Are You Always Giving Away Something for Nothing?

If you bought a press recently, you probably got a great deal

A few years ago, I did some work with a major press manufacturer. I was helping them with their negotiation strategies. One of the exercises we carried out was to value everything that they were giving to their customers. They were shocked at how much they gave away for free, without even mentioning what it was worth.

I know that this happens all the time. Customers are given big incentives to purchase. But often these extras are not sold properly. The customer does not value them. They make little difference to the negotiation process.

The same thing happens all the time with print selling

I see sales people making big concessions without asking for anything in return. Often the customer does not understand the value of what they are being given. The sales person could be creating a lot more value in their proposal.

Let’s say that, to help win an order, a sales person agrees to make a same day delivery at no extra cost. It is a good strategy that could win them the deal. However, if the delivery is just thrown into the proposal, the customer may think that this is no big deal. They might expect to receive this from all their suppliers.

It is much more effective to tell the customer how much the same day delivery is worth. This creates a number of advantages:

•  The customer realizes the true worth of the offer you have made
  
• They see more value in your proposal and think that they have a great deal
  
• They are less likely to ask you for a better deal
  
• They are less likely to look elsewhere because they think that they have a great deal 

Here’s one other big advantage with this strategy

It is possible to make the customer think that they are receiving something of much greater value than you are offering. Let’s go back to the same day delivery example.

It may be that a same day delivery would cost the customer a lot of money if they ordered it themselves. Naturally, that’s the value that you tell the customer. But what happens if you have your own delivery van that visits the area where the customer is located every day? The cost to you becomes minimal. You are giving the customer something of high value to them that actually makes very little difference to the value of the deal to you.

Make sure you value your proposals properly

Be sure to impress on your customers the true value of what they are receiving. You don’t want to end up like the press manufacturers. You want to make sure that you are not giving things away for nothing.

P.S. Find out more ideas on how to engage with today’s buyers: download my free e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors and What To Do About Them” right now. You’ll also receive my regular “Views from the print buyer” bulletin, full of ideas on how to sell print effectively. Also, check out “How to Make Print More Profitable: The Print Industry Negotiation Handbook” where I share a seven stage negotiation process that stops you giving way on price and value your proposals correctly.