Bad salespeople only know how to sell one thing — low prices.
They don’t know how to sell value, and even if they could define value themselves, they would have a hard time communicating it to anyone else.
If a salesperson only knows how to sell something at a steep discount, then that is the primary thing they’re going to look for when they themselves are the customer.
Some might say, “What difference does a cheap customer make if I’m hiring salespeople?” It makes a big difference, because being able to get a customer to express their needs is essential. If a salesperson can’t even express their own needs when they’re buying something, how well do you think they will be able to get a potential customer to express their needs?
If a person only buys based on the lowest price, I find it hard to believe they could ever make it as a salesperson.
The second issue that comes into play is I’ve watched salespeople who struggle with price get assigned to customer service roles. Companies do this thinking the customer service role will be a better fit for them. Again I say, “No! Don’t do it!”
A person who is focused on low price as a salesperson is suddenly not going to change their thinking just because they’re in a customer service role. This same person now in a customer service position will still be driven by the sense that every problem is solved by giving the customer something.
Salespeople who are reading this, ask yourself this question: “Do I make my own buying decisions based on price or overall value?”
Sales managers reading this, ask yourself this question: “When I’m interviewing candidates, do I take the time to ask them to explain how they buy things and what they look for?”
Over the years I’ve found these questions for salespeople and sales managers to be a very good indication of how a person will respond when dealing with pricing issues as a salesperson.
Copyright 2011, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
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