One of the biggest mistakes a salesperson can make is to think that a client only buys on price.
Last week I talked about one of the biggest mistakes a salesperson can make – to think that a client only buys on price and that they are always selling to the Price Buyer.
I went onto say that there were – in my opinion – four types of buyers:
1. Price Buyer
2. Value Buyer
3. Relationship Buyer
4. Relationship/Value Buyer
In this week’s blog I want to offer some ways around overcoming that perception of a Price Buyer by offering the following in your proposals:
1. Offer more options in your proposals
By giving options you can add in some value and other ideas to stimulate the sales.
2. Try to create value.
Add in something that has a perceived value that you may give to a client as part of your service.
3. Offer levels of value
This option is similar to #1. You do this by stacking value. You see this with a lot of software as a service (SAS) product
4. Offer premiums
Like gifts with purchase, or other promotions. Estee Lauder the cosmetic company, drives much of its revenue by gift with purchase. McDonald’s is a classic example.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
One of the biggest mistakes a salesperson can make is to think that a client only buys on price.
4 Types of Buyers
Recognise that there are four types of Buyers:
1. Price Buyer
2. Value Buyer
3. Relationship Buyer
4. Relationship/Value Buyer
One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is to focus their efforts on price.
They think they are always selling to the Price Buyer.
Salespeople do this for many reasons.
Usually they do not have any sort of relationship with the client, have not positioned their product or service as unique, and do not offer additional options.
One of my client’s salespeople, for instance, identified a customer she thought bought on price, and made an appointment.
She presented a discounted option with lots of flexibility.
It seemed like a fair deal to her.
The buyer immediately recognised that this was a price sell, so he proceeded to negotiate an even better bargain for himself.
The salesperson returned to her company complaining that the customer had been unreasonable by pushing her for a better deal.
My reaction was, “Good on them.” The salesperson had positioned the price before the story.
Ask questions that open up a relationship
If she had spent time asking questions and getting to know the client, she might have actually triggered something else in the buyer’s mind.
She assumed that this client was a Price Buyer, when perhaps he was not.
Open up the sales space
By telling a story, getting excited about the opportunity to work together, it allows what I call a “sales space” to grow.
A sales space is where people make decisions about the person who is selling them something.
That space includes discovery questions asked by the salesperson, and gives both parties the chance to get to know each other.
The Buyer might think to herself, “I actually am warming up to this person. There is more substance there than I thought, and they are not trying to sell me straight off. Could I work with this person? Are they real and genuine? Do they give me confidence?”
Value is what your client wants
I believe that value is truly what your clients want you to bring to the table; the salesperson or businessperson must understand what the Buyer values.
Next week I talk about six ways you can add to your proposals to get your clients away from price and into value.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
I think we would all agree that we’d be better at selling our product or service if we were qualifying our clients better.
It’s very frustrating for owners and sales managers, when their salespeople do not qualify correctly.
Don’t make this mistake.
If a call is going well, you’ve done your work correctly and solved a problem for a client, for them to then say that they need to take it to someone else, is heartbreaking.
I’ve run large sales teams, carried out thousands of sales calls both face to face, and on the phone, and have made this mistake.
That’s because maybe, just maybe, you’ve not asked these questions.
Ask powerful questions
Here are three questions that you might find useful.
You have to get the right answer from question #1 first, as this often determines the next two.
1) “What role do you play in helping your decision maker make the decision?
The answer will determine if the person can help you secure the business. If you feel that “hey this dude I am looking at here is not going to help me” then stop and start again.
2) “How does the decision process work in your company?”
Ask them to take you through the decision-making process.
It gets better conversions.
For example; if your lead channel or pipeline is full of potential clients and the conversion rate is low, then those questions might need to be asked a lot more.
If you do not have enough leads, you have a marketing problem. If you have too many leads and they are not converting, you have a sales problem.
3) “Is there anything you can think of that might stand in the way of us doing business in the next few weeks. Do you like the proposal, and what specifically do you see that you like?
You have to be satisfied with this answer, it’s an attempt to see how serious they are when it comes to making a decision.
We used to call it a ‘trial close’, (they are still around) and all you were doing is making sure you did not get the run-around.
While some sales journeys do take a little longer, it’s important to qualify, qualify, qualify.
I can assure you that asking these questions will get you more sales, and ultimately that is what we are after, that’s what we are in the business of.
Have a great week.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
“What people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself”.
Does it have a bit to do with timing?
When it comes to getting testimonials from clients, it’s all about the timing.
If you do a really good job for a client, and they’re really, really, pleased – that’s the time to ask for a testimonial.
One of my staff members and founders of our US operation at NRS Media Kerry Marshall, used to call it the curve of gratitude.
Gratitude pays.
The curve of gratitude is when a client is over the moon because of work that you’ve done, and they’ve personally told you that you’re ‘the best’, and they would use you again in a heartbeat.
Well, what are you waiting for?
That’s your opportunity, to either renew a contract, create an upsell opportunity, or ask them for a testimonial.
These days, with the power of video, it’s a great opportunity for any salesperson to use the device that I’m using right now – a phone.
Ask and you shall receive.
Right there, is when you should ask that client for a testimonial.
Testimonials work, add value, and support your expertise.
In the end testimonials help you through your clients, to support that old saying at the beginning of this article.
“What people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself.”
At the top of this blog there is a video with a couple of examples of what a testimonial looks like, and how you can present them to a client.
I hope you enjoy them.
Thanks again for your time and I’ll catch you again next week.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
Here’s my tip for this week, and it’s to do with verbal skills.
We don’t talk anymore.
It’s something I’ve noticed more and more, and it’s become so bad, that the market has been conditioned to accept it.
It’s the phone.
The reason for the lack of verbal skills is this amazing computer we hold in our hands.
It’s an amazing computer that we use every day. Right now, I can record a video and send it to my PA. She can then tidy it up, put captions on it, and put it on LinkedIn – to which I’m delivering this particular bit of content on. And you’re reading or listening to it right now, amazing.
What about a new phone?
However, wouldn’t it be great for your sales team if we asked this question?
“Why don’t we do this? Today we’re going to lock away our phones and introduce this new phone, it’s actually a real phone. It’s got a receiver and all of these buttons on it, and it’s not connected to the internet.”
Cause the truth is?
The truth is that it focuses us on one task – verbal skills.
The skills to communicate verbally with no distractions, a fixed focus on getting face-to-face, qualifying your clients, and finding out their problems.
What it does not do.
It doesn’t allow you to hide behind email, hide behind text, and other digital options.
Sure, we might have to do all of those things, but my view is, the best relationships are face-to-face, sitting down, talking with your clients and finding out what their problems are.
Review your success.
Do this simple exercise. Select your 10 best clients and ask yourself this question:
“Did I get these clients without face-to-face verbal communication? Have I met them? Do I meet them regularly?”
The money is often made simply by staying in touch.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
