How To Create Value To Avoid The Fatal Flaw In Selling
How To Create Value To Avoid The Fatal Flaw In Selling
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.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
|||
Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
|||
Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Jim's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Professional Networking How To Work Balance chart Relationships and Referrals Getting Past Your Past |
|
 | ||
 |
More PR Resources
Press Release Builder | |
 |
Top Social Business Blogs
Top Social Entrepreneur Blogs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||