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It’s time for me to rant about salespeople and discounts.

When a salesperson offers a customer a discount, what they’re saying is they have not been able to do a good enough of a job demonstrating value to the customer.

To offset their inability to do what they’re supposed to be able to do, they feel the way to close the sale is by offering a discount.

My view when it comes to salespeople using a discount to close a sale is they are not a salesperson at all.

Rather, I think they’re a customer service person at best. Reason I say this is because the role of the salesperson is to demonstrate value and to be able to understand a customer well enough to know how to demonstrate value.

When the salesperson offers a discount, what they’re admitting (although never publicly) is that their selling skills are not where they should be. If you’re a salesperson who is prone to offer a discount of one type or another to close a sale, then I suggest you change your title to customer service rep.

Discounting your price should not be part of your vocabulary or thought process. If it is you will use it, and as soon as you use it once, you’ll use it again and again.

Your focus as a salesperson is to do one thing — demonstrate value. You do that by listening to the customer. Let them tell you what they’re looking for, and if they start asking you for a discount, then shift your process from thinking how you can offer a discount to how can you show them more value.

Just because the customer asks you for a discount doesn’t mean they should get it. Engage the customer in their needs and what their expectations are.
Your objective is simple — close the sale at full-price.

When you do that, then you wear the title “salesperson.”

 

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