Structures
A price increase might feel like too risk (whatever that price increase is). And when your customer gets back to you with sticker shock, they’ll ask you what justifies it —you will be tempted to do so. Whether you justify it or not, you need a structure. One that lets your customer know that they’re not risking their money for less value. One that is clear on how they get helped.One that doesn’t give up your numbers on how you run your business. A structure could be like this: – What…
A prayer session
“If you have to have a prayer session before raising the price by 10%, then you’ve got a terrible business” — W. Buffet Which begs the question: will you be able to double your prices without a prayer session?
An accurate definition of sAIes
David C. Baker had a post today about AI. But it hit deeper. To me, it’s one of the most accurate definitions of what generic, inexpert, and pushy salespeople are: AI is amazing at deeper research. Two examples of that for me, today. It’s great at summary analysis, a brainstorming partner, data shaping and synthesis. And especially coding. Where it sucks (so far) is faux personalization at scale. It’s like a real smart college friend who isn’t self-aware and has no social skills and who knows…
Invisibility
Jonathan Stark wrote this daily email on OpenClaw and how it much makes things easier for him. “As it turns out, it’s pretty hard to explain exactly why OC is way easier.I’ve given it some thought, and I think it’s because what OC does really well is to remove hundreds of “microsteps” from every process.” Things that you do and know how to do, and get stuck in trying to explain why it’s so simple and easy for you. It’s the invisibility of its parts. They’re engrained into your brain as…
Will it help…
A conversation with your prospect. Maybe was referred to you. Maybe found out about you some other way. And you ask: “Will it help if I send you these? (your docs, slide deck, presentation, technical info, etc.)” Your Yes/No question gives them no alternative. If they wanna be polite, all you’ll hear is “Yes” (a fake Yes). You’ll get excited because you got it. Now, you got your foot in the door and it’s only a matter of time before the big purchase comes. You convinced them. Just a matter of…
Selling food
Following, an actual conversation. A new price set. I asked, walk me through the process on how you got to this price. – Well… I grabbed the cost and factored it in. + Ok. What did you factor? – Well… on the standard. + What standard? – The standard for the industry. + What kind of industry? – In the distribution / reseller. + For what kind of industry? – Well… companies like Lidl, or like restaurants. I factored in 30% and the price is good. + Are you in the food industry? – Erm… no….
Disruption
It’s tricky. It’s risky. But unless you do it, you’ll have others doing it to you. And that’s riskier.
More is less
The more you talk: The less you show. The less you listen. The less you understand. Stop coming up with all of the answers. Instead, come up with the right questions.
Getting copied
What if they copy what we have? Yeah. What if? And if so, what about it? They can copy numbers, codes, functionalities, prices, talking points, scripts. And so what? All of it can be copied. Easily. You know what they can’t? Or at least is way way WAY harder? Your logic and your thinking. Your approach to the problem. Stop with the fear of “what if”. Open it up. Make it punk public Autocorrect worked. 🙂
You won’t convince them
Look, to someone who you seem to be expensive, you’ll still be expensive. No matter what you say or how you try to justify your prices. No matter what you do to try to convince them, you will NOT. And that’s ok. Because convincing is the act of changing their minds on what they belief. To convince.- v. to cause someone to believe something or to do something. That is taking the agency away from them. It’s a zero-sum game. A battle. It’s you proving them wrong. That you are at a higher level,…