There are many difficult spots along the path of closing a sales deal, but none more difficult than the negotiation of price. Mark Hunter is an experienced salesman and coach who knows that struggle firsthand. But what he’s discovered is that price is very seldom an issue if the salesperson has done a good job selling the product. He’s not talking about coercion or bold-faced lies, he’s talking about effectively addressing the concerns and objections your prospect has long before you get to the issue of price. Mark shares his valuable insights with Anthony on this episode of In The Arena.
Why you should be selling outcomes instead of features or benefits.
There is a lot of talk in the marketing and sales arena about pitching the benefits of your product or service instead of the features, but sales champion Mark Hunter says that you don’t want to be selling either of those. Instead, you want to be selling the outcome that the customer is looking for by considering your service or product. On this episode Mark outlines how features, benefits, and outcomes differ and how you can shift your sales process to hit the outcomes of your prospects every single time.
Sometimes the most valuable sale is the one you don’t get.
Mark Hunter has seen and done almost everything in the sales arena so he knows what it’s like to feel the pressure of compromising price in order not to lose a sale. He can recall times when he got into less trouble for returning to the sales office with a deal that was underpriced than he would for returning without a deal because he wouldn’t drop the price. He says there’s something fundamentally wrong with that picture. What is it? The salesperson is being encouraged by management to help the customer undervalue the product or service they are offering. Get the inside scoop on how Mark would address this issue, on this episode.
Sales professionals need to be confident enough to walk away.
Before you practice all your techniques of how to close a deal, how to overcome objections, or how to present your products effectively, you need to first know and believe in your product or service. Salespeople who don’t believe in their products are the ones who compromise on price and cut themselves and their companies short. The confidence you have in your product or service is what enables you to stick to your guns on price and communicate to your prospect exactly why you can’t bring the price down any further. Doing so shows them the value of what you’re offering and why they need to see the cost as in investment in their own success.
How can you increase your prices with existing customers?
It’s a touchy subject to talk to an existing customer about increasing the cost of the goods or services you’re already providing to them. Most salespeople have a tough time in those conversations because they don’t understand and believe in the true value they are providing, and why a price increase is needed in order to continue providing that level of service to their customers. On this episode of In The Arena Mark Hunter shares how you can get your head around that concept and how to go about communicating it to your existing customers effectively.
Outline of this great episode
[0:41]  Anthony’s introduction of Mark Hunter and this episode of In the Arena.
[2:00] If you sell first, the negotiation comes second.
[3:20] Why price is not a feature of your product.
[6:12] Features VS benefits VS outcomes in the sales process.
[8:49] Telling the truth in sales as a way to stop customers from under investing.
[10:25] Why you might need to ignore the customer’s objections about price.
[12:50] Why salespeople have to be confident enough to walk away.
[14:00] How to go about increasing your pricing with existing customers.
[18:00] Why sales is leadership and leadership is sales.