Winning Deals

[Video] 4 Tips to Avoid Pure Price Competition


The moment Karen walked into my office, I knew something was wrong. "I might as well be selling wastebaskets," she said. "No matter how much I try, customers just don't care about the differences between our system and the others. It's just pure price competition.”

Sound familiar? It’s happening everywhere. And, to make matters even more challenging, today’s customers have done tons of research online and think they know what’s going on.

Here are 4 tips to help you overcome price competition in sales.

1. Realize they don't know everything. First of all, you need to realize that even though they’ve done all this research, they’re often newbies at making this kind of decision. That means they may have overlooked some key considerations. Or, their self-diagnosis could lead to unforeseen consequences. Or, they could even be solving a symptom and overlooking the root cause.

2. Disrupt their thinking. Your job – if you want to change the game – is to disrupt their line of thinking. And you can’t do it by quoting a price. Instead, you need to bring your personal expertise to the conversation and focus on helping them make the right decision.

3. Be consultative. Ask them questions that start with, “Have you thought about what would happen if…” or “I don’t see XXX listed on your requirements. Is there a reason it’s not there?” This will pique their curiosity – and they’ll start to see you in a new light.

4. Share a story. Another thing you can do is share a story about one of your customers who spent tons of money on a solution only to find out that led to issues in other areas. Or, they bought something that didn’t address the real cause of their problems.

Don’t be afraid to insert yourself into these decisions. You’ll be helping your customer get what they really want. And, you’ll avoid pure price competition.

price competition

After a successful career in the sales world, writing five books, and speaking internationally, Jill is now tackling an even bigger challenge. She's focused on bringing the "millions in the middle" together to solve some of the biggest issues facing our country and the world. Jill truly believes so much more is possible if we can work together.