How would you like to win every sales opportunity that you work on? It would be nice work if you could arrange it. How would you like to lose every sales opportunity that you work on? No doubt, you’d like to take a pass on that one.
While neither scenario is likely, there is one quality that separates the two extremes. It’s the quality of preparation. Let me give you an example.
Eight years ago I stayed at the Vancouver Hyatt for four days. I was there for a Canadian Management Seminar on sales management. Most of my trips are shorter ones and when I’m scheduled to be away that long I’ll often try to buy a small gift for Bernadette, my wife.
There was an underground mall beneath the Hyatt. On the evening of the second day of the seminar, I decided to go for a walk and while stretching my legs, see if I could find an appropriate gift for Bernadette.
One small shop caught my eye. It was a specialty shop that sold jewelry made from a variety of gems and minerals. Naturally I was more interested in the minerals.
I walked into the store and did my ninety second browse and search tour. The shop seemed to have a number of nice and reasonably priced pieces that I was looking for. The shopkeeper saw me and said, “hello.” I returned the greeting and left soon after.
The next night I returned. I had a plan. I had identified two pieces of jewelry that I thought Bernadette would like. Before entering the store, I thought about my approach and the amount of money I wanted to spend. I also thought about the specific words I'd use.
I walked directly over to the shopkeeper. I said, “I need to get my wife a gift tonight.”
He told me to look around and call him if I needed assistance. I spotted the necklace and earrings I wanted. They were malachite, a green marble like mineral. The price was $125 Canadian. I waved for the shopkeeper. He came right over.
I asked him, “How much better can you do on the price?”
He reached for his calculator, punched in a few numbers and said he could give me a 14% discount.
Looking straight down at the jewelry, I sighed, “That's more than I wanted to spend.” I remained silent, and once again he punched more numbers into his calculator.
Finally he looked up and said, “I'll give you 20% off.” I bought the necklace and earrings and got the discount as a bonus.
I was ready to pay list price. He didn't ask, so he didn’t know.
His strategy was to talk price. It should have been to show me the value.
I was prepared and he wasn't - the fatal flaw in selling.
It pays to be prepared - in fact it pays very well!
Jim Meisenheimer is the creator of No-brainer Selling Skills and
publisher of The Start Selling More Newsletter.
He's been nominated to the Speaker Hall Of Fame 4 times. Get
Jim's FREE Start Selling More Newsletter. www.startsellingmore.com
How To Create Value To Avoid The Fatal Flaw In Selling - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Meisenheimer's Website.
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