Unless you are a vendor at a flea market you really don’t want to get into the negotiating game with your buyers.
First a little Marketing 101 for all of you that slept through that class in college…
Let’s chat about the Marketing Mix – Price, Product, Place & Promotion. You need all 4 to be successful. You can have a great product but if the pricing doesn’t fit the market conditions it won’t sell. Or you can have a great product, in perfect market conditions but you don’t have a sales or marketing strategy to get the word out – you won’t succeed. You can have a super sales team, a great product at a fair price but the timing is off – or you are targeting the wrong demographic – your distribution channel or “place” is off base – you won’t succeed.
Price is something that salespeople really get hung up on. They often feel they have to be the cheapest to win. You don’t have to be the cheapest, but you do have to be able to justify the price. If price were always the point, stores such as Walmart would be the only game in town.
Look at your own buying habits. Do you always buy the cheapest of an item? Do you always buy store brand vs Premium brand?
Look at it this way: Do you own an iPhone? How about a North Face jacket? Do you have leather seats in your car? What kind of jeans do you wear? You see where I’m going – all of us have something in our lives that we are willing to pay more for because we see value in it!
The key to not getting into the price game with your buyers is remembering that you have VALUE! Don’t forget: You know far more about your product or service than your buyer. You are the Trusted Advisor – your buyer needs you as part of his or her team in order to be successful.
If you sell on price…you will lose on price. You have now taught your buyer that price is the point. You’ve made your product or service a commodity – showing no value in YOU! The next time your client is ready to buy from you – they will want to negotiate the price. If you can’t deliver, your competition will.
Stop the pricing game. Know your value and work with clients that appreciate it. In the end it will be a Win-Win.
Is your sales team struggling with the Pricing Game? A 10 minute conversation will help you decide if Sandler is a fit for you. Call us at 203-264-1197 or contact us here.
Does your team understand the key differences between selling and negotiating processes?
Learn more about the Mastery Negotiating course.
