How do you give your prices?
Do you have them all with all the details? Or do you have them as one single-price? Whatever form you do, what’s the thing you notice when negotiating/talking to your customers re: your pricing? Do you have any push back to justify anything —if at all? Hit reply and lemme know. 🙂
Simplicity
It’s not about what YOU think/see/feel is simple. It’s about what your customers think/see/feel is simple for them (or not). They don’t know the ins and outs. They don’t know better. They do know better, though, their day-to-day. They’re experts at that. A “simple” system for them might not be something that’s simple for you. Take “my old tax booking system is simple”… until they know how simple other things can be. Because simplicity —or complexity— has not everything to do with the use,…
Be the dumb one
Some say that asking too many questions is either dumb, or makes it feel like an interrogation to your customer. I’d choose the former. 🙂 Think of it this way. You could approach it as if you know nothing of the solution. You stop yourself from solution-mode. And ask to understand what’s the big thing behind what your customer wants —and why they’re talking with you. Play dumb, as in “What if I didn’t know anything? How could I learn more of their challenges, and possibly help them?” That…
Who are you talking to?
When going into sales conversations, who are you talking to? Is it the final users of your products/services? Is it the economic buyer? Is it the ones who pay the checks? Talking to the wrong person can get you to, sure, make the sale, but at the same time, leave money on the table. Recently, I was talking with a few CEOs on a research for a client. When they got asked about what they were paying on certain items that —to my client and their competitors is big figures— they needed for the…
You’ll be forced
“And remember: if you can’t differentiate yourself from your competitors, you’ll be forced to compete on price.”Jonathan Stark Just that. You can read Jonathan’s full post here.
Revenue or profit.
Revenue or profit. Which one is the one you’re to aim for? Or better yet, if you need to make 500K in revenue, what would your approach be: Low price, high volume, or High price, low volume Same offering. Same inputs. What do you choose?
No is good
Knowing what to say no to is the thing that puts you (and your business) in the expert position. It gives you clarity to choose the right fits for you. It disengages you from incurring into sunk costs (that all-nighter proposal/quote, that long pitch deck, that overexcitement into this next deal). It lets you set and respect your boundaries. It gives you the freedom to walk away. And most of it all: it lets you be the expert.
It’s all about the keepers
There are 2 types of people in each customer (or prospect) that you reach: Budget keepers. Value keepers. You wanna talk to the value keepers. They’re the ones who see the future and are comfortable with uncertainty. They’re the ones who can fight for a high return in value.
Going deep on discounts
If you’re going to discount, here’s a more detailed view of yesterday’s rules: Specific.Needs to explain WHY they’re getting the discount. In exchange for something in return.Needs to say what’s being given in return for the discount. Explicit.Needs to be stated in the proposal what, how and why the discount is there. Time-bounded. It has to be in a defined timeframe.Needs to be a take it now, or leave it. Written at the end of the quote/proposal for what it is “Discounted price”.Price →…
Culture
A set of behaviors shared and understood by a group of people. Behaviors that are tolerated or reinforced. Whatever behavior you accept and tolerate (from your own team, customers, suppliers, competitors…) is the one that will define how you act —consciously, or unconsciously. Choose wisely.