HARDISON’S TIPS – Losing a Sale is Never, Ever about Price Alone
There are many reasons why a customer will choose not to buy from you: product performance,
poor past track record, credibility issues, an inability to create the right solution, or any
combination of these.
If price was the main reason for losing a sale, it would be a lot easier to win by simply dropping it.
The reality is, there are solutions customers will pay a premium for. Ultimately, customers decide
to buy from you because they believe you brought to the table something that has value to them
and cannot be obtained elsewhere.
Learn Why You Lost
The only way you will know the real reason is to ask. Understanding why you lost represents a
great opportunity to improve your future performance, especially considering that so many
sales consultants do not conduct this follow through activity.
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In our annual research of sales best practices, we at Jim Ellis Automotive Group there is barely a quarter of respondents agreed with the statement.
“Win or lose, we get accurate feedback on all proposals from our guests, clients and customers.”
Analyzing the key factors of a winning account has value, but knowing why you lost an account
can help you avoid the same mistakes, increasing your success rate.
From Excuse to Action
Here are three common rejection responses you’ve probably already heard and what they really
mean. “Our budget was cut at the last minute.” You may not have reached the right level of decision maker to insulate your sale from this outcome. A higher level decision maker may have been able to reserve a budget if your proposed solution is critical enough to their business issues
.”We didn’t need all the features included in your solution; it was too expensive for what we need.” Better evaluating the needs of the customer can help you focus on the elements of your solution that they consider most valuable. Identifying features that have no value to them may allow you to eliminate items that inflate the perceived wasted cost.
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“Your solution doesn’t give us everything we need to accomplish our objectives.” In this case, you may have actually had the lowest price, but because you did not offer a solution that fits what the client is trying to accomplish, you were not selected as the best option.
Improve Your Results
The knowledge you can gain from understanding the sometimes veiled reason why the client did
not choose your solution provides can actually bolster your credibility, showing genuine interest in
why your solution was not selected and how you can better understand the clients needs.
Believing you are losing because of price negatively impacts your chances to affect your future
performance. Become more proactive at developing your skills by identifying and acknowledging
the real reasons behind lost sales and take action to improve your results.
Make It A Champion Day!
“SALES TRAINING MATTERS”
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