You just landed a good sale — or at least you thought it was a good sale.
Your hesitation in feeling great is knowing you had to give the customer a discount to close it.
In your mind you feel the discount was necessary, due to the pressure the customer was placing on you.
Little do you realize at the moment, but the discount you gave to attract the customer is the least of your problem.
What you just did is gain a customer who does not have appreciation for what you provide. And why should they?
They bought on price, not on the solution you’re providing them.
This low-price customer is now going to badger you and your customer service team and everyone else for days, weeks and months over what they bought. In the mind of this low-price customer is the belief they can push anyone enough to get what they want.
And why shouldn’t they feel that way?
They pushed you enough and look what they got? They got the discount they were looking for.
Low-price customers should be seen as disease you need to avoid. They are the worst kind of customer.
Giving them a discount to buy already cut your profit margin, and now with them nagging everyone in the company, they’re cutting your profit even more.
The key is not allowing price to enter into the selling process from the beginning.
It starts with how a prospect is qualified to even be worthy. That’s right, I said “worthy.” Some prospects are simply not worthy, and if you don’t get them out of your system early, they will stick around and never leave until they get a discount.
Recently I wrote an ebook that discusses this issue and more importantly how to avoid it from happening to you and your company. You can download for free The Hidden Dangers of Discounting.
Copyright 2014, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
Click on the below book cover for more info on boosting your profits!
One Response
Mark,
So true. I have heard this from a variety of sources and your post here just reinforces this message.
I recently lost a project I bid on and after asking the prospect what might have been the reason, they told me I wasn’t the cheapest bid. There was a second reason which I will not go into here, but I thanked them for the feedback and said I was glad I wasn’t the cheapest price as then I would be more of a commodity, than a valued partner.
Just last week I had to “fire” a customer; resigned from the account. Not something that a small business likes to do, but the relationship was going nowhere. There wasn’t any cooperation or communication. This customer (referred to me by a referral partner) did not buy on price, at least I don’t think so and I did not offer any discounts on my services. Working on the business, which was not yielding any closure, actually was disrupting my thoughts on other work I needed to do. Time to cut bait and fish somewhere else.