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12 Things Your Buyers Want Other Than Lowest Price
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So here's the scenario. Your biggest client has asked you to quote on a new job. You've spent hours doing your costings, and even more time worrying about whether other suppliers have been asked to quote on the same job. Relax! Not every job is won or lost on price alone. There are countless other reasons people buy, but let's take a look at 12 of the most basic things you can provide to your customers that will encourage them to buy from you, even if your price is higher than your competitors are charging.
1. An Easy, "No-Brainer" RelationshipWhen it's easy to do business with you, your customer's life is easier. If you can provide your prospects and customers with a relationship in which they get what they want, when they need it, on time and in good shape, you'll most likely find it easier to sell to them at full price, rate, or fee.
2. Reliability and DependabilityIt's simple. People like to know that they can rely on you. It is a foolish (and rare) customer who will drop a known provider to save a few cents buying from an unknown source. If you have a solid history of reliability and dependability, you are in the position to remind your customers that they can rely on you when they are considering buying what you sell from one of your competitors.
3. PredictabilityCustomers not only like reliability, they like predictability. Most people who study behavior know this - what someone has done in the past likely indicates what they'll do in the future. So if all of your actions and behaviors have been consistently professional and your sales are always handled effectively and efficiently, your customers will be able to say you are "predictable" based on your past relationship and reputation.
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4. Reaction to Their Needs"You don't understand: Our business is different from those other guys'," is a very common comment I hear from our prospects. Most people like to think of themselves as being a little bit different from everyone else; and, to some degree, they are right. If you can find ways to acknowledge your customer's uniqueness, and be flexible and responsive to their specialised needs, you will almost always earn a purchase order, even if your price is higher than your competitors.
5. Short Delivery TimesEven those prospects and customers who do not say they need "just-in-time" delivery still like short delivery times; that is true no matter what the product is. Everybody wants it yesterday, and if you can provide it sooner than your competitor, you can charge a higher price for it. In fact, this is one of the best ways to sell at premium prices.
6. A Quality RangeYou stand a much better chance of building a valuable, long-term relationship with your customers if you can provide a wide range of quality products. Your customers are hoping to buy from a single supplier, so they want to know that you have everything they require. And, your understanding of the things you're selling will normally get you the deal.
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7. Knowledge, Competence, and Follow-UpWe all like to know that we're in good hands. Salespeople who are serious about following up on orders, making sure that everything's right, and are thorough in processing, expediting requests and being available after the sale is made find that these activities give them an opportunity to sell at a premium price…and the opportunity to make more sales to their existing accounts.
8. Your Willingness to "Go to Bat" for the Customer When Problems Arise All customers like to have somebody on their side. Your customers will appreciate - and likely pay a premium price for - genuine help if and when any kind of problem arises. Your customers should be able to expect you to fight for them, if it is necessary. You can win customers for life when you are willing to help them in crisis situations.
9. Salespeople Who Know Their Product Line Your customers expect you to know a lot about what you're selling. If you do, they will believe that you can assist them in making the best choice in buying what it is that they want or expect to buy from you. If you don't know your own product line, you're not going to be very convincing to a customer as to why he/she should buy from you - particularly at a premium price.
10. Ease of Interpretation of Your Price Lists and/or Quotes If you can point out to your prospect exactly what the price is in simple, understandable terms, you're more apt to get the order. It's this simple: A confused prospect buys nothing! If prospects have to sort through a lot of paperwork, or ask you a million questions to ascertain the real (or total) price, they're apt to give their business to your competitor, who gives them a simple, quick, clean and easy-to-understand quotation.
11. Early Notice of Shipment or Product Problems If you ever see that delivery or product problems are coming up, let your customers know about them as far in advance as possible, and let them know up front how you are going to help them get through the difficulty. If there's nothing you can do to help them, you've got to give your customers the opportunity to find some other source of the product or materials so that your delay doesn't cause THEM a delay. Of course, it's hard to maintain customers when you force them to look for other sources…but it's probably impossible to retain them when you give them too many nasty surprises.
12. Advance Warning of Discontinuance of Items Again, people don't like surprises. If you are going to discontinue a product or service that your customer has been using, they'd like to know in ample time to cover their own needs. Your prospects are realistic enough - and smart enough - to know that they are, in the final analysis, going to get what they pay for. They know that if they buy from your lower-priced competitor, they will probably be setting themselves up for problems, some of which ultimately will be intolerable. So you should never compete on low price. Instead, you must concentrate all of your efforts on providing your customers with what they want and need - when they want it - and on charging them a premium price for it.
If you would like some more information on the ways that we think we can help you make your business more profitable, call Graham on 011 444 1937 or email us on
graham@theweavers.co.za
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