Better Questions Mean Better Sales in a Recession Economy

A lot of salespeople tell me that customers are cutting back or putting off decisions.
Such news is causing some salespeople to start acting like their customers — where they too are developing a “bear-like” mind-set by going into hibernation or waiting it out until the economy starts turning around.

Whoa, now is not a good time to follow your customer’s lead. If they choose to be complacent, that’s their choice. Don’t let it be yours! So, what can you do now to create a sense of urgency with customers who want to wait it out? Ask them plenty of thought-provoking questions. Get them to think about the consequences of putting off a decision to doing business with you. How might their lack of action impact the bottom line? What’s it going to cost them in terms of time, resources, missed opportunities, growth, or profitability? Your customers have plenty of competitors who are hungry and willing to steal market share from them. And that’s why they need you now more than ever. Find ways to position your products and solutions that will give your customers the competitive edge, peace of mind, security, and/or control they’re desperately seeking in this turbulent economy. Because many customers make decisions based on emotions, stir things up by asking the right questions. (Comments? Questions? Send me an email.)

VALUE SELLING: Getting Customers to Buy at a Higher Price  Read online. »

Value selling is an important sales technique that relies on building on the inherent value of a product or service. Because customers often use price as the dominant factor in a sales negotiation, sales pros need to demonstrate that sometimes the higher price is actually a better solution — a higher value.

I know a long-married couple, Sam and Sarah, who have very different takes on value. Growing up wealthy, Sarah could afford to buy expensive, well-made shoes that would last for years. Growing up poor, Sam had only been able to buy the cheapest shoes he could afford — and keep on buying them, since they kept on falling apart within a few months. It’s easy for people like Sam to confuse price with value, where the lower-priced item turns out not to be the best value.

Value Selling in a Professional Sales Environment

In professional sales, customers give lip service to value — wanting the best bang for their buck. But, in reality, when push-comes-to-shove, all they want to do is squeeze salespeople on price. That’s how sales pros can get cornered on price issues and where value added selling skills become important.

Additionally, eager to close the deal, salespeople let customers strong-arm them into dropping their prices. Common value selling deterrents may include:

• Customers who are shortsighted or in fire-fighting mode who can’t see the bigger picture.
• Customers whose self-interest may be in direct conflict with their organization’s goals.
• Customers who are merely the middle-man and not the decision-maker.
• Customers, hard-nosed buyers or purchasing agents who attempt apple-to-apple comparisons.

The result — customers do not get the best deal, if indeed they get a deal at all. They may even downplay it, claiming, “Everything’s equal, it comes down to price.” To an anxious, floundering salesperson, this can be very defeating. When customers insist on playing the price game, you’ve got to play it right back at them. Here’s how to turn the tables on such customers and enlist value selling. READ MORE…

Got an upcoming sales meeting or event?

If you’re looking for ideas and sales strategies to help your sellers:

• Seek out the right sales opportunities.
• Shorten sales cycles.
• Sell at higher profit margins.
• Gain access to key decision-makers.
• Close more business…

Email Paul Cherry at cherry@pbresults.com, or call 302-478-4443.