A dangerous sales myth: It’s all about price

Gary Harvey //March 18, 2011//

A dangerous sales myth: It’s all about price

Gary Harvey //March 18, 2011//

Selling is not all about price! This is a rampant excuse that sales people use to explain away not getting a deal. Low price is not essential to closing a deal. Does price matter? Of course it plays a role: however, it’s only essential if salespeople allow it to be.

Price becomes essential when we haven’t provided anything else as criteria for buying. In other words, price is essential when we haven’t sold any value. Pricing is only a component of the sale and can’t be allowed to be the predominant one.

It’s not unusual to lose a deal and find yourself thinking, “If only my price was lower, they would have gone with me.” In most cases, that simply isn’t true. If it were, every time someone bought a product or service, they would buy lowest.

In a retail environment stores would carry one brand of every object because there would not be anyone that would buy a different brand. In reality, we have a multitude of choices because people see value in products that are more expensive.

As salespeople we are living, breathing, and speaking ways of adding value to a product or service. To use price as an excuse is equivalent to saying, “I utterly failed in this sales process because I was unable to show any value in my product or service to the prospect.”

Bring value to the solution to solving what I call the prospects “pain”, and not sell on price. Ask questions and discover the compelling reasons why someone wants or needs your product or service to solve that “pain”. Price will not be essential if you sell a solution to that pain. Sure it can become one of many details. If you are offering the best solution for their situation and are savvy enough to help them realize it, price fades away. Focus on value and don’t trick yourself into the cutting price game.

Sales is about selling value and solutions to pain, not about the price. When a prospect needs a solution “now” to their pain, they do not shop on price. When was the last time you saw someone compare emergency room prices when they are in pain?
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Gary Harvey is the founder and president of Achievement Dynamics, LLC, a high performance sales training, coaching and development company for sales professionals, managers and business owners. His firm is consistently rated by the Sandler Training as one of the top 10 training centers in the world. He can be reached at 303-741-5200, or [email protected] .