Competitors driving your price down?
I am hearing a lot of comments from clients and prospects alike that they are losing business because their competitors are dropping their prices. In fact if you look around with the exception of housing everything else seems to be increasing in price. Yet the comments I hear is that their industry is different and the price for their product and service is dropping.
So how come a couple of my clients are not only taking on staff but two of them in the last few weeks have opened up new offices.
If you are having to drop your prices because your customers are less willing to pay the prices you are asking for , how can you change this – it is not easy and you will have to work at it but it is possible!
If you are selling business to business products and services you are dealing in a one to one relationship it is your job to sell the value of your product or service.
In one of my previous tips I have said that you should not be embarrassed about money and that you should ask upfront what the key criteria for the purchasing decision is. Even if your prospect says price is the only criteria ask them how they will decide if two suppliers are exactly the same price. You should be able to get another criteria other than price – something to work on!
Your job is to show your prospect the difference between you and your competitors offering
If you let the prospect make his/her mind up on what the difference is between two products or services they will go to price as the criteria.
To highlight the differences that matter you have to move from telling your prospects how good your features are and highlight the benefits and most importantly the value they will get from you.
You have got to ask questions so that you can find out what really matters to them. What is the impact if they do nothing? What will this mean to their business? What will it mean to them if they purchase your products and services? What will they get from the purchase? Why do they want to purchase now? There are many questions you can ask but they must focus on the client’s issues, worries and concerns so that you find the value and compelling reason they will buy from you.
No single act in all sales communications (apart from thinking itself) is as important as asking questions. A well-used structure provides a natural sequence of questions to discover, define and develop client's needs.
Structured questioning can help you to discover the full extent of the customer's dissatisfaction by exploring the effects and consequences of existing or potential problems. Once this has been done, the value of your solution can be discussed to gain a commitment to make changes and your client should want to do something about the situation.
A very simple set of structured questions that will drive out any issues are:-
1. What are your biggest challenges?
2. Can you give me a specific example?
3. Why do you think this happens?
4. What does this mean to you and your company?
Their answers can help tailor your presentation specifically for the prospect so that you highlight what value you can deliver to them. You should only talk about your product/service after finding out what value you can give and how your product/service will solve their problem, meet their need, etc.
When you sell this way price doesn’t matter as much and you can highlight the value they can get from you. You have to differentiate yourself and create value for your prospect. Show them what they will gain in doing business for you.
In our one to one coaching sessions we cover the five types of value, great questions to ask that will help you find out what really matters to your prospects and how to achieve competitive advantage.
I only have three spaces left for my one to one coaching. If you want to improve your performance and increase your sales click here to send an email to me with your details so that I can contact you.
