This is something that I’m amazed more salespeople don’t understand. Yes, we do have to believe in ourselves, but in the end, it’s what the customer says we’re worth that truly determines what we are worth. This is why I’m such a strong believer in engaging the customer with questions to find out their needs and to get them to say in their own words what they’re looking for.
Even more important, you as the salesperson need to understand the value and benefits the customer is expecting to gain from you. When you try and close a sale without first knowing this, it leaves you unarmed in knowing where your pricing should be. Without certainty of what the customer is looking for and what they are willing to pay, the salesperson often ends up closing the sale by cutting the price. Customers will pay full-price, and they will even pay a premium, if they believe the value they’re going to receive is worth it.
A great tip I recommend is to record the benefit or reason the customer shared with you as to why they’re buying from you. By building a list of these items, you will have another tool to help you increase your level of “pricing confidence.” The higher your pricing confidence, the more willing you’ll be to engage the customer for as long as necessary to allow you to determine exactly why the customer is buying from you.
Copyright 2010, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
