It was a cold blustery day in March. The salesman is arriving at his appointment with anticipation. His customer called and was ready to give him a purchase order. As he entered the small stuffy reception area, the gatekeeper ignored his presence except to say "They're in a meeting have a seat". You know the way gate keepers sound when they know you're in sales and have somehow run their gauntlet and actually made it in to the castle. So there he sat with his mind racing, hoping that his hard work and perseverance would actually result in an order.
Thirty-seven minutes later, (thirty-seven minutes and twenty-eight seconds to be exact, as we all know that watching the clock is something that most salespeople do as a hobby and get pretty good at it with all that practice they get.) the director emerges and escorts him to the conference room. Upon entering he's greeted with the shuffling of papers, the smell of old coffee that was made four hours ago, and a smile with a jovial 'Thanks for coming we have some great news." from the "Big Guy". Half of the people in the room have left and the others are text messaging or reading emails on their "electro leashes" not really aware that he is there. He smiles back and says "Glad to be here! How are things with you?" You see the "Big Guy" had never really said a word to him before so he thought that it was strange to have such a warm welcome offered up to him.
Pleasantries exchanged the Big Guy got right to it. "I've evaluated our options and reviewed your proposal along with your competitor's proposal." "Great!" he screamed inside. "What's the verdict?" he thought loudly to himself. "We've decided to go with your company," "Yea!!!" he screamed inside again. "but we need to address the price." said the Big Guy. "What's that hissing sound?" he found himself almost saying out loud. It was obviously the air rushing out of his bubble. He felt his shoulders sink and the smile on his face become labored. He paused for what seemed to be forever and pulled from his gut the only possible response to the Big Guys comment. "I'm glad you brought that up," he said, "the price increase is going to be steeper than we first thought so you'll need to lock in this price now to avoid extra charges." Nervously quiet, the salesman leaned back and sank into his standard conference room chair which was set in the highest positon so he could look the Big Guy in the eyes. The next moment is of course what salespeople live for. You see with all of the lead up to this moment the salesman knew one thing. The customer would not have called him in to tell him they didn't want his products. All along he knew his objective was to start working on the next project this customer was going to buy.
"Price increase?" The Big Guy asks. "When does that go into effect?" "In ten days. The first of the month." The salesman said. "You might want to consider moving your plans forward on the next project to take advantage of the old price. I could lock that in today for you. Do you want to lock that in and save the 10% that will be reflected in next month's prices?" Big Guy looks at my contact who so far hasn't said a word. Not typical when it's just him and the salesman. During those conversations the salesman finds out about every nook and cranny of the guys life. Big Guy looks back at the salesman and says. "We really need a better price." The salesman leans forward in his chair and sits up straight, chin out he says, "this is a much better price than we can offer next month. Is there some part of the proposal that appears to not be a value to you?" The pause grew long and the salesman was now leaning forward almost to the point of looking uncomfortable. Someone's "electro leash" started ringing with the song "GLORY, GLORY HALELLUJAH". Big Guy looked sideways and then back at the salesman. Knowing he is king of his castle it was at this point the salesman knew this is where his frankincense and mir had to be placed on the table. "And of course I'll extend your warranty 6 months if we do the deal today." That was all the Big Guy needed.
"I can't pass that up." said Big Guy, "let's change this purchase order and add the whole project to it. I can't see paying more next month for the same products."
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.........Price integrity in place, order doubled and all it took was some free steak knives. (Extended warranty). BIG GUY HAPPY!
Don't let the "Now you tell me!" syndrome set you back. Be prepared. You are a professional who helps clients make the buying decision. Read Practice Learn Sell, your sales depend on it!
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