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The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting!

Topics
Customer Service
Finance
Information Technology
Marketing
Sales
Small Business
Enterprise
Future Selling Institute
Negotiation
Price Negotiation
Pricing
Sales Management
Sales Stragegy
Value

Highlights

Customers don't buy price, they buy value. The trick is getting your customers to see it that way too. In this roundtable, Dave Brock and Anthony Iannarino discussed how to make price a second thought and showed how to shift the focus on delivering true value.

  • How do we help customers determine what value is?
  • Why do customers insist on negotiating price?
  • How do you compete on value instead of price?

Speakers

Dave Brock
Dave Brock
President and CEO
Partners In EXCELLENCE
details
S. Anthony Iannarino
S. Anthony Iannarino
Managing Director
B2B Sales Coach & Consul...
details
@Magnifiedmouth tweeted
RT @davidabrock I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/7xwUnGKL #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 23, 2011
Dave Brock
Dave Brock added a comment
After our conversation, I decided to dive into the question "What Are You Worth To Your Customer?" Take a look at the post: http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/what-are-you-worth-to-your-customer/ Look forward to your comments. Thanks for joining the discussion!
Sept. 22, 2011
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Brian MacIver
Brian MacIver Replied on Sept. 26, 2011

“All the competitor could do was (to) sell compatible systems at a cheaper price than we could. We brought the customer ideas and new methods for improving the business. In this case, for a $20M investment and a payback of less than six months–we created an opportunity that was worth more than $40M to them. No customer in their right mind would ever trade off $40M for a $3M savings.”

The flaw in your argument, both then and now, is your math.
If the “Compatible” system brought the same ‘1 sec.’ saving then it too would generate the same $40M in “savings” plus an additional $3M saving in Cost of Acquisition, a TOTAL cost saving of $43M.
Who in their “right mind” would lose $3M for no reason.

But, in my opinion, when two equal “Compatible” offers were made the differentiation was often not the ‘Added Value’ of the sales team but their misrepresentation of the risk. Frequently large dominant incumbents sold over-priced and underperforming “Systems”
using FUD factors. Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt were sown in the mind of the Buyer, poor benchmarking performance was traded-off against “exaggerated risks”.

The expression “Nobody was ever fired for buying from Big IT!” originated inside the Company, not in the Data Processing Department of the Customer. Big IT was forced by “Plug Compatible” Competitors to Fairly Price, to Innovate and to Sell, otherwise the cost per Flop, or per Megabyte would be the same now as it was then. Progress came from the skill of Competitor Salespeople (like me) in overcoming FUD, in managing Discounting and generating high margins while giving Fair Prices to the Customer.

@elysiacooper tweeted
RT @LaurenEHarper Interesting- buyers have been taught that there is always a price cushion via @iannarino #sales #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
Brian Phelps
Brian Phelps asked a question
Where's the Funnelholic when we are talking about happy funnel?
Sept. 22, 2011
Be the first to answer
@LaurenEHarper tweeted
If discounting interferes with the value proposition that you promised your customer, you have to say no via @iannarino #sales #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
Chris Ferris
Chris Ferris asked a question
What if you are selling a commoditized product, what is the best way to differentiate your offerring?
Sept. 22, 2011
21 Answers · Answer this Question
@funnelholic tweeted
RT @LaurenEHarper Interesting- buyers have been taught that there is always a price cushion via @iannarino #sales #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
@LaurenEHarper tweeted
Interesting- buyers have been taught that there is always a price cushion via @iannarino #sales #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
Scott Albro
Scott Albro asked a question
Which IT vendors have a no discount policy?
Sept. 22, 2011
3 Answers · Answer this Question
@LaurenEHarper tweeted
We are really really bad at describing our value via @davidabrock #sales #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
@LaurenEHarper tweeted
It's the salesperson's role to shift the conversation to what value they can create for the customer via @iannarino #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
Roger Hurst
Roger Hurst asked a question
Many companies compare your price with what they find on the web. How do you put additional value on your service and/or product?
Sept. 22, 2011
1 Answer · Answer this Question
@LaurenEHarper tweeted
@Focus Roundtable: Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! w/ @davidabrock & @iannarino starts in 30 mins! http://t.co/z51WJhwn #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
@davidabrock tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/7xwUnGKL #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
@iannarino tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/94KalEIT #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
@iannarino tweeted
RT @davidabrock I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/7xwUnGKL #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
@funnelholic tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/hhsiRqfX #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 22, 2011
@TechEdgeMedia tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/QFgZggPD #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 21, 2011
@davidabrock tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/7xwUnGKL #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 21, 2011
Gerald Brown
Gerald Brown asked a question
What happens if the industry doesn't put a dollar value on the services we provide?
Sept. 21, 2011
2 Answers · Answer this Question
Gerald Brown
Gerald Brown asked a question
How do you value your services?
Sept. 21, 2011
Be the first to answer
Gerald Brown
Gerald Brown asked a question
What if you accept a discounted price for your product
Sept. 21, 2011
Be the first to answer
Gerald Brown
Gerald Brown asked a question
What is the value of a service that you offer for free and how do you explain it?
Sept. 21, 2011
2 Answers · Answer this Question
Karen Floyd
Karen Floyd asked a question
I thought this seminar was about sales and discounting sales...
Sept. 21, 2011
1 Answer · Answer this Question
@dhowell3577 tweeted
The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/CBYlPH2q #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 21, 2011
@Juanbg tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/q04NQUOk #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 21, 2011
@davidabrock tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/7xwUnGKL #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 20, 2011
Lauren Harper
Lauren Harper asked a question
What are some other 'sins' in sales?
Sept. 20, 2011
5 Answers · Answer this Question
@davidabrock tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/7xwUnGKL #FocusSalesRT
Sept. 19, 2011
@Koobar tweeted
I'm attending @Focus Roundtable: The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! on 9/22 at 1 PM PT. http://t.co/BbXBpMkU #FocusSalesRT @iannarino
Sept. 19, 2011

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