Stop Dropping Your Price! High Ticket Sales Without Discounting
Prefer To Watch: Here’s The Video
Summary
Learn why discounting kills your commission and how to avoid it
Master closing techniques that replace price drops with control
Build stronger value in your presentation so price isn’t the issue
Close with confidence by holding your ground and eliminating desperation
Why Discounting Is Giving Yourself a Pay Cut
Would you ever volunteer to give yourself a paycut? Especially if the job was a hard as commission based home improvement sales job where you drove hundreds of miles a week and worked morning to night?
Well that’s what you do every time you discount the price in your close. Especially if you are doing a one call close. Look at discounting for what it really is you are opening your wallet and handing money to the customer every time you discount.
Most reps discount for one reason — they don’t know what to do next.
Here are three things I have learned after personally being in over 16,000 homes that will help you avoid giving your hard earned money away by discounting. Please listen to the end to hear all three to make sure that you get every penny you deserve.
Mistake #1: Discounting Instead of Learning to Close
The first way and it may seem obvious is to learn to one call close the right way. If you’re idea of closing is that whenever they give you an objection or don’t say yes immediately is to drop or discount the price then you really don’t know how to close.
Even if they say it’s too much money the cure isn’t always to drop the price. When closing understand that “too much money” may not have anything to do with they don’t want to spend that much or don’t think it’s worth it but that they can’t afford it. If you try to sell someone a diamond ring worth $5000 for $1000 and they say it’s too much money dropping the price may be silly. That’s because “too much money” doesn’t mean that they don’t think it’s worth it but that they just can’t afford it.
You just need to work out a payment plan that they can afford. Affordability means working payments and most salespeople have different ways to lower the payment without dropping the price. Getting a bigger deposit, offering alternate financing plans or in the worst case changing the product or phasing the job down. 4 windows sold at full commission is better than selling 10 windows at no commission.
Build Value Instead of Dropping Price
However if the issue really is that they don’t want to spend that much or can’t see the value instead of dropping the price how about you learn to build the value in the close. People buy when the value exceeds the price of what they are spending.
When they don’t it’s because the price looks like this and then the value looks like this. To close the gap don’t lower the price. Learn to build the value in the close. For example:
“So we’re at $20,000 you say that you don’t think the windows are worth more than $15000 to you. ..yes.. Do you mind if I share something else that I can leave with you and you can think about?” yeah that's fine ron…… “well you told me earlier that you were paying about $250 a month on your gas and electric what do you think the least amount that these windows would save you on your fuel bills from what I've shown you?” Oh.. I don't know $60.00 a month “OK well $60.00 a month comes out to $720 a year and if you're gonna be here for 10 years like you said that's $7200 in energy savings that you're gonna have.
So if I add in the energy savings the $20,000 job isn't really $20,000 it's more like about $12,800. I mean if I told you these windows would really cost you $12,800 what would you have said?” well I would have done it..”well that's what I'm telling you right now.”
Or learn not to discount by handling things people tell you in the close that a weaker salesperson would immediately drop the price on. For example you deliver a price of $20,000 and instantly the customer says “I could get that for $17,000!” Good place to offer a discount right? Wrong.
My response would be $17000 why so much you could probably get that for half that amount. Then when the customer looks confused and says “what”. I say yes there is nothing somebody can’t sell that someone else can sell for less using cheaper materials and labor. Is that what you want?” No I don’t Ron. Well what we have cost $20,000 smile and be quiet again.
Mistake #2: Weak Sales Presentation Creates Discounting
The second way to avoid having to discount is to learn how to have a better sales presentation. One that builds the value of your product so you aren’t stuck having to drop the price in the close because they don’t think it’s worth or want to spend what you are charging.
Ideally the discount is not use to lower the price to match the value you have created for your product. They should already think it’s worth the price you are charging. It should just be used to create urgency by them getting a deal. Value is created before the close in your sales presentation.
You need to learn to build value by understanding how to price condition them effectively, so they see the value in what you are selling. Also you can handle the money/discount issues by learning how to sell your product so that they want it more. Not want it but lust for it.
How to Make Customers Want It More
The more someone wants something the less money is an issue and the less they want something then more the money is an issue. We have all bought things that we may have thought was a little overpriced or was stretching our budget and maybe really shouldn’t be buying it right now but we did anyway. Why because we had to have it. That’s what great sales people learn to do. Even if the customer may only have a spark of interest to start with they learn to fan that spark to a fire of white hot desire. Sales in it’s basic sense is learning how to make somebody want something. Learn how to do it well and it won’t matter how much it cost and you therefore you won’t have to discount as much.
Mistake #3: Acting Desperate in the Close
The third way to help you avoid giving your money away with discounts is to be strong and not be so desperate. In other words learn to hold your price.
Don’t be the rep where when the customer hesitates even for a second in the close that you drop the price. “I don’t know Ron we may have to think about it” Well what if we took another $1000 off. Wrong. Listen to what they are saying “we may have to think about it” they are not saying no here it’s like they are thinking out loud. The best response would just to be silent or just say no problem and be quiet again.
So instead it sounds like this “I don’t know Ron we may have to think about it “ No problem…………………………………….. “but you know what we have been saying we need to get this done and it does seem like a fair price maybe we should just do it ”. “Okay who fills out the credit app?”
Hold Your Price With Confidence
Or when you hear the question that let’s you know you are close to the sale but often times a weaker salesperson starts to drop the price. “Is this your best price?” “ No…what do you want to take off. “Can you do it cheaper?’ yes what did you want me to take off?! The response and strategy are similar. Hold your ground. Don’t be afraid to let them say no. In fact my strategy in the close is I wait for them to say no before I move back in again to make sure that they aren’t just thinking out aloud or just reacting here.
If you back off in the close the worst that could happen is they really could say no or I have to think about it and do you have a card. Then you can go through your normal closing steps but by discounting so soon you may have wasted a bullet you didn’t need to use. You can’t seem too desperate and dropping the price wrong sounds desperate.
Closing Is Like a Seduction
You’ve heard me say many times that sales is like a seduction. The close is almost like the difference between how you would act if you liked someone and didn’t know if he or she liked you are not. When you don’t know if they like you the worst thing you could do is to be desperate or begging.
“I don’t know if I can see you this Saturday Ron?” Well why not or what if I took you to a really nice place? (Discount)Now how would you act if their best friend secretly told you they were in love with you. You would be cool and if they said “I don’t know if I could make it this Saturday your response would be more like “no problem”.
We get so caught up in closing that sometimes we forget that they want it just as much as you want to make the sale if you’ve done your job correctly. The analogy is that after I am done with my sales presentation. I know they want it and it gives me strength to deal with it differently in the close. I know they love me. 😊
Final Thoughts on Selling Without Discounting
If you liked this article and want to learn more about making them want it check out this post on How to Sell With Emotions video next—because that’s where you make them want it before price ever comes up. And if you want the complete step-by-step system, check out my training The Art of Selling Home Improvements.
It’s backed by a double-your-money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk to you.
Happy Selling
