Price Perception

I have seen the price issue play out among many salespeople and there seems to be one simple, philosophical difference between those who close high margins deals and those who are serial discounters.  The key difference is understanding that pricing is based off what the buyer will pay for the product or service, not what the cost is to produce it. I’ve seen this difference first-hand as one salesperson prices his product at a fairly high margin.  However, the product is highly engineered and relatively unique in the market.  One last helper – the company has a strong reputation in the market which certainly helps…greatly. The other salesperson for the… Read More

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The Absence Of Value

We’ve been working on this value topic because it is the single, most important aspect of any sales position.  A company that lacks a value proposition is destined to stumble through the market while being commoditized on price. I saw this effect 6 years ago when doing sales calls in the field with a company’s reps.  After spending a couple days in a couple different cities, it became clear that they had to value proposition to offer the market.  This absence of value led to one consistent outcome – they had to compete on price.  Granted, some companies are positioned to compete in this format.  The company I was working… Read More

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Buckling Under A Price Discussion

Money is a difficult topic for many salespeople to handle with a prospect.  Some salespeople buckle and collapse with large discounts while others simply avoid the topic as long as possible.  As a sales manager, there are few things as uncomfortable as watching one of your salespeople crash and burn when qualifying money. Lee Salz offers a good article on Salesopedia covering this topic.  Salz cuts right to the bone on why this topic is so critical: If you don’t believe you are providing a fair, competitive price for the solution, my question is why are you presenting it anyway? One would hope that you have integrity so why present… Read More

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The Toughest Topic To Qualify-Money

It’s not really when you know how to do it.  Unfortunately, many salespeople have a distinct weakness when it comes to even broaching this topic with a prospect.  This weakness leads to compounded expenses in that the salesperson will typically invest time and resources on a prospect who will disappear at the first discussion of price.  Many salespeople are aware of this fact so they deem it best to avoid the money topic all together with the hope they can persuade the prospect with an extended dog-and-pony show. The entire sordid affair feeds upon itself. The costs here can be enormous.  I’m of the belief that a salesperson’s greatest asset… Read More

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