By Greg Winteregg, CEO

It’s NOT always about making it cheaper

In the beginning of sales, we can all remember the prospect that drove us crazy trying to make the product cheaper.  They were all about getting a ‘good deal’.  And for various reasons we did our best to give them the best deal possible and maybe even lost money or broke even in the end.  It can sometimes leave us with quite a scar; maybe even to the point where now we look at every prospect with a jaded view.  We now believe that everyone just wants a good deal and it’s all about the money.  No one cares about service or quality anymore.

I recently had one hundred people surveyed on Clearwater Beach.  They represent a broad cross section of the population because all walks of life, all different kinds of professions and all different socio-economic levels go to the beach.

So, what’s important to your clients?

The survey had eleven questions, many of which I’ve written about; but the answers to one particular question were quite astounding.  The question was “With regards to your sales experiences and being sold something, what do you consider to be Infinitely Valuable?”  

What I was going for with this question was to find out, if you consider all parts of being sold something, what the most important factor was for your clients, above all else.

Here are the top results:

39% said they wanted the sales rep to be ‘friendly, kind and helpful’.

19% said ‘product knowledge’ was the most important.

You won’t believe where ‘great deal’ came in: 6%!!

As a sales rep that’s actually quite shocking.  We have a tendency to think that it’s always about the price or the deal that leads to the close; when, in actuality, it’s more about being taken care of in a friendly manner. Also, them getting the help they need to make the right decision.  

My theory on why those of us who sell for a living think that it’s always about the money:

The 6% that have to have the best deal make so much noise and cause such a fuss about the money that we are actually convinced that everyone cares about nothing but the money.  They leave us so wounded that we actually forget about the other nice and friendly prospects that we enjoyed helping (who actually enjoyed receiving our help).

Often times, being the cheapest in the industry is very hard on a company.  Service and product quality can suffer in an effort to stay solvent and keep the doors of the business open.  

There will always be certain customers that have to get the ‘best deal’.  They will drive all over town and get quotes all afternoon to save a few dollars.  It’s not about the quality of the product or service for them.  That is how they buy and that is their right; but you don’t have to play that game.  So my advice is to let them walk into your business, give them a quote and let them whine and complain about it while you let them leave.  

Don’t let them ruin your day and chew up time that could be spent with another, more appreciative customer.  It’s a small percentage of the population so let them go to a competitor to cause havoc there.

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