Quote:
Originally Posted by Sliver
I totally agree, but price is a component as well.
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Price is a component, thats why we were so thourough in knowing what the price was and how a competitor was willing to negotiate price. If you know that, then its rare that you have to reduce pricing. It also pays to know what the strengths are with your organization so you can value add.
[QUOTE=Sliver;2815401]But you're assuming the price is fair to begin with, which isn't always the case. Also, some people like a deal because it makes them feel special to get a lower rate than the guy before them or the guy after them. I don't mind catering to those guys. Plus a guy like that you can usually say - yeah you can have a discount, but I'll need you to buy in bulk or buy thing B as well as thing A to get it. [quote]
I've always thought that the biggest strength is knowledge when it comes to sales, and FS drilled it into us when I was there, and its something that I've carried on. When I was in retail I made sure I knew what competitor pricing was and drop points, I also made sure I knew how to sell based on our policies (Price Protection). I also had the personal philosophy that it was unfair to punish someone for being a poor negotiator and thats why I believed in a fair price and pricing module. It was always difficult to define bulk in electronic sales, is bult 2 computers or 3 computers, or 4 computers? 2, 5 or 10 T.V's.
I can't recall too many times that I lost deals on price. But it always came down to setting up tap roots for clients in qualification and pre qualification.
I've seen too many sales people that just rush into selling stuff without establishing value, or the relationship between what the client wants to spend and what they want to receive.
Going back in history, I went to Future Shop because I wanted to learn how to sell, and back then they taught you how to sell, and they taught you how to sell based on fair price and not needing to drop your shorts to make a deal, and it was a valuable lesson.
Have I discounted later on in life? Sure I can think of two instances that were based around selling several hundred computers with services in one instance, a another instance involving building an entire infrastructure including servers, switches computers print solutions etc.
But in the corporate world if your sales proposition comes down to strictly price, or discount or I'll shop, your dealing at the wrong level, and your not building an understanding of trigger events that have caused the client to want to buy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sliver
, I guess it depends on the item and the margin. I told a guy to take a hike the other day that was trying to grind me down on one of our products. He was cool in that he was upfront about shopping my price around so I gave him a good deal right out of the gate. Once he agreed to my price, he turned into a doooosh and asked me to throw in a couple of other items for free. Absolutely not, I'm not a charity. One of my competitors matched my price and gave him his freebies, too. I was pretty happy with that, though. They won't be a competitor for long giving crap away.  |
Sure, but in consumer electronices the margins are pretty thing already, and for every dollar I lose in terms of profit, it would probably be 1/3 of a dollar in commission if I remember my retail formula properly. So if I know what I'm up against, and I've built the value proposition, and I've genuienly sold the client of the product and service and the fit to requirement, I shouldn't have to discount. Is this exactly what your looking for? Is this in the price range we talked about? Then buy it, You don't have to be pushy if you establish the rules of the game.
However I'm also of a fan of the old saying that there's nothing wrong with driving bad business to a competitor. You don't have to get every sale, you have to get the quality sales instead of the quantity.
Anyways, I don't want to derail the thread with my blathering.