Mark Hunter discusses one of the biggest things that plague
sales people in today’s world: selling a price increase. In a struggling
economy, many companies are forced to raise prices which leaves sales people in
a hard spot. But as Hunter explains, the way to find success in this
environment is all about the mindset of the salesperson. In the article cited,
Hunter focuses on selling in a ‘soft market.’ A soft market is defined as a
market where there are more potential sellers than there are buyers. “it is
imperative for the salesperson to understand that regardless of what the market
or economy is doing, if a price increase needs to be sold, it needs to be sold.
This means that the salesperson can’t go into the sales process believing that
the customer is going to reject the price increase and that they must offer
some type of discount to secure the sale. If they approach the meeting
with this attitude, they almost guarantee failure because a customer will never
pay more than a salesperson tells them to.” During a sales meeting, the first
thing that a potential customer will say is a comment on the price change, most
sales reps will agree and therefore lose the battle almost every single time.
Hunter has different approach, “ignore it. The reason? Many times
the customer merely wants to get it off their chest and by telling it to you,
they feel better. The first response the salesperson should make is
to ask the customer questions about how they intend to use what they’re buying
and whether or not they’ve been able to achieve the results they’re looking
for. If the customer continues with their line of discussion about the economy
and they can’t accept the price increase, then the salesperson should ask about
the steps involved in their buying process. The objective is really to
get the customer talking.” It is possible to sell a price increase in a soft
market, it only takes patience and hard work. It is without a doubt difficult
to sell in a soft market, however, learning how to sell a price increase in all
markets will greatly enhance a sales person’s effectiveness.
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