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It's Only Common Sense: Getting Customers Past the Price Barrier

Do you really believe in your product? Do you feel you are doing your customers a favor by getting them to use your products and services? You will be a magnificent salesperson if you truly believe that you have the very best products that money can buy.

I am always amazed when I hear the reasons salespeople say they aren’t succeeding. The number one barrier? Price. Of course, there are other excuses such as:

• “If we only had (insert here whatever your company doesn’t have), then I know I could bring in $1 million more a year.”
• “If  we had a better website, we would attract more customers.”
• “If we had a better brochure.” (A brochure, really? Ever heard of social media?)

Now post-pandemic, I hear, “I used to do all my business on the golf course or over a meal. I could sell more of my product and services.” But is that all you’ve got? You can’t sell your product unless you buy someone a cheeseburger? What about the product? Does that count for anything?

Value, customer experience, reliability, technology, quality, reputation—these matter. This isn’t “Mad Men,” and it isn’t 1959. In the real world, there are better ways to find and approach the right customers and sell them on the value of your products and services.

Here are some of the best ways to sell products:

• Be prepared to talk about price. Look, we all know it’s coming. Buyers always target price because they are incentivized to save as much money as possible. Think about it. They are paid extra for buying the cheapest products they can find. It’s ludicrous, but we all know it’s true. (Even the U.S. Department of Defense looks for low-cost weaponry parts .) If buyers get paid a bonus to save money for the company, we’re setting them up to fail. If buying a more expensive product actually goes against their best interest, it means you better be providing a great reason why they should buy your more expensive product. You need to actually demonstrate why they need your superior product and then convince them to buy it.
• Always believe you have the best product. This is a key point. If you don’t believe your product is the best on the market today, then you need to find another company with a better product to sell. Life is too short to spend your time apologizing for, rather than selling, your product. When you have the best product, sell it hard—like a Baptist missionary pitching to pagans.
• Know the value of your product. Make a list of all the reasons why your product is superior. What is it about your company and its products that demonstrates you’re doing them a favor to buy it?
• Demonstrate the true value of your products and services: This includes pointing out the flaws and problems that come with buying cheaper, inferior products. Talk through with customers how much it costs their company when products aren’t delivered on time, need to be scrapped when they arrive, or fail once they’re part of an expensive assembly. Provide customers a scenario in which a cheap product fails in the field, during a sale. Now that’s a real horror story. It leaves a serious black mark on everybody, including the company and your customer.

Try to find ways to show that you’re better than just price. Let customers know the true costs of going cheap. In all cases, going with the best product represents the best value because it’s less expensive in the long run.

It’s only common sense.­

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.