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| A Note from the Editor |
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| Friendly Grrrs from SalesDog |
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This week we bring you Lee Salz to tell
you about a little-known test professional buyers give
to salespeople. How you perform determines whether you
get the business. But don't worry, Lee will show you how
to pass with flying colors.
Can LinkedIn increase your sales? If you're like
most business folk, you probably created your profile,
added your contact list and wondered - now what? If so,
you need Jill Konrath's free e-book outlining ways real
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Worth listening to. He's the Big Kahuna of the
sales training industry so when Jeffrey Gitomer speaks,
people listen. Here's what he recently told his readers
about Top Dog Sales Secrets: "This book contains
just what you're looking for - expertise and answers that
will increase your knowledge and increase your income.
I urge you to buy the book, read the book, study the book,
and put the secrets into action." Wow, we couldn't
have said it better ourselves. When you grab your copy
now, you'll also get $3,000 worth of bonus sales tools
including Jeffrey's Little e-Book of Closing. Learn
more here. |
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| To your success, |
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Tina LoSasso
Managing Editor, SalesDog.com |
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Will You Pass the Flinch Test?
By Lee B. Salz
Many professional buyers have a test they like to give to salespeople.
Fail and you don't stand a chance of winning their business. Lee Salz
shows you how to pass with high marks.
After a lengthy buying process, the time has come to submit pricing.
You've spent countless hours formulating a glorious proposal that
details your comprehensive solution. Proud of your accomplishment,
you present the proposal to the buyer. Skipping the sections about
your company and your solution, she flips right to the pricing page
and says, "Oh my gosh, I didn't think it would be this expensive!"
You've just been given the "flinch test." This is the test
Procurement Agents and other professional buyers give to salespeople
when they provide pricing. "Wow! You are 25% higher than your
competition." These pros are trained to react with surprise so
that they can see if you are confident in your price. The flinch test
is nothing more than a straightforward negotiation tactic. Often times,
they'll overstate the price difference such that you can do some quick
math and see that the differential is bogus.
I can recall a time where I was told that we were 50% higher than
the competition. When I reviewed the numbers, this meant that the
competitor was losing 18% based on fixed costs that we both had. It
was highly unlikely that the competitor was signing up for this kind
of an account. When I asked the Procurement Agent about that figure
again, he flinched and we ultimately won the business.
How to pass the test
The key to passing the flinch test is to respond with confidence in
your price. If you don't believe you are providing a fair, competitive
price for the solution, my question is why are you presenting it?
One would hope that you have integrity, so why present something you
don't believe in?
Here are some responses that will cause you to fail the flinch test:
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| • What price were you looking for? |
| • I'll ask my manager if we can do better. |
| • How about if I take 10% off? |
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The reason these responses fail is that they create trust issues with
the prospect. Were you trying to rip them off with the price you presented?
One of two things is true. Either you were trying to rip them off
or you believe you provided a fair price. What other option is there?
Some will say that they were preparing for a negotiation. That's a
fair point; however, it is a terrible negotiation strategy to give
the appearance that you will drop your price the first moment someone
balks. That approach gives the impression that you sought to gouge
them.
Most negotiations end at the middle ground. They wanted 5; you wanted
10 and settled at 7.5. That seems logical. However, if you lower your
price early, the middle ground is lower. In the same scenario, if
you dropped to 8 right off the bat, the middle becomes 6.5. As I mentioned,
you have to manage the negotiation such that the middle is not lower
than an acceptable price for your company.
Successful salespeople have a planned, or dare I say "canned,"
response for the flinch test. They don't expect a prospect to respond
with excitement about a price. They anticipate shock and have a process
to handle it. Here are their secrets:
Set expectations upfront
Early in the buying process, set the expectation that you are not
the low price provider. "To be clear, our company is rarely the
low bid, does that mean that we won't be working together on this
project?" If they say no, you are set for the later phases of
the process. If they say yes, at least you haven't invested a ton
of time in an account that you won't win. If you are going to lose,
lose early.
Don't flinch
Instead, say something like, "I'm not surprised by your reaction.
I get that a lot. As I mentioned at the outset, we are rarely the
low bidder."
Seek to understand
Seek first to understand. Do so by asking, "When you say that
you are shocked by the price, which part is surprising?
Reinforce your position
Reinforce your position by saying something like, "Since we are
rarely the low price provider, what do you think our 1000 clients
see that leads them to pay a little more to have us?"
Many years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in Procurement
Training. (Think of it as sales training for buyers.) After the session,
I had an interesting conversation with the trainer. Here's what he
told me…
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| "For 25 years, salespeople have asked me for coaching
on the price of their proposal as I was the head of Procurement
for my company. I told each one of them the same thing. Provide
us with the best price that you feel good about giving and either
way, you win. I always got a puzzled expression from that. Let
me explain. If we award the business to you at that price, you're
happy. If we award the business to someone else at a lower price,
you are happy as well because you wouldn't have been happy to
support the account at that price point." |
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To share a little secret, I use the flinch test all the time when
I buy. It's amazing how quickly salespeople drop their drawers on
price. I bet I've saved my family 20% across the board for all of
our spending just with that test. It's no wonder that professional
buyers use this. I often wonder how many commission dollars are lost
just because the salespeople flinch. How may commission dollars have
you lost because you flinched?
Lee B. Salz is the CEO of Business
Expert Webinars, President of Sales
Dodo, and author of "Soar
Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager." Known as "The Sales
Dodo," Lee specializes in helping companies and their sales organizations
adapt and thrive in the ever-changing world of business. Lee can be
reached via email at LSalz@SalesDodo.com,
or by phone at 763.416.4321.
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| Praise for Top Dog Sales
Secrets |
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"One of these top dog secrets can earn you a fortune."
– Jeffrey Gitomer
"It's like reading the best ideas from 50 sales books
all in one book."
– Michelle Nichols, Savvy Selling International
"I HIGHLY recommend it for the inspiration AND the skills
that one will learn or ‘re-learn.' It is easy to read,
entertaining, and very broad in topic selection."
– Lori Richardson, Score More Sales
Order
your copy of the book today to learn an effective
strategy that will help you take back control of the sale. |
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