Topics Think Through Alternatives
When you’re negotiating with customers, it’s so important for you to think through different alternatives.
Quite often, people feel like the number one objection is price. Everyone wants a lower price and I get that. Of course people want a lower price. But that is not always the number one factor in making a decision. You need to think through alternatives.
[accordion open=”Full Transcript”][accordion_element title=”Read More”]
Whenever there’s a bit of push back from customers, instead of just offering a discount which obviously eats into your margins, eats into profitability, and eats into your commission. You need to think about alternatives.
Well, what else could we offer? Maybe you can offer a situation where they can put a deposit now or a down payment now and then pay the rest later. So more favorable payment terms could be an alternative to giving a discount. Or maybe you can offer them a quantity discount by selling them more now rather than just repeating an order 3, 6, 9, or 12 months down the road.
So I’m all for giving a discount under certain circumstances. I’m a big believer in “I’ll give you this if you give me that.” People need to earn a discount. They need to work for a discount. You need to be creative in sales and think about alternatives.
Maybe an alternative to a discount would be delivering it faster or perhaps bundling something in. Maybe offering them something of value at no charge. Something that has high perceived value but low cost to you. We need to be creative. Come up with alternatives. That’s how you can win in sales.
Maybe you can think about ways you can partner with them. Maybe you can introduce them to someone. Maybe that would be valuable. Maybe you can connect them with other suppliers or other customers. There’s so many things that you can do. You need to be creative and open-minded.
Look for alternatives. Don’t just focus on the bottom line. Don’t just focus on numbers or giving a discount but think about alternatives. What would be a great option in this situation?
[/accordion_element][/accordion]
I like this video because it, in a way, challenges me to think of price discounts as the last resort. There should be an effort to offer a client other alternatives and combinations than to go straight to price, and to actually develop those alternatives and combinations.
Great insight Daniel. Clients will respect you and your offering more if you stand firm on your price because you know it’s worth it. Then it’s good to have creative ways to add more value as a backup.
What will one do if the client doesn’t still value all the benefits that you have offered, additional values etc and your competitor is offering the client’s proposed price? Do you leave the deal for the competitor?
Hi Isaac, firstly thank you for the question! My answer to your question is how badly do you want that deal? If you want it bad enough, you would never leave the deal for the competitor! Having said that, I am curious to find out how much of the benefits that you have offered, are truly perceived as benefits from the perspective of your client? It is only a benefit if your client thinks, it’s a benefit! So check in with your client and have a conversation around what they like from your proposal, what could be missing from it and what they like from your competitor’s proposal. Then, come see how you can propose a better proposal for them and win the deal!