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I’m digging deeper into 8 Ways to Increase Your Price. This is part 2 of an 8-part series to explore each of the 8 ways. Be sure to take a look at Part 1: Believe in What You Sell.

If you are struggling with pricing, it could be you are paranoid about the depth (or lack thereof) of your pipeline.

2. Increase the size of your pipeline.

Anytime somebody believes the only sale they’ll ever get is the one that is right in front of them, the more hesitant they will be on maximizing their price.  If you continually build your pipeline and build it deep, the more confident you will be when it comes to pricing.

Avoiding the “Only Sale Syndrome”

The fear of losing the one sale you might get will send shivers down the spine of any salesperson.  I refer to it as the “only sale syndrome.”  When it strikes a salesperson, it will cause them to do anything to get the sale.

Now, on the one hand, that might seem like a good thing, because it can push the salesperson to find a way to close the sale.  The problem is too many times the push results in the salesperson being willing to cut the price, thinking this is the only way they can get the order.

The simplest way to overcome this problem is by having more prospects in the pipeline.

If you have confidence of other sales coming your way you will naturally be less prone to cut prices to close a sale.  This is why I tell all salespeople to always carry with them a list of all of their prospects.  By having a list of prospects, they can see just prior to walking into a sales call that they can walk in with more confidence knowing this is not their last sale.

The list should include everyone! This means prospects that are both warm and cool. The objective is to have as long of a list as possible.  The longer the list, the more confidence you will have. The more confidence you have, the less likely you will be to cut the price.

When I share this with people, I sometimes get a push back about how the suggestion is too simple. They’re right — it is simple, but that is why I like it.  Sales is an emotional game made up of many split second decisions by both the salesperson and the customer.  This is especially true in the closing phase of the sales process.

As soon as the salesperson enters the closing phase, their ability to process decisions can many times become suspect. The more confident the salesperson can be going into the closing phase, the more likely they will come out the other end with both a sale and a sale at full-price.

Want a higher price for what you sell? Simply get a bigger pipeline and carry that list of prospects with you at all times.

Copyright 2011, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

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