Recently, the creators of SPIN Selling have published a new book entitled "Escaping the Price-Driven Sale", and it just shows how much suffering the price issue has been inflicting on the majority of sales people that the authors have to contribute some ideas to alleviate part of the pain.

By the way, it is also perfect marketing sense to write a book where there will be billions of potential readers buying it.

In any case, what I would like to do in the following paragraphs is to provide some concise and street smart outlines that you can read in the next 5 minutes and get to the core on how you can deal with price issues effectively.

"How can I Make a Difference when I'm Only the Sales Guy?"

If we were to pick sales people at random, and ask them what they feel needs to be done so that they can get more sales, the most common answer will be, "if we can just lower our prices"

If you were to ask the same people what needs to be done for customers to buy at higher prices, you'll get responses such as:

? "But price is the ONLY thing they care!"

? "But we don't have the best quality/ technology/ product!"

? "But we can't provide guarantees!"

? "But we can't provide those high service standards"

? "But we don't have that kind of relationship yet"

? "But if we increase prices, they will just buy from our competitors!"

? "But this how sales is done here!"

Somehow, the responses you get tend to start with "but..." most of the times.

However, studies conducted by HR Chally Group shows a completely different picture. In fact, it is reported that "39% of a customer's decision to buy from your company is based on the effectiveness of your sales representative"

Even when selling low-value and non-strategic products such as photocopy paper, sales people can make a difference by finding out:

? If the customer would like to have different types of paper for daily printing and those needed to print formal proposals

? If the customer would like to have optimal re-ordering schedules to maintain constant supplies of paper, without committing too much valuable office spaces for paper storage;

? If the customer would like to have the sales person personally accountable to deliver any urgent requests to replenish paper supplies

And the list goes on. The point is buyers have a lot more to consider when making buying decisions besides price, while most sellers just assume that price is their greatest concerns. Having the above understanding of customers' needs may be the difference between a deal and a no-deal, or a no-sell to an up-sell.

Are There Any Concerns Besides Price?

While price is still important, it is still one of the many considerations a customer have when making buying decisions. If those other concerns are not addressed, then customers may not buy, even when you have the lowest price.

Effective sales people will be those whom can find out what these other concerns are, and usually through asking customers some critical questions. While there are many questioning techniques and frameworks suggested by sales experts and consultants around the world, here's one that is meant for sales people to ask themselves while they proceed along their sales pipelines. It has an appropriate acronym too: C.H.E.A.P.

? "C" stands for "Current-Future State". That means as a sales person, do you know where the customer is currently, and what will be their desired situation in the near-future?

? "H" stands for "Highlighting Their Pain and Implications". What will be the customers' "pain" if they don't take actions now? Will there be further implications as such?

? "E" stands for "Expected Outcomes". That means, on the brighter side, how much can the customer gain if they were to heed your advice and take the actions to buy from you?

? "A" stands for "Associated Risks". How can customers be so sure that your products and solution will work as promised? What other alternatives or recourse do they have if things don't work out as planned?

? "P" stands for "Providing Assurance". Sometimes, customers feel very uncomfortable, and even paranoid about buying high value items from a new vendor, or for new products and solutions. Hence, what is it that you have been doing to soothe their fears, instill confidence unto them, and make them trust you?

These are some of the questions that you may not have all the answers to in the initial stage of customer meetings. However, these are useful guidelines to remind you what are those key issues that customers want besides price.

Price is What You Pay, Value is What You Get

Ultimately, the uninformed customer will just ask for the lowest prices if she does not see the value in your offering. As sales people, your greatest value may just to become your customers' trusted advisor, more so than any product features and quality.

No, customers generally don't want it cheap... ....Rather, what they demand from you is to get more value for the money they pay. As an effective sales person, you can make all the difference.

In any case, if you would like to me to provide you with specific insights on how to provide unique value to your customers and be their trusted advisors, simply e-mail info@psycheselling.com or call +86-136 7190 2505 or Skype: cydj001 and arrange to buy me a mocha. All information shall be kept in confidence.