It’s value not price
An all too easy trap to fall into when you are negotiating an order, is to reduce your price.
Yes everyone likes a bargain but if it is your business, what you are losing is profit/income/money.
Any reduction you make in the selling price goes straight to your profit line and nowhere else.
So think very carefully before you take this step.
What you are selling is value to your customer, and as the saying goes ‘Value does not have a price’.
As mentioned before, your customers buy on needs. If your product meets them – no more no less, the price quoted is smaller factor in your discussions.
In these discussions you focus on the area around meeting these needs and emphasising for example that your product will fit into their system and work ‘out of the box’, hence saving them time & money.
The problem with value is that it is intangible so it you must understand the customers requirement and needs.
This is where the relationship with your customer pays dividend, understanding the person and his/her business.
If you can build this rapport you no longer are perceived as a sales person but a colleague from whom advice is listened and accepted.
Who would you rather be?
A person who gets the business at any price
or
A person, who gets the business, brings value to their customer and sees repeat business because of this.
You decide!!
What happens after the order?
You have received the order and possibly shipped it to your customer.
As in some TV programmes – What happens next?
With some clients who I have met, absolutely nothing – ‘I’ve received the order, shipped it and received payment, what else is there?’
Well how about calling the customer and checking that the product you shipped was received ok and ask if they have any queries or problems.
In addition you could ask when/if they next require the product or do they have a current requirement for any other of your products.
You are building customer relationship and you will be remembered for it.
You cannot give it a value – it is priceless.
Here is a persoanl example. When I was arranging to have my own website, as opposed to just a blog, I wanted to utilise ‘WordPress’ as my platform & through networking was introduced to Broomstick Web.
Within hours of my request, the software was loaded onto the host server and access details advised.
It did not stop there: optimisation plug-in added plus after discussion, key search phrases added for optimisation.
Especially with a website you need a host who can answer queries rapidly and we all get them, in one form or another. These are quickly sorted out and if there is a delay, often due to the server, I am kept informed.
To date everything has worked as it should, & I know if I have a problem the solution is only a phone call away.
To that end I would not hesitate to recommend Broomstick Web to others.
The moral of the story, is your interaction does not stop when you complete an order as ‘after sales’ is probably more important than pre-sales, as a satisfied customer will often use you again and recommend you to other businesses.
It is something which I firmly believe in and reiterate to all clients.
Do you have examples of good – excellent after sales service, if so share it by adding your comments.
What can I do to increase my sales?
With no money required!
‘What can I do to increase my sales’, is a question I often get asked, usually with the follow up statement and I do not have any money for promotion or advertising.
The first question in response is usually ‘How much do you want to increase it’, and often that is where reality ceases!
Frequently the response is 25, 50, 100% in the next 6-12 months. That is OK for a company in it’s start up phase but this is often from an established businesses & to me it is often the sign of desperation or disorganisation or another underlining problem.
The first first job is to bring them back to earth and be realistic in terms of capability & personnel and to engage them in realistic targets and putting in place a strategy and that is for another time.
So here’s a couple of ideas to get you working on your sales at no cost to you, except time.
1. Review your customer base
Take a look at you previous customers and try to answer the question – Why have they not purchased from us recently?
There may be a simple answer as ‘they are not longer in business’ but often it is that you have lost contact or the personnel has changed. Re-engaged with that business and find out what are their current needs. If the personnel has changed call and ask for the previous contact (you know they have left), and when this is confirmed, enquire who has taken over the role and ask to speak to them.
There may be other reasons but more than often it will be on your side.
2. Existing Customers
With your existing customers, are you selling everything that you could. This is often true with small companies doing business with larger companies in their customer base. They are happy to pick up the small orders and are not prepared to explore further opportunities & there will be potentially far more than with a smaller enterprise.
In both cases above you already have contacts at theses businesses and had/have a relationship with them. So pursuing further opportunities should not be difficult as you have already done the hard work in establishing contact and built a relationship, meaning that they should know your capabilities and service.
It is commonly termed ‘relationship selling’ you are not a doorstep salesman but a tried and trusted supplier so build on that, use it!
In the current climate we all need to work smarter so, please comment with some of your ideas.
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