More than ever, in tough times like these, it is possible to avoid being caught in the trap of believing that you can, even sell cheaply and make your profit in volume, if you can! how often it happens, that we open our negotiations with very low prices, without previously investigating the actual purchase volumes, and we go home with a poor sale at a low price; for mistakenly assuming that price is the only and most powerful negotiation weapon that we have, sadly sometimes the only one.
Experience and results show us that successful organizations are those that handle "premium" lines, products and prices. But to sell at "premium" prices and displace these products, the entire Organization will have to commit to building a value offer in all those needs that its customers have, before offering a low price.
There are many sellers stressed by their quotas, income and competition who succumb to pressure from the buyer to lower their prices, and this is so because they never took the time before to analyze what the customer really needs or wants, against what he says he needs or thinks he wants.
Buyers don't need a low price. That is what your customers are going to tell you, that is even what they may be fully convinced of, and of course like the Sellers, they may be receiving strong pressure from their own bosses to always try to get a lower price. But the truth is, buyers need a lot more than just a low price.
Being very practical, if they really need a low price, it would be better if you do not get the order, because it is very likely that they will not be in a position to pay it. Let's take a look at some of the things that customers really need:
1. They seek and need more providers
Today, Buyers know that a single supplier of any material in their tangible and intangible supply chain is very dangerous. In a globalized world where there are hundreds of potential suppliers just one key away regardless of their geographic location, having a single supplier makes little sense. Any environmental contingency, a system crash, or even a strike can cause an exclusive supplier to be unable to ship orders on time.
Savvy, seasoned buyers quickly learn that having a single supplier is too risky. This means being at the mercy of a supplier who modifies their prices and conditions, and still keeps their sale. Smart buyers usually know from previous experiences that by accepting a lower offer they are vulnerable to any useless person who writes a small number on a piece of paper, takes the sale, and then fails to meet a single of the agreed requirements. in quantities, times, specifications or even quality of materials and finishes.
Today, there are Companies with Procurement Councils, where the Procurement Team Leader asks his team for at least three quotes with all the information that the supplier can provide as support for his proposal, so if you are thinking of doing a quote letter, better spend a little more time and stay with the concept: Proposal.
2. They need to be delivered on time
More than anything else, customers need on-time delivery security. And this is true, whether it is heavy equipment, small assembly parts, consulting services, outsourcing, consumer goods or information technology.
If you can deliver order after order on time, you do not need to sell at the lowest price. If you are not in a position to guarantee deliveries on time, forget not only about asking for a higher price - and with the possible exception of very short-term deliveries in small volumes - forget about even selling even at the lowest price; no Buyer needs a good product that doesn't arrive just in time; You may deceive your client with the first deliveries, if you are not able to sustain a systematic rhythm of Delivery Guarantee on time order by order, sooner or later you will lose not only the account, but the trust of your client and like wildfire, its reputation in the market.
3. They need advice and advice - professional and unconditional - for complex purchases
Here lies a real opportunity to sell, convince and seduce. People who make diverse, multiple or complex purchases are usually not as knowledgeable or develop great technical knowledge about everything they have to buy. If you, as a salesperson, see yourself as a "Consultant Advisor" to a concerned customer, you can gain a huge advantage over your competitors.
Unfortunately many sellers still mistakenly believe that selling is telling jokes, gossip, being talkative, friendly and finding out what price is acceptable to the buyer, to avoid further complications by bidding at that price.
There is only serious, professional and strategic work when time is invested in the task of collecting, analyzing, digesting and providing condensed information to your customers, both to your first contact customers and to all those directly and indirectly involved in purchasing decisions.; Providing that substantial additional dose of valuable technical knowledge and high-quality service only translates into long-term customer loyalty and respect.
Obviously, you cannot expect a customer to buy from you solely out of loyalty or to reward your many varied efforts; but recognize that if you are more than a representative of your products or services; Helpful, experienced and knowledgeable, you will always have insider access to your customers' ears. This gives you the opportunity to present at the forefront and attentively the reasons why they would have to pay you a higher price; Knowing first-hand the specific objections to your proposal instead of trying to guess them is a powerful weapon that also provides you with valuable additional tools for development, initiative and innovation in every way.
Be an impartial Professional Advisor to your client, show them that you are interested in their needs and are willing to know them in depth before making a superficial judgment, self-criticism is always recognized by your clients.
4. They must have exactly what they bought - Quantity, quality, term
Customers need to have exactly what they asked for, no more, no less. They need to have it available, in quantity, quality, in the right place and time, so as not to have problems; Keep in mind that tight Purchasing budgets correspond to tight margin processing, production and travel schedules and that no Buyer will be satisfied whether there are shortages or surpluses causing space, logistics and financial problems.
This is a critical point to highlight, once again, the critical importance of the ability to provide your products or services to your customers in a timely manner, under the conditions that you and your Company have committed to.
No buyer welcomes any seller who has caused him problems with open arms, think about the number of suppliers of your most important client, now multiply that number of suppliers by the minimum number of potential or current problems that are caused daily by this circumstance, consider that it is better not to be in the mind of your client as a generator of problems, you solve them for him!
5. They need to minimize their inventory costs
Your customer will need to have a "just-in-time" inventory at the promised time, while not having too much stock in their warehouse; think about the implications of this need if you supply more than one material to your client, it is evident that not all are consumed at the same speed or in the same volumes.
This is a delicate requirement, and if your customer can trust that you can deliver on time, they have a solid advantage over their competition. Any intelligent operation of any type needs to minimize its inventory costs by any possible means that does not affect, on the one hand, the integrity of its operation, operating costs and in turn, the satisfaction of its own customers.
But you have to understand the vital message here; All this continuing trend towards just-in-time delivery indicates the importance of only one thing: delivery times, which have nothing to do with the negotiated price.
Your customers will tell you they want a low price, but will dismiss you as a supplier if you fail to deliver; be creative, what your client needs is that you keep his materials in stock, not him; Saving this cost for your customer has a price, be objective when setting it.
6. They need technologically updated providers with financial solvency.
What thoughts go through your mind when you are the client and you have to decide between two options, one of the auction price per closing and the other of a higher price? Do you think about the differences in warranty, after-service service? sale, added value, additional benefits for your purchase ?; Can the lowest priced supplier offer you all this as opposed to a higher priced supplier? The same is true for your customers: they may be tempted to buy from the cheapest supplier, but they cannot risk buying from you if you are in danger of closing or maintaining a precarious financial position that prevents you from keeping your commitments.
You are faced with smart, well-trained Buyers today who learn early that the Companies they buy from must have made significant investments over time to have the latest technology and to remain financially sound. Otherwise, you will not be able to deliver quality products, nor at the agreed times and prices.
If buyers don't know this, they will get into serious trouble when they realize they don't have the products or services they needed. Every savvy shopper is more concerned with the ability of their suppliers to deliver in the broadest sense than with their low prices. They also worry about knowing if you are going to continue to be in the scene for a long time; Keep in mind that some Buyers consider it a sign of status and reputation to get certain highly specialized suppliers to consider them on their customer list, and it is not the low price that motivates the Buyer's search at this level of supply.
It is also essential to emphasize that in all markets there are the type of clients to which all Sellers aspire to close orders; The negotiations undoubtedly assume an entirely different level of scope when it comes to specialized requirements for materials, quality and specifications; They also carry the advantage of long-term contractual commitments, assured and predictable purchase volumes, permanent interaction of your client's internal areas in their internal manufacturing processes and, quite possibly, long-term credits; even under these conditions, the low price is by no means the decisive factor in the sale.
7. They need kindness, speed, and quick action to process orders, answer questions, and solve any problems related to their requirements.
It's amazing how many salespeople don't really want to talk to their customers, especially once they've placed the order. The customer who knows they can count on you to provide answers will continue to buy from you.
Delivery weighs heavily on your ability to sell at a high price. The good news is, if you raise your price, you can probably eliminate your delivery problems, improve your margins, increase your profitability, and provide higher commissions, even if your competitors are priced lower than yours.
The reason low-priced suppliers have trouble delivering is that to sell low, they have to lower their costs on everything else they do.
The volume that can be sold thanks to low prices usually results in an inability to produce enough products (this also applies to services) on time.
The first thing that happens is that these suppliers start to miss delivery times. Then, to "rush" deliveries, quality starts to suffer. With the impoverishment of the quality of the product, the complaints of the clients begin to increase, and then the service goes to hell.
Planning sales volumes for good quality products with on-time delivery means that you can sell at a higher price than your competitors.
Now, do a small introspection exercise with me in the organization so that the one that provides its services as a Commercial Representative, does all the internal personnel of the Company who receive the order know with certainty the importance of the client from whom they are taking the order?
How many countless times do Sellers complain about the time and effort that it has taken to close negotiations with new clients, maintain the purchases of clients continually besieged by competition, solve even the simplest concerns of long-term clients; and all this monumental work goes to hell just because the internal staff of the Company do not meet these customers face to face, and there are no criteria of discernment to solve with kindness, promptness, assertiveness and quality each issue related to the sale, and we are victims of apathy, negligence, lateness and lack of commitment of poorly trained and less committed personnel.
8. They need and demand to be attended by Trained Personnel
However, it will be necessary that as a complementary measure, your Commercial Team is subject to permanent training sessions, exchange of experiences and that they assume as their own the discipline of knowledge of their market, this will be the guideline that allows them to know well in advance the movements future, why they occur, in what position will my products be and what movements should occur in the structure of the organization to adapt to this dynamic.
It is very important to highlight the role of the Commercial Team as a censoring agent that provides timely, truthful and concrete feedback with the necessary information that allows your Company to anticipate and reinvent itself, the markets today cannot support stagnant, heavy or slow structures; even less when we consider the growing competition, local, regional and international among the market variants.
As usual, the last reflection on this contribution remains with you, and it will be very interesting to know your points of view, your results and any feedback that allows us to continue growing through the diversity of efforts, results and approaches on the same topic.
See you soon!
