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by Leigh Ashton
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
About the author
Hi I’m Leigh Ashton of The Sales Consultancy
Whether you’re a small business or a leading brand, an area manager or a Chief Executive, whether you’re new to sales or an experienced sales professional. Even if you’re not in sales at all but want to understand it, you’ve come to the right place.
The World of Sales is changing.
Today’s conventional sales training doesn’t address the psychological barriers that get in their way.
My approach takes your sales team through a process that:
* Helps them identify their psychological barriers and gives them the tools to overcome them * Teaches them how the mind works so they can keep motivated and stay focused * Gives them the ability to identify the psychological patterns of their clients and prospects so they connect with them at a deeper level and close more sales
And at a higher level…
* It creates more success in other areas of their lives so they are happier generally…and happier sales people generate more sales
Wherever you are on your personal sales journey what’s the best course of action for YOU.
– Sales Training – that actually gets results – Leadership and Management – Personal Coaching and Mentoring – Sales Mentoring Programme – NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and how it can help you accelerate your success – Keynote Speaking