Compete Like A Commodity But Win With Value

You Can't Avoid Buyers Who Position You As A Commodity

Their Goal Is To Compel You To Compete On Price

Below the surface you compete as a commodity to generate sales and cash flow.  Above the surface you thrive with an authentic value proposition.

 

 

Before Pitching

First, do research and conduct a sales interview to learn about your prospect.  Then, see if you can convince yourself that you have the best solution for them.  If you can't convince yourself, how can you expect to persuade your prospect?  If you proceed with your pitch before establishing emotional value in the mind of the prospect, you'll reinforce the sales stereotype by making it appear that you are interested only in yourself. Develop the patience, confidence and ability to lead with value as opposed to features, benefits and price.

Start with a sales funnel baseline where 80% of your sales opportunities are offered by commodity shoppers while 20% search for underlying value.  Determine how can you profitably compete as a commodity as you continually increase the baseline from its 20% starting point.

Earn The Right To Charge The Price You Want

Premium Prices Are Not An Entitlement

If the best-in-class company in your category charges a prestige or premium price, this doesn't entitle you to position your price near the rim of their price umbrella unless you can match their brand reputation for an excellent customer experience - before, during and after the sale - including the value derived from their products and services.

If you don't exceed the NetPromoter Score acid test of being told that you consistently deliver total satisfaction and can prove it by the frequency referrals you receive, your price is probably too high.

"Value for Money" Buyers

Procter and Gamble and Kellogg's, inventors of the "value for money concept" in the 1930's, develop their product and pricing strategies around three behavioral personas:

1. Effectiveness buyers want to do more with the same resources
2. Efficiency buyers want to do the same with fewer resources
3. Economizers want to do less with far fewer resources

Through the early 2000's companies have profited from a variety of self-centered pricing strategies i.e. skimming, penetration, customary, etc. Our new digital and global economy has changed all that, so companies that do not directly address one of the three value-for-money behaviors will fail.

As we continue evolving, all buyers will be fully entrenched into one of these behaviors, but on an opportunity by opportunity basis, and not for all of their purchases.

So, if a company is unable to categorize sales opportunities in this fashion, it will not be ready for the different colored light that is visible at the end of the "funnel".