What if a good salesperson takes pride in his premium product or service, only to be told his price is too high? It doesn’t have to be a problem if he’s already done his homework and asked great sales questions of all the right people in the organization. By then, the sales rep understands his customer’s needs and issues, and where the customer wants to go. Because the sales rep understands, he’s easily able to justify why the customer must make that initial investment in the rep’s solution over competitive choices. There’s always the implication that the customer chooses the cheaper option at his own risk.
Let’s say the customer went with a lower-priced computer system, only to find out the hard way that a low price isn’t always a bargain. A glitch in the customer’s computer system causes it to crash, bringing the company to a standstill for the rest of the day and costing them thousands of dollars, easily wiping out the money the customer saved when he bought that cheap system. Or let’s say a delivery to the customer’s customer was a day late. That’ll not only cost the customer big bucks, it could cost the salesperson a client! Good sales reps thrive on selling value because the additional investment in choosing a premium service fully outweighs the potential cost of doing business with a cheaper but inferior alternative. Be a great sales coach and inspire your team to sell value not price.
