Price cutting is a self-inflicted wound. Nobody holds a gun to your head and makes you cut your price. I know that many of you are thinking right now: “There is so much competition today that I can’t maintain profits,” “Everybody is giving everything away,” “The salespeople can’t negotiate,” and “Everybody knows our pricing from the Internet. “ Blah, Blah, Blah. Stop whining about price!
Only about 10 percent of buyers buy on price alone. For that 10 percent, you can decide to lower your prices or let those customers buy elsewhere. Every person who has ever sold anything knows that the happiest customers are the ones who pay you profit, whereas the unhappiest customers are the ones that you gave everything away to. Here’s a news flash: You don’t have to do business with them. It’s your choice.
All things being equal, money will be the customer’s final decision. It is your job to make everything unequal. Customers consider the 3M’s: Money, Machine and Me. What are you doing to elevate the “me” part of the equation? The “me” part of the 3M’s stands for you: your process, the dealership, the service and the reputation. It’s the easiest part of the equation to change. Your dealership is unique and your customers need to know why. You have to believe that you are the best and that you are worth more. Many salespeople and sales managers have a flawed, weak belief system. If you don’t believe you are outstanding, you will make yourself a replaceable commodity.
Every day you must work as hard on yourself as you do on sales. When you get better, your customers will get better. Do you work on yourself every day in the area of attitude, education, motivation, sales skills, customer follow-up and marketing? Let’s be brutally honest and forget about being politically correct — most salespeople stink at their profession. The majority of salespeople never work on the above skills. Can you really tell me that those unmotivated and uneducated idiots are the tough competition? Your only competition is in your own mind.
Recently, while in Las Vegas, I shopped for shoes at Caesar’s Palace. At the first store I went to, I noticed the salesperson looked agitated to have to hang up the phone to wait on me. He was extremely rude and did nothing to add value to his store or differentiate himself from other run-of-the-mill salespeople.
The second store I went to, I encountered a sensational salesperson who created rapport and sold value and quality. He knew his product and made a high price seem like a bargain.
The first store lost two sales and the second gained from the first salesperson’s stupidity. Is the first salesperson and his inadequacies the norm, or was it an aberration? My experience says that unfortunately, he’s the norm. My hunch is that your experiences are the same as mine.
Work every day to get better and show it to your customers. Work on your belief system. Don’t be a commodity, and stop whining about price. Price is the easiest problem to solve in the sale.
For your free special report “10 Ways to Overcome the Best Price Questions,” e-mail me at info@tewart.com with “Best Price” in the subject line.