How do you escape the clutches of price-driven selling? The answer is both simple and complex, and it’s a big part of what we teach at our Learning to Sell Efficiency Effectively workshops. Ultimately, it all boils down to the concept that people don’t care about price (within reason, of course). If you’ve had any success selling an efficiency product or service that is priced higher than that of your competitors, you know that people are willing to pay more for a better product, a better experience, a more seasoned sales professional, and so forth.
If you can differentiate yourself from your competitors and add real value for your prospects and clients, you can be successful without even bringing price into the conversation until you’ve already got them hooked. If you’re interested in exploring more about the topic of price-driven selling – and the best strategies for avoiding it – I highly recommend reading Beyond Price: Differentiate Your Company in Ways That Really Matter, by Mary Kay Plantes and Robert D. Finfrock. This book has some great tips and tricks for developing a business model that doesn’t rely on price to survive.
Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:
“Commoditization is the gravitational force pulling competing products and services down to the same level, until price determines which company wins and loses customers. Beyond Price will teach readers how to innovate their business models to escape the gravity of commoditization and price-driven competition.
“Business leaders will find immediate value in this systematic guide to transforming a company from one-of-many to one-of-a-kind, a company whose offerings competitors will find hard to copy and customers will feel excited to discover. A strategically differentiated business model, executed effectively, will create:
-Customers willing to pay a premium for a product
-Long-term relationships with customers and suppliers
-A collaborative environment focused on shared goals of where and how to win business
-Faster decisions about how and when to pursue opportunities
-Better resource leveraging through clear direction and focus
“A well-defined roadmap to building a thriving business, Beyond Price identifies and integrates all the areas of change, beyond strategy, leaders must address to break out of and stay out of commodity competition.”
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