How low can you go?
That’s what your customers think when you either price your offerings low, give discounts right away, promise over servicing, etc. What are you currently doing to avoid having this thoughts in the mind of your customers? (You can’t control their thoughts, but what you can do is control the context for them to think or not to think of this)
What makes you the winner?
You can’t win in business. It’s a common thing to hear “you have to win (in) business.” For you to win, others have to lose. And vice versa. If they win, YOU lose. That’s not reality. Ponder this: if you’re to “win” in business, what makes you the winner? Revenue? Profit? Innovation? Efficiencies accomplished? Efficacy? Better cost structures? More units sold? Less returns? More “brand awareness”? More customers served? And is it one of these (and more) factors? Or all of them at the same…
Magic
Delighting your customers. Making the sale for what’s worth to your customers (aka. with the right pricing) is no magic. It will feel like magic to them. All it takes is taking them at the center of what you do. And that will look like magic to your competitors, too. Magic is the feeling of surprise and delight. Aim to that.
Stop caring
Stop caring too much for closing the deal. When you approach your customers to try to close them, you get overinvested. You feel you have more at stake. The fear of missing out on this opportunity kicks in. While, yes, they’re qualifying you, you’re also qualifying them. The more you care, the less power in the negotiation you have. Approach it and stop your convince-mode. Go, evaluate if it makes sense for both of you to work together, qualify. If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, great,…
A cult
—ural shift. Moving from an input-based price setting into a different model (outputs/outcomes) is a cultural shift. Even if you’re solo. It demands you to think, see and act in different ways. And you will return to your default at times. It’s a lot of effort and being aware of what’s happening at all times. If you’ve been pricing on the low end and are always trying to see how to make it profitable (and squeeze the most out of anything and anywhere), it’s quite likely you’ll default to it…
Push back
When you’re in a sales conversation, you can always push back —and do the big thinking in behalf of your customer. To help them see the bigger picture, you need to take them off the small frame. They’re too close to it, and you have the advantage of distance. Try “Can I have your permission to push back on this [thing you said]?” If they say Yes, great green flag. If they say No, it might be a hint of a red flag… or for you to dig deeper into why not. Maybe all they want is something very…
Can’t / Won’t
When you’re thinking of how to stand out from your competition and gain a better position of advantage, you can use this simple tool: can’t / won’t. And that’s about your competition. What are things that you’d be really good to do and they could not? What are things that you’d be really good to do and they will not do? The reasons behind why they can’t/won’t are within a wide range. The kicker here is, the more it would disturb how they do business is the thing that will give you this…
Would you like fries with it?
Doing what your customers say they need you to do without a proper diagnosis from your side is asking that question. It’s leaning into taking orders and leave all the responsibility (and risk) on them. So when things go south “they got what they asked for”. And to get those things done (what they say they need), you’ll compete with LLMs and AI, amongst other who “do” the same. Start with a diagnosis. That’s one of the first indicators you’re the expert.
Yield and Concede
A school of thought on sales has this principle: “For you to win in a negotiation, you need to be ready to yield and concede”. Bullshit. You don’t. You can always walk away. The only thing customers have: money. The thing that only you and your business have: your expertise. Money is fungible / exchangeable. Your expertise and what you bring to the table, isn’t.
Don’t speak
“Don’t speak, I know just what you’re sayin’So please stop explainin'”Don’t Speak – No Doubt When you’re in a sales conversation, stop talking. Start listening. Probe with questions. It’s not about your reasons. About your product. About you. It’s about vetting if there’s a fit (a set of, actually) between your prospect and your business. If you can help them. And if they want the kind of help you give. More explaining won’t do it. More listening will.
