Discounting.
If there is one persistent bad habit I see with sales teams, it is discounting.
Discounting is one of the worst things you can do as a salesperson or sales manager.
Why?
You teach people how to treat you.
By discounting, you treat people to think about price and not value.
Discounting makes them think about the expense, not the investment and ROI.
Discounting devalues your offering in the customer's mind.
Discounting is dishonest because you tell your prospect that the first price was a lie, a fake, not honest.
Discounting takes money and margin off the table now and for future sales.
When you discount your offering, you position your business as commodity and price-driven and your salespeople as non-value-adding people that are easily ignored.
But wait you say, we discount at the end of the quarter or year to book business and hit quota in whatever arbitrary time-frame your boss picked.
Do you think that makes you look good in your customer's eyes? It trains them to wait for that period to end and then ask for a deal. Dumb.
And for the record, not one of your customers or prospects cares about your quota or your time frame for it. Even mentioning either the quota or the deadline for hitting some number is a sign of a weak salesperson.
Weak because discounting and talking about quota does not add value to the process or the customer.
Discounts are used to move a stalled sale to a decision or position against a competitor.
Discounting is a bad habit that is tough to kick once you get started.
Don't start.
Know your value and communicate it.
Understand the compelling story you have to help the prospect decide to change.
Know the end state they desire and build a pathway to get there working with you.
Price is just an expression of agreed-upon value.
If you can't make the value case, you will be tempted to discount.
Just don't do it!
Topics: Sales
