something and how they intend to benefit from it.
Should a customer push back on your price, your response should be to ask a question pertaining to one of their critical needs Sell to their needs, not your price.
Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
