By Colin Browne – Sales Guru
Like it or leave it, price will always be a consideration during the sales process. But if we can show the customer the price they are already paying by not solving their problem, you could bring them around to see how little your solution actually costs in comparison.
When customers are looking for a solution that saves them money, it’s a safe bet they feel they are currently spending too much of it, right? Helping them quantify that number –without manipulating it at all- is a very subtle technique that can really help to dwarf the cost of buying your solution. All it really requires is a little probing and some simple multiplication, so brush up on your 12-times tables.
Why 12: Because that’s how many months there are in a year, and that therefore represents the real magnitude of their annual problem. Here’s how it works:
They say: “We’re losing around 20 hours per month to this problem.”
You say: “That’s 240 hours per year. What value would you put on that?”
They say: “We reckon we’re leaving 100 000 per month on the table?”
You say: “So you’re facing a R1,2-million annual shortfall?”
We tend to think of things in their smallest portions because they are easier to understand. But by magnifying the problem to its real annual extent, you create a different context for your customer to think about the cost of your solution.
Try it. Just keep it real.
Sales Guru is proudly associated with the NSBC.