How to answer "It's all about price - and you're too expensive"‏

In last week’s “Tricks of The Trade” I explored the practical and psychological dimensions that impact on how small business owners price their products and services.

And I promised that this week I would share with you a little-known tactic you can use when, as often is the case, buyers tell you "it’s only about the price".

It’s never just about the price – you just have to make them aware of that!

This is a fabulous tip that you can share with your team to achieve sales success...

 

Here's the scenario...

 

You’re in a meeting with the buyer/potential customer. You’ve got good levels of rapport. Your product or service seems to entirely match their requirements. And then that’s when they hit you with the words... “I like it, but for me the price is crucial and you’re not the cheapest” (or words to that effect).

Your response is...

 

I suggest you say something like “I totally understand that the price is important to you and that you need to secure the best deal you can” (change the words to suit your style). You then go on to say “Just to be clear, as well as price, what else is important to you with this product/service?”

 

Elicit a list of the other factors that they decide are important. These will usually be things like reliability, quality, speed of delivery, after-sales service, and responsiveness to issues. If they stall, ask “what else?” until you get a decent list.

You've got them thinking

 

Great! So far you’ve elicited a list of important factors to go alongside price. There’s a good chance you’re already well on the way to destabilising their attachment to price!

Be sure to write the list down (you'll see why later).

By the way, if you particularly excel at something that they haven’t yet mentioned, ask them “how important is xxxxx” (your specific strength) to nicely bring this into their consciousness – and onto your list.

Compare and contrast

 

The next stage is to help them compare and contrast price alongside those other elements you’ve just elicited. So, pick the first thing they mentioned after price – for this example let’s choose speed of delivery – and say something like “let’s take speed of delivery, what’s more important to you, price, or speed of delivery?”

This really starts to bring home to them the importance of those alternative criteria and further destabilises their attachment to price as the all-important factor in their buying decision.

Repeat and demonstrate

 

Repeat this with the other criteria. What generally happens is price goes down their importance list – and your proposition comes back into favour! You might want to use your written list of important criteria at this stage - show it to them and let them see their ‘league table’ of attributes – and how it is changing before their eyes!

 

Better still, use ‘post-its’. Write one criteria, including price, on each post-it and move them around their desk (or even a nearby wall) to create a very visible league table!

Back in business yet?

 

By now, you’ve demonstrated to the buyer that when it comes down to it, price is just one of several important factors in the buying decision. By bringing other criteria back into play you’re much more likely to get the business than you were 20 minutes earlier. You can then go on to have rational discussion centred around the fact that, all things considered, your offering is the right one for them after all!

Try it. Depending on your specific circumstances you may need to tweak the process slightly but if my experiences are anything to go by you’ll start to win much more business than would otherwise have been the case.

It’s all about the psychology of selling.

Until next time.

 

Leigh

results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426  
www.sales-consultancy.com  

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here

Frustrated at always having to compete on price?‏

Does your particular product or service cost more than the competition?
Are you often asked to match or beat lower priced alternatives that you know aren’t as good as yours?
A very common dilemma - so how could you compete against these pesky competitors that undercut you?

What’s your value strategy?

First - check in...how much clarity is there in your overall offering? Where does pricing fit in? Do you want to build a reputation around low price? Or superior service? Or top quality? Convenience? Best Guarantee? Speed of service? Having the largest selection? Being the 'Go To' people? There are many ways you can add value to the most basic of products. How can you add value to the transaction apart from price?

The way you construct your value mix will determine your sales success – so re-visit this and make sure you have ultimate clarity in your mind.

How clear are your sales and marketing messages?

How accurately do your current sales and marketing messages reflect your value strategy mentioned above? Are they clear? Or muddled? Good to go? Or in need of serious alterations? How well do your target markets understand your messages?

How do you feel about the prices you charge?

Think carefully about the last 5 things you purchased. Of those 5 items, how many of those did you choose because they were the cheapest? If you’re representative of most people you probably purchased no more than one or two items based on the price of those items. Research suggests only 30% to 40% of all customers buy on price, the rest buy on value.

It’s an old adage but if everyone bought on price why aren’t we all driving around in the most basic model of car? Why do many pay £3.50 for a coffee when they could pay nearer to £2?

Never think you are selling a commodity. If you do, you are condemning yourself to always sell on price.

But what does value mean from a customer’s point of view? Apart from the practical elements I describe above, there’s a whole bunch of psychological traits at play when anyone buys anything, centred around emotions, moods, beliefs, self image, reputation, personal values – all of these and many more come into play when making buying decisions.

The buying experience

What buying experience are you offering your customers and potential customers? Sure you’ll have your sales process to follow, but what about their process? Today we have a surplus of similar companies, employing similar sales people, offering similar products, offering similar solutions, of similar quality – at similar prices.

How are customers choosing between all these similar offerings? Probably not price! Quite simply many are choosing as a result of their buying EXPERIENCE. How you sell is often more important than the price you sell at.

How are you selling? And how are you making your buying experience better than that of your competition?

To summarise

So before you start slashing your prices in the hope of being competitive...

1) Check in with your marketing positioning. Are you 100% clear where you are adding value? If not, make that an urgent action point.

2) Clear out your own ‘stuff’ about your pricing. Whatever you charge, be proud of your price, understand why you don’t have to be the cheapest.

3) Make sure you offer a fabulous buying experience to the customer. What do they need from you, from the moment they discover you exist, to long after you have delivered that product or service?

Next week I’ll still be on pricing. I’ll be sharing with you a fabulous tool you can use with those potential customers of yours who are consistently telling you it’s only about price! Be sure to keep an eye on your inbox next week.

Until then

 

Leigh

results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

 

www.sales-consultancy.com

 

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here

Selling Skills…Communication is Key

Having excellent communication skills is vital if you are going to achieve sales success.

When you communicate with others you are creating an experience for the other person. Everything you say has an impact… even the smallest things. What’s interesting is that every word you use will have unique interpretation for the person you are communicating with.

When working with groups I often ask people the first thought that pops into their head when I say the word ‘success.’ Interestingly, no two people have ever come back with exactly the same response. Some say ‘promotion’, some say ‘sitting on a beach’, some say ‘loving family’, some say ‘money’. And even if people say they thought of money… when questioned, one may have seen a big house, the other the actual word came to mind or ,maybe a £ or $ image.

So imagine a string of words in a sentence and a string of sentences in a conversation and you begin to realise how easy it is to create confusion or misunderstanding.

We are all unique and different in our personalities and traits, so the way in which we communicate with others or are communicated to by others will make more of an effect then we may realise.

So whatever your objective is when you communicate with prospective clients (and colleagues too!) it will impact on your expectation and if that’s low or non- existent you may find yourself creating the very lack of great results that you crave.

So expect positive outcomes through your communication and you’re more likely to get them!

Until next time…

Leigh

PS: Be sure to download my complimentary report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes” here

results@sales-consultancy.com
 

www.sales-consultancy.com
 

020 7903 5426

Closing a Sale in 5 Minutes

How frustrating is it when you put in lots of hard work for little or no reward?

Perhaps you’ve been working on a tender for a big contract only to see it cancelled, or awarded to a competitor? Or you’ve given a fabulous sales presentation, only for the meeting to grind towards its end with no sign of a sale?

Maybe you’ve quoted and you just can’t get an answer no matter how often you contact them? What about when you think you’ve been fobbed off - they probably don’t want your products but they won’t tell you outright so you keep contacting them ‘just in case’?

We’ve all been there - it’s frustrating and time consuming. The dilemma - do you chase old ‘maybe’ business or spend more time generating new enquiries?

Closing a Sale in 5 Minutes…

The Issue
The meeting’s gone well. You’ve got a fabulous connection with your prospect. Rapport levels are high. They seem attentive. They seem interested. You’ve impressively answered some minor objections that came your way. Yet there’s something that’s holding you back from asking outright for the business.

What to do next? 

The Solution
Three Killer Questions. Before you embark on the first question, make sure you have good levels of rapport with your prospect. If there is any ‘edge’ present, these questions won’t work. With fabulous rapport, they always deliver.

So, back to your meeting. It’s coming to an end and you need to close the sale.

Question Number 1
At the end of your conversation, ask:

On a scale from 1 to 10 – 1 meaning “it’s over…don’t darken our door again” and 10 meaning “we want you to start straight away”…where would you say we are?

THEN…SHUT UP! This is critical to ensure you give the silence that allows your contact to think.

Give them time. Allow your prospect to respond. They will give you a number. Don’t be too attached to the number. The golden nugget is their response to the next question.

Question Number 2
Ask…

What would need to happen to get us to a 10?

SHUT UP! Again…this is critical. Give them more time to think.

Allow your prospect to respond.

You have now identified the gap between what you’re offering and what your client needs from you before they can say ‘yes’. You now know how close you are to securing the deal.

If you are able to resolve the gap immediately you’ll be able to close the deal there and then.

Some answers will alert you that these prospects are unlikely to ever buy. Disappointing yes but good to know there and then not several weeks and many follow ups later.

Question Number 3
Open question.

What would you like me to do next?

Their answer is usually like all the jigsaw pieces falling into place. They are explaining exactly what the next course of action is - talking as if you’re already on board.

Agree on the next course of action and be sure to maintain your control by agreeing when you will get back to them.

Asking these questions will change your sales results! They identify how close you are to a sale, they identify how big the gap is - and exactly what you need to do to bridge the gap. And you both decide whether or not you have the means to bridge the gap. All usually in a few minutes.

By slightly tweaking these questions you can use the ‘out of ten’ technique in other situations - for example staff appraisals and job satisfaction surveys come to mind.

Hope this technique brings you lots of sales success.

Leigh

Leigh Ashton
results@sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
www.sales-consultancy.com
For previous ‘Tricks of the Trade’ go here

Why are your Customers O’s or P’s? (You need to know)

When you purchase something, do you have a procedural preference or an options preference? 

Or are you wondering what on earth I’m talking about?

 

I promise to explain, but firstly I wanted to send the message of just how much of a benefit it would be for you to know which of your customers buy with a procedural preference v those that buy with an options preference.

Stick with this...answer the following question with your immediate response...even if it doesn’t make sense to you.

 

Why did you choose your current job?
If you have a procedural preference you are likely to say something like you saw the job online, applied for it, went for an interview and go on to tell the story of how it happened...even though the question is ‘why’.  

If you have an options preference you will have responded to the questions with the criteria or reasons you chose your job ie not a process.

Subtle, but crucial differences. People BUY this way too and if you can identify the correct options or procedural trait in your customers and potential customers, quite simply you'll generate you more sales. 

Customers with a procedural preference
Your procedural customers are more likely to follow orders, requests and instructions to the letter. They will often get so caught up in how to do a task that they will sometimes forget why they are doing it. They will often refer to "the right way" to do things. 

Selling to a customer with a procedural preference
When you interact with a procedural person you need to pay attention to the information you give, be exact and unambiguous. They will like clear cut steps...preferably those that are already tried and tested. Bear in mind they are likely to follow what you say verbatim. They need to know exactly how the relationship will go and what happens at every stage. Be sure to set out the stages that the sales process will follow.

 

Customers with an options preference
Your customers with an options preference will want to experiment and continually ask "what if?" or "what else could we do?" questions.  They will sometimes seem compelled to be inventive and explore all the options. They don’t follow rules easily, they like to make their own.

 

Selling to a customer with an options preference
Give options people a couple of choices, three maximum. Give them too many options and they get stuck knowing what to choose. Clearly set the boundaries, the musts and constraints.  Options people are not interested in following a process. Emphasise various possibilities and let them know that the decision to buy will expand their choices.  Then stand back and watch the results!

That question again?
Oh and if you’re thinking that “Why did you choose your current job?” may not be the right question for your customer, simply replace ‘job’ with something that would work i.e. car, holiday, printer. The important word in the question is “why” so make sure you start the question that way.

 

It’s all about the psychology of selling.

 

As is always the case this is just a snapshot of the options/procedures “meta- programme” which is so useful in sales, so if you have any unanswered questions or want to know more ways to reach sales success then do pop me an email.

Until then

 

Leigh

  results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426   

www.sales-consultancy.com

 

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here

The ten things that dictate your results

I’m beginning to think that our sports stars have cracked this psychology thing. First we have last year’s Olympic tales of success. Then  Andy Murray finally wins at Wimbledon. The England cricket team secure the Ashes.

 

Now, Mo and co are doing their stuff at the world athletics championships.

Do they expect to win? Well I’m a big believer in you get what you expect, not what you hope for. So yes I believe they did. Do they work on building their positivity before a performance? Definitely.

How do you put yourself in a positive state? What about your team?

It could be photo’s of loved ones, pictures of beautiful places you want to visit...or stuff you’ll buy with your bonus, it may be a piece of music or a speech that inspires you, or it may be your cuddly teddy bear! I don’t know what these things are for you but YOU do and that’s what counts.

Why not make a list now of all the things you already know put you in a positive state of mind. Be sure to write things that you have control over. I know 14 hours of sunshine a day works for many people but there’s not too much chance of that in the winter months! You need things that help you at any time...regardless of what’s going on in the world!

What TEN THINGS put you in a positive state (keep it clean, then again maybe not!)

Go on...write ten things down, before you read on.

Whatever these things are for you, have them close at hand so you have access to them whenever you need to 'buzz up' - or sense your state dropping.

There are also some physical things you can do when you’re feeling unresourceful. A great tip is to stand up and look upwards...smiling. It’s impossible to feel down when you do this. Go on try it now. Stand up; look at the ceiling with the biggest smile you can manage. Now without moving a muscle, pretend to be depressed!

 

Told you...it always works. You may get some odd looks but who cares when you feel this good!

A sales person I once worked with...

 

...had a huge insight when I covered this topic in a training session. He told me he always arrived for work positive and ready for action. Except on a Monday. Monday was different. It took him ages to get in a good state of mind and in the meantime his Monday performances declined. He’s just put it down to the fact it was Monday...you may relate to this :-)

What he realised during this exercise is that every day, apart from Monday, he travelled to work listening to upbeat music on his iPod. It really set him up for the day. On Friday he went out for a beer with his work colleagues and left his iPod at the office. Being without his iPod on the Monday morning had taken his motivating and uplifting music out of his routine!

 

He solved the problem by buying another iPod so he always had access to his music.

 

So whether it’s to get you buzzed up each morning, or to get you back up to a positive state when you’re flagging, make sure you always have some of those top ten tools right by you and watch them increase your sales success.

 

And what does your team need to do to ensure they're ready for action?

 

It's all part of The Psychology of Selling

Until next time 

Leigh

  results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

www.sales-consultancy.com

 

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here