Selling Consulting at Better Prices

Selling consulting services at the best prices can be especially difficult when the economy is struggling the way ours is today. All business owners and managers are more concerned with reducing their costs than they are with improving performance. In these circumstances buying in consulting services is a question of saving money, and buyers trying to save money can be very hard to persuade to pay the best prices.

Even the hardened professional sales people will have trouble with price in today’s environment. Most consultants will find protecting their fees much harder. After all they’re experts in their field, but not usually experts in negotiating the best prices.

Achieving the best prices possible can make the difference when it comes to surviving the recession. Lifting a sales price by 10% in most businesses doubles the net profit. Selling at higher prices is the fastest and easiest way to improve a businesses bottom line. Every business owner should train his sales team in tactics for selling the best prices, even if that means lower volume.

That sounds as if it’s much easier to say than do, of course. That’s why we’ve written some articles specifically intended to help consultants sell their services at the best prices possible.

Here’s a summary of those articles.

Learn to Love Your Price

“If we don’t use it to influence the customer, he’ll use to control us. If it is going to be another tool, and a powerful one, in our bag we should learn to use it well and grow to love the options it gives us. Pricing is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife in the sales guy’s kit bag. We can do so many things, with a little imagination.”

What is the Right Price

“But the real “right price” is the maximum the customer will pay, and that’s the “emotional limit”. Sales guys who understand about price are much better placed to make deals happen, and usually make more money for themselves and their employers. They don’t need to fight everybody. They just need to be able to explain. They need to lead their business and the customer into a deal which works for everybody.”

Professionals Never Sell on Price

“Think about the way you buy stuff. What are your priorities, how do you choose, how many times do you pay more than the minimum? Why do you buy the way you do? The only time I buy on price alone is when it’s something I have no interest in. When it comes to stuff I care about, it’s value that drives my choice. How do I define that value? That’s a very good question.”

Where’s the Money

“Customers paying for the sale is the ultimate objective of what we do. The sale isn’t truly closed until the customer pays the bill, and in my book also buys the lunch. So knowing how the customer intends to pay is critical for qualifying the sale. But asking how the customer will be paying for the sale can be difficult, especially for sales guys under pressure to close the deal. “OK, but have you got the money to pay for what I’m selling?” That’s a tough question to ask when the prospect has invited us to present a solution.”

10 Tactics for Selling at Higher Prices

“Think about this for a heartbeat – lifting a sales price by 10% in most businesses doubles the net profit. Selling at higher prices is the fastest and easiest way to improve a businesses bottom line. Every business owner should train his sales team in tactics for selling higher prices, even if that means lower volume.”