Everybody wants a lower price, but even more important than a lower price is time — or I should say the desire for more time.
This applies in both B2B and B2C, yet too often, time is not leveraged by either the salesperson or the customer.
When I say “time is not leveraged” what I’m saying is time is not valued in the context for what it is.
Customers look at price as being in the moment and fail to look at what price really does — it allows someone to buy something that will give them a benefit over a long-period of time.
A salesperson makes an offer and the customer chokes over the price, saying it’s far more than what they expected to pay. What I find to be a disconnect is how quickly the salesperson concedes and offers up a lower price.
The discussion should be on looking at the one-time price over the long-term use of the product.
Breaking down the price over the life of the product typically changes dramatically the perception of a price being too high.
An example is a software system that may cost $40,000 and last for 4 years and along the way allow for the reduction of a full-time employee.
The customer may object to the price and argue for a 10-20% reduction in price. The salesperson who concedes and gives them a $5,000 reduction to close the sale is flat out stupid!
Why?
For one simple reason: The long-term difference between the 40K price and 35K price is about $4 per day. Excuse me but that is less than lunch at a fast-food location! If the salesperson can’t generate $4 per day of value, then they have a problem.
My point of this discussion is simple:
First, position your price over the lifetime of the value the customer is going to receive. Second, position your price over the lifetime of the additional time the customer is going to gain.
Both approaches work great and will help you close more sales without having to discount your price.
Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
