Remove Prospects' Fears and Maintain Profitable Pricing
By: T.J. Tedesco
For: The Binding Edge
Published: May, 2003

If I asked you to tell me what you sell to your customers - and what you offer to your prospects - what would you say? Most likely, your answer would be something like "postpress services" or "binding and finishing solutions". But is that what you really sell? Or, more accurately, is that what your customers are really buying from you? Prospects and customers can go anywhere to buy "just" post press services. If that's all you're offering, then you're not giving them a real reason to buy from you instead of your competition. And, when they do buy from you, they'll have no reason to pay a premium for it.

"Your Price Is Too High!"
Wouldn't we all like a nickel for every time we've heard this one? Admittedly, pricing pressures are more extreme today than in the past. That doesn't mean there aren't ways to differentiate your business and command a premium for what you do. Let's digress ... Take a look at the clothes you're wearing. Are you wearing the cheapest shirt you could find? What about your shoes or your belt? Probably not. How about your wallet, car, or anything else you see? Was it the cheapest functional product available at the time of purchase? Again, probably not, and with good reason: Your appearance was worth more than saving a few pennies.

The same is true for the people you do business with. Fear of making a bad buying decision is a huge motivator, especially when print jobs - and people's jobs - are on the line. That's why it's in your best interests to be the safe choice - the one that makes the people you do business with look good. Then, pricing objections will melt a bit and you will sell more ... at better prices.

You'll only get that opportunity, however, if you can sell more than just the basics. Here are a few "virtual products" that your customers and prospects will gladly pay a premium for:

Convenience: When a prospect considers doing business with you, the first thing that pops in their head may be, "What's in it for me?" Your prospects want the comfort of not having to worry about their project when it's in your hands. That convenience frees up their time to do the things they do best. When you sell the convenience of making your prospects' lives easier, you'll find plenty of willing buyers.

Safety: This is important enough to state again. Every day, your prospects encounter fear in their business lives: Fear of blown deadlines, fear of dealing with vendors and customers, fear of losing a job... the list goes on. Discover your prospect's fear and position yourself (and your company) to remove some of that fear. Your prospects will have no fear doing business with you when you're the safe choice.

Peace of mind: When you sell convenience and safety to your prospects, you're making promises to them. Now, it's up to you to deliver! Kept promises are the peace of mind your prospects simply can't put a price on. In this industry, the key to success is the ability to forge and maintain long-lasting business relationships. Companies that continually prove their value by keeping their promises will have a roster of happy clients that see no reason to do business with anyone else.

Remove pain, remove price objections
As I stated earlier, the one thing all of these "virtual products" have in common is that they remove fear for prospects and customers. Once those fears are removed, you have a much better chance of getting that prospect's business at the price you want. Fear is just one example of the "pain" your prospects harbor toward their current providers - that's how you have the opportunity to win their business in the first place. But exactly how do you discover that pain - especially when it's different for each prospect?

Price objections are a reality in our industry. However, prospects base purchasing decisions on emotion rather than dollars - no matter how competitive the market is pricing-wise. Overcoming price objections can be much easier if you're able to learn your prospect's pain. That allows you to build a solution that removes it by selling the "virtual products" each prospect is clamoring for. After all, a lower price means very little if deadlines aren't met, promises aren't kept and customers aren't comfortable. Here are a few tips to help you uncover pain in your prospects:

Ask the right questions: It's rare that a prospect will actually come out and tell you exactly what their pain is, much less how to relieve it. You must ask the questions that get them to share that pain. "What happened the last time your current provider missed a deadline?", or "When a project is at your printer, how do you know its production is on schedule?" are a good place to start.

Once you have your prospect sharing their pain, uncover as much of it as possible. Questions like, "How did that make you feel?", "What did you do about that?" or "How many times has this happened?" get your prospect to share all the nitty-gritty details of what's causing their pain. Without knowing it, they've now provided you all information you need to treat the pain and win their business.

Feed off the emotion: While you're asking the prospect questions that bring out their pain, be sure to match their level of emotion. Nothing will end the pain-finding - and the opportunity to make a sale - faster than if you're disengaged from your prospect's emotion. Maintaining eye contact, lowering your tone of voice and leaning towards the prospect are all signs of engagement and interest.

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When pricing pressure is at its strongest, the ability to effectively handle price objections will help you win more business and maintain profits. The best way to handle price objections is to take the focus away from price, and place it on the things you sell that don't have anything to do with the price on the bid.

T.J. Tedesco is a “hands-on” marketing, sales, coaching and training consultant to the post press industry. He is the author of Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word, and Win Top-of-Mind Positioning, both published by GATFPress and available at Amazon.com. T.J. can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com.