Tweet

Sell Value Not Discounts

Written by: Jim Meisenheimer

Article Overview: Sell value not discounts is a worthy and profitable concept to consider. In the long run selling value is more profitable - learn how to do it!

Sell Value Not Discounts

Sell value not discounts is the way to go if you're one of the rare breed of entrepreneurs or professional salespeople, who do in fact, focus on adding value to your sales prospects and customers buying experience.

A quick story to illustrate this point.

Last weekend Bernadette, my wife, and I took off for the weekend.

At a recent Women's Club event Bernadette bid and won a free night at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg. We added a night so we ended up with a 3-day/2-night package.

My wife's friend Alexis told her about a wonderful boutique, Pamela M's, just north of St. Pete.

So off we go to Pamela M's shop.

But first we stopped for lunch in Madeira Beach.

The movie, Forrest Gump, is one of my all-time favorites.

It turns out the movie inspired a seafood restaurant with the movie producers.

So they created the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. They currently have six locations in the US. They do a lot of little things that most restaurants never think of doing - they sell value.

For example. Have you ever been to a restaurant, where the entire staff is looking out for you? Well I haven't!

Every table at Bubba Gumps has a little stand that holds two license plates. The blue plate says, "Run Forest Run." The red plate says, "Stop Forest Stop."

The blue plate means you're happy with everything. The red one says you need something. Everyone who sees the red plate asks how they can help you.

Ya know, in sales little things mean everything - so be sure to sell value.

Sales tip - do the little things that no one else in your business is doing.

Now - off we go to Pamela M's boutique.

As soon as we walked in the door, we were greeted with friendly, "Hellos" from the staff.

One of them said, "Everything is 20% off today."

For the next hour and a half I'm taking it all in. I found a comfortable chair and was able to amuse myself with my iPhone.

My wife likes to shop. In fact she shops more than she buys.

But today would be different. Very different!

From my perch I could see that a lot of the customers are regulars.

The selection of clothes was amazingly unique and colorful.

We've been married about 22 years. I've never seen my wife buy so many things, at one time, in one store before.

In addition to having a marvelous selection to choose from, Pamela - the store's owner, also had a fabulous staff.

I'm watching all this. Customers interacting with salespeople. Customers interacting with other customers. Everybody is just having a good time while they're trying on and buying clothes.

It was fun. There was a bottle of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay standing tall next to the plate of crackers and Brie cheese and set on a small oak table in front of a sofa.

This wasn't a shopping - it was an experience.

Our salesperson, Marilyn, tallied up our bill and then deducted the promised 20% discount.

The discount didn't matter. Everything else did. In fact, everything else mattered more.

Pamela has a great shop and an inconvenient location for us - about one hour drive from our home in Lakewood Ranch. Guess what? I'm sure we'll be going back soon.

Hey Pamela. You offer an incredible shopping experience for women and tremendous clothes and have an awesome sales staff.

You didn't have to knock $300 off our bill.

You could however do something a little different that has potentially a big impact. You could do something that would even create a buzz with your customers about your business.

For example. Instead of offering a 20% discount you can give your customers a box of Godiva - Thank You Ballotins - 19 pieces.

The cost is $26 but the value is priceless to the women who love chocolate.

In addition you would have added, on our bill, $274 to your bottom line.

Keep up the good work Pamela - and remember to sell value not discounts.

Related Articles
  Offering Discounts During Slow Times
  How are Car Insurance Premiums Increased?
  Mike Krause’s Sales Sense #14: Discount Doom! How much is enough?
  Stress-Free Selling® - Stop Giving Deals!
  Ways To Find Low Cost Auto Insurance Options

Article Tags: bubba gump, sales training, salespeople, sell value



Related Forum Posts
Improve your Cash Flow - As we all know, the primary concern of proprietors and managers are cash flows. I would like to share some tips on how to improve the cash flow of your business. 1. Speeding up Collections - collecting receivables earlier, on or before due dates. Discounts for early payments can be one way to do this. 2. Slowing Down Payments - stretch your payables and pay only when it is due. But be careful not to mess up with your credibility. 3. Invest in Marketable Securities - use the money in Marketable Securities and other short-term investments to earn extra cash.
Your advantage over others - Sell using your USP - unique selling proposition. Why should people buy from you, instead of your competitors? Think about it, why are you so great? It may be a hard question, but finding the answer can multiply the effectiveness of any advertising or marketing activities you undertake.
Re: Starting customized giftware... - Starting off with a Customized Gift is definitely a great idea. But you have not mentioned anything about what is or are the products that your organization is into. You have also not mentioned what is the target market or who your customers are. But it needs to be mentioned that whom you want to give the gift. There are two different categories of people who visit you. One category is those who are not much interested to buy. They visit the store for inquisitiveness or finding out what you have to offer them. These people can be given some smaller tokens. The other category is of those who buy from you are your real customers and you can give them gifts. The best gift after the sales will definitely be the after sales support and customer services. But these are in the longer run to retain the customers. You can start off with giving some percentage extra depending on what you have to offer. How about Discounts or different Gifts in lieu of purchase of X Amount, Y Amount...
Re: When do entrepreneurs retire, if ever? - Why would you ever retire when you love what you are doing? Sell the business and start another one maybe - but retire - NEVER! You should all read, The 4 Hour Work Week - By Timothy Ferris. He talks about building your business so that you can take mini 'retirement's throughout your life, instead of saving it all up for when you are old. Great concept - what do you think??
Re: SES Toronto - Day 1! - ...oh and even though it's 21 secrets, why do you have [quote:1gz722fe]Tip #22: Use Your Thank You Page to Sell[/quote:1gz722fe] on your blog? Are you holding out on secrets or are you adding your own? Hope to see you at the next conference!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Clues to Increase Sales -- Listen to the Buyer

Multilevel Marketing: 4 Tips To MLM Success

The Future of Online Marketing

Suggestions

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.