Tweet

Top Salespeople Avoid Commodity Selling

Written by: Harlan Goerger

Article Overview: If your pushing products/service you may be turning your product/service into a price driven commodity. With small changes in how you approach, talk and present can take you out of the price driven commodity race.

Top Salespeople Avoid Commodity Selling

Are we talking about Beans, Pork Bellies or Gold? How about Bread, Beans and Copy Paper?

The reality is most salespeople tend to turn a very unique product/service into a commodity in the buyers mind. As a result, the sale ends up being a price war and much harder work than it need be.

Now what is meant by "commoditizing" a product or service? .....

Most buyers would agree those items such as bread, beans, gasoline, copy paper and other high volume and daily use products are considered being "commodities". In general, these are not necessary sold on value but rather bought on price. There are many sources for these "commodities" and generally, the competitive sales point is price.

When your customer looks at your product/service, is the conversation all about price? Is it about the best deal they can get? Is it about leveraging you against your competition? These are all indications that your product/service has become "commoditized" in your customers mind!

Therefore, if your buyer is looking at your product/service as a commodity you will need to evaluate how you are selling it!

Here is a personal example: All of us end up using the bathroom in a high quality restaurant or hotel from time to time. Personally I have had toilet paper that shredded, so light you wondered if you had any, rougher than cardboard and of course soft sturdy stuff that really worked. I am sure the Ladies can relate.

Now I had a great room and steak, but the experience in the bathroom reduced my "total customer experience". "Such a great place and they skimp on the TP! Why?"

Why, because the salespeople have "commoditized" the item known as TP. "I can supply that stuff for less per case." Is the pitch and the buyer says great. Neither the salesperson nor the buyer consider the impact on the end user and on the experience provided. (Could have a pun here)

Who has failed here? I say the salesperson has!

The salesperson has taken the easy way out and not assisted the buyer in viewing the total impact of their choice. Rather than engage the buyer in a conversation about their guests experience and the image each and every item has on that experience, they drop the price bomb and create a negative for all parties.

Here are some ways salespeople end up "commoditizing" their products.

• Always approaching and discussing price and how to lower the price or save quick money.
• Doing similarity comparisons, their product and the competition are similar in this way.
• Always presenting facts/features/benefits rather than discussing end results.
• Shortcutting the buying process to get a quick sale.
• Hearing only the common words and missing the key ideas the buyer is conveying.
• Being unwilling to alter their approach and process, thus being very predictable to the buyer.

Should you discover you or your sales team doing any of these, stop immediately! It is costing you PROFIT! This I also allowing competitors in, reducing buyer loyalty and the buyer views you as just another salesperson pushing commodities. Is that what one really wants?

To un-commoditize your product/service the consultative, results oriented salesperson takes a different approach.

First, the focus is not on the product such as TP. Rather the focus is on understanding the buyer, business and what they are trying to accomplish with the business. The salesperson knows every choice has an impact on other areas. Their job is to help the buyer clearly see and understand the total impact of their choices.

Here are some of their actions:

• Open questions, open questions that cause the buyer to think.
  
  Emphasize the uniqueness they provide and how it adds value for the buyer
• Causes the buyer to view all the impacts to the business and guests
• Communicates value added versus low price
• Is unwilling to compromise their value and company values for price
• Understands the strongest position in negotiations is the ability to walk away
• Focuses on long-term productive relationships versus short term sales
• Creates opportunities for the buyer to make great choices and look good.

The challenge is not being caught up in the commodity talk, even if the buyer uses commodity language. The Salespersons job is to steer clear of the commodity approach and direct the buyer to a results and opportunity oriented discussion.

If one is on guard against commoditzing their product, then even TP can become an important part of a total customer experience!

What kind of outcomes can your product/service provide for your customer that keeps it from being a commodity? List a dozen and then use those outcomes in all your selling conversations. It will amaze you how your customers respond!

Related Articles
  Stupid Choices in the Selection of Sales Assessments
  Do You Have A Commodity Mindset?
  The CEO Who Needed to Hire Salespeople
  Can Your Salespeople Sell More Effectively by Asking More Questions?
  Manage Your Salespeople by Working Smart, More Stack Rankings

Article Tags: cardboard, commodities, commodity, customer experience, gasoline, gold, high quality, high volume, nbsp, personal example, pitch, pork bellies, price war, pun, quality restaurant, salespeople, salesperson, sturdy stuff, toilet paper, tp



Related Forum Posts
Re: Search Engine Friendly Web Development - I would like to add some more things in search engine friendly web development. 1. PPC campaign 2. Viral marketing 3. Social Media Marketing Avoid flash in website and other use CSS files to shows the content style.
Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? - When the bug bite you. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started in their teens or at school. Selling sweets to fellow students or lemonade to firends in the neighbourhood.
Re: This is Marketing Warfare! - Hey GT, I guess this was from a while back, and it'll test your memory a bit but could you possibly elaborate on Unique Selling Proposition? Can you give us some examples of good USPs?
Blog pinging - Thanks Martin - yes, I do ping and it has been very effective. I'm currently on the first page of Google for Mastermind Group and on the second page for Selling to Small Business.
Business magazines - Fast Company is pretty good if you're into technology although it can be very on the edge. Entrepreneur has become one giant advertisement and I cancelled my subscription. Selling Power also has some useful content if you're looking at improving your sales skills / presentations.


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

Five Daily Marketing Habits to Increase Sales

LISTENING SKILLS IN COACHING

Download a template or see a lawyer?

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.