3 Tips On Selling A Premium Product in a Commodity Market

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A few years ago, I did a Webinar called “How to Sell A Premium Product in a Commodity Market.” It was one of our best attended webinars we’ve ever done.

Lots of interest in the topic – and I believe I know why.

In this article, I want to update some of the content and give you a couple more ideas.  I picked this topic because it is an ongoing area of concern for sales people – how to sell a premium product into a market that sees price as THE main driver.

Why it’s so tough.

Think about it. We live in a “price leads” society. Advertisers have led us on a race to the bottom by the constant drumbeat of, “Lowest Prices In The Industry!” Or, “We’ll Beat ANY Price!” I know you’ll say, “But I’m not in the retail game.” No, you aren’t. But do you see the attitude that they’ve placed in the minds of buyers?

So the context is that even though your buyer might not jump to “What’s your price?” they certainly have it on their radar.

Here are four notions that I suggest you consider as you extract yourself form the “commodity dungeon” where the only important issue is price:

1. Position Your Self Properly.

Interesting thing about positioning is that it’s not just about what you say – it’s about how you say it. Sales people spend so much time concerned with the “what” and ignore the “how.”

And that’s wrong.

Regardless of your word choice (you’ll have to decide that), the essence of your message should be centered around ‘the types of problems that you solve.’ That’s right – no enthusiastic sales pitches about how great you are – or how smart your team is. None of that.

Frame your ‘premium value’ around the pains and problems that prospects face. Some of those problems they know they have. Some they’re oblivious to. But either way, begin the conversation there.

Be a problem solver not a product seller. There is a trap waiting for you. The prospect sets it and you fall right into it. It happens when the prospect shows interest and you default to “the pitch.”

Instead, when your prospect shows interest in the types of problems you solve, refrain from pitching the product and spend more time diagnosing what that problem means to him. This one thing can do more to change your position (in the prospect’s mind) and help them see that your premium fee is worth it.

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Three Tips for a Modern Presentation

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Last week a client asked us into his office to review his presentation on a massive project he was bidding on.

He told me upfront that he didn’t do a lot of these presentations so he was a little bit rusty.

As we watched him go through the presentation, I could tell that there were some presentation principles that he’d missed. No fault of his. He just wasn’t skilled in this area.

So I wanted to give you a recap of three tips that he used that tremendously improved his presentation to his prospects.

Tip 1: Pictures speak louder than words

Always, always, always have a visual diagram or illustration of the value that you bring. Perhaps it’s a circle divided into five components or a pentagram that is divided up into easy segments but you need to have a visual representation of the process you take people through or the value you bring.

Tip 2: Always start with a story

People love stories. You’re presentations will be remembered a lot longer and will be a lot more compelling if you can weave personal stories of tragedy and triumph into the presentation. Perhaps you can start with the standard “story of woe”. That’s the story of a prospect who was struggling and came to you for a solution. You can tell your audience what they went through, what some of the problems were and the process you used to help them alleviate the pain. Make it real and make it compelling.

Tip 3: Make sure you’re answering the real question

Throughout your presentation you will have questions from the audience. A mistake we see salespeople make is they answer the question that’s posed instead of getting to the real question before you submit an answer.

A good way to test this is if you answer a question and nobody says anything, chances are you’ve not answered the right question. A good way to clarify the question is, “To help me answer the question better, I would like to understand a little bit more about it and about why you asked it.”

This wasn’t an exhaustive list of all the points we recommended he changed but I thought these were three of the most important that can help you make a more modern, compelling and convincing presentation to your prospects.

3 Questions To Always Ask on Your First Sales Call

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As sales trainers, we are guilty of making the sales process much more complex than it needs to be.  There are a limitless number of options and objections that a prospect can give to you throughout the sales process, and so we make an effort to understand and counteract each one.

But that is a mistake. Instead, we should be focused on one thing: The First Call.

Because if the first call doesn’t go right, then the third call won’t go right.  Consequently, in an effort to make to the first call correct, then you need to ask these three very simple questions of the prospect in whatever format you choose to ask them.

1.  What’s the problem?

It occurred to us that the percentage of salespeople who counsel never get to the question of “what’s your problem?”  After all, what else is move pertinent in the sales cycle than your solution matching up to a problem the customer has?

Once you can get to the point where you have a “spot-on” solution for the customer’s problem:

  • price is irrelevant
  • terms are irrelevant
  • what you’re wearing is irrelevant.

But how often do we all spend way too much time in the sales strategy meetings working on the irrelevant? Read more

How To Write An Email To A Resistant Prospect

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In this tutorial, Bill Caskey, author of Email It — A Seller’s Guide To Emails That Work, discusses one of the most stressful emails a salesperson needs to write.

Maybe you’ve had a prospect who suddenly begins to resist your offer. Bill walks through the exact words you should use in that email.

You can learn more tips on how to write emails to a prospect or your client at: http://emailitsellersguide.com/

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How To Write Business Emails That Get Results – Email Tips for Salespeople

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Sales people, business leaders and marketing types are always looking for the magic dust when it comes to writing emails.

Well, in this video, you’ll see why most ‘persuasion techniques’ fail when it comes to email. It’s not because your writing is weak.

It’s not because you use the wrong font. It’s much deeper than that. It has to do with the state of mind you’re in when you write them.

And once you’re done with the video, head over to http://emailitsellersguide.com/ to check out the 20 most common scenarios that create ’email opportunities.’ I think you’ll find some you recognize.

How To Create a Great Sales Message

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In this episode, Bill Caskey walks you through some most common (and frustrating) trends facing America’s sales people. We can talk about sales strategy and sales technique all we want. The fact is that the landscape is changing for sales people world wide, and you had best understand what you’re walking into before you walk into it.

You are also encouraged to go to samegamenewrules.com and download the eBook Same Game New Rules-for a limited price of $9.99 and receive 4 bonus videos from the author Bill Caskey.

And Brooke Green dives into “messaging.” Actually, she does it right, spending time on the “crafting of your sales message” versus just the ‘communicating’ of it. She works in a step by step process that you can use to get your message right.

Do Project Managers Need Sales Training, Too?

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(If you don’t have Project Managers in your firm–and instead, have Customer Service agents or Technicians, then substitute that title for PMs)

Well of course, you know the answer to that question before we start.

But I’d like to share some observations that may make it easier for you to train your PM’s in communication skills. It seems that companies are relying more and more on their PM’s to manage the client relationships and generate referrals so this topic might be relevant for your firm.

One chapter in Same Game New Rules is titled Process Makes Perfect, and it’s about how engineers and technical sellers make the best sales people. Mainly because they are in the right place to bring tons of value.

1. Need for Good Communication. In most projects, there are many tiny details that can spin out of control. Since the relationship is only as good as the project process, then it is necessary for PM’s to know how to communicate issues to clients. The PM must have a “relationship awareness” all the way through.

This includes: bringing up sensitive topics PRIOR to them becoming problems; knowing how and to whom to communicate these issues at the client; knowing how to keep the atmosphere open and honest so bad matters don’t get worse; and having a paper stream of promises so that there is nothing left to memory.

2. Having a Problem-Solving Attitude. I like to think of selling as problem-solving. And nowhere does that get stated like it does in project management. The PM is always solving problems and keeping things on course. It may be that they don’t want to be in front line sales (and they shouldn’t) but it doesn’t mean that they can’t have the same attitude that the top flight sales person has.

3. Referral Generation. Most times, the PM is the exact person who should be cultivating referrals. In most B2B businesses, referrals make up 60-80% of new business. It’s a bit of a stretch to think that a sales person who sold the deal, but does NOT have the relationship, can waltz in and get referrals. It should be the PM. So any training you do for that group, should have ‘how to generate referrals’ as part of the curriculum.

Fewer Sales People-More PMs
Many companies are hiring fewer new account sales people, and relying on their subject matter experts (the PMs) to do more of the value communication. I think it makes sense in certain industries. Just make sure you train those people on the principles of selling and good communication. They ARE trainable. Just don’t try to turn them into sales people.

Do Your Ideas Thrive Or Die?

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I recently interviewed Dan Heath, Made To Stick, Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. It was on our Advanced Selling Podcast. I thought Dan had some salient points. He talked mainly about how to communicate with people–so that they actually hear you! Novel idea, huh?

Hope you enjoy the podcast. We’re going to use this blog to advise when there is a new podcast worth listening to. You can also subscribe via email so you can be notified when there’s a new podcast episode.

“Sorry I Lied to You — But You Made Me Do It”

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Probably not something you’ll ever hear a prospect say, “Sorry I lied, but you made me.” But just because they don’t say it, doesn’t mean it’s not the truth.

At our training company, we take very seriously the idea of ‘creating space’ with a customer. What we mean by that is the sales professional has a profound responsibility in the sales transaction to get the truth. And that won’t happen if there is no trust/environment created for that.

To that end, I’ve made a list of “5 SureFire Ways to Get Your Prospect To Lie To You” (a bit tongue-in-cheek, but remarkably, we see these in action all the time. You can laugh at these, but make sure the joke isn’t on you.)

1. Start Pitching and Convincing Early. This is a favorite of the amateur sales person who fancies himself as a studly seller. They paste on the charm (which we all can see through) and go to work. “Pitching” is great because it quickly forces the prospect into a defensive mode, right where you want him, so you can close quickly. Advertising agencies and the media are great at ‘the pitch.’ In fact, they’re so good at it, they actually call it that. It really forces some great lies. Good luck with this one.

2. Ask A Lot of (Meaningless) Bonding and Rapport Questions. This is wonderful because you can ask questions about their vacation, their business–anything that you really don’t care about. And the true amateur never realizes that the prospect knows exactly what they’re doing to them. This is a surefire way to get the prospect to mislead you.

3. When Talking Money, Discount It’s Importance. You’ll be great at making people hide the truth when you brush over their concerns about money. In fact, even better, make them feel a little shame that they don’t understand how valuable your service is. It’s not up to you to explain the value–it’s up to them to take your word for it.

4. Close Hard and Often. This is one of the greatest pieces of training I got in my first sales job. This really makes prospects run away quickly. Or, if they stay in the process, you can blame them for continuing to lie to you. Buy all the books around on closing skills and watch the lies flow!

5. Don’t Make Your Sales Message About Them-Make it About You. This is one of my favorites. A salesperson comes in and explains to me how great he and his company are–and makes no effort to relate his value to my problem. There are a lot of sales training companies who teach this method. It works wonders to create atmospheres of lies and hidden agendas. This is a great time waster for sales people–for some prospects won’t tell you they have no interest, they’ll lead you on for months, living rent-free inside your head.

Sometimes the absurd works better than logic and reason, thus my crazy list. I was in a training this week where a supposedly-well-trained sales person laid the “if-I-could-show-you-a-way” move on me in a role play. Made everyone in the room almost vomit. That’s when I knew I’d made progress. Those old sales moves really should make you sick to your stomach.