Last week we ended the column with the question: What happens when the customer is not interested in purchasing the product we want to sell to them, or alternatively, what happens if the customer does not have the 'amount' or payment method that we want to collect in exchange for the sale.
And that's basically the million dollar question.
Because, when customers are very interested in purchasing the product I have to offer them, you don't have to be very smart: just offer it - and it's snatched up.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
The problem arises when I have something to offer, and the customer is not interested in what I have to offer.
So what, then, do we do?
I beg and plead, don't lower the price (the foolish thing most sales agents do in such a situation). Lowering the price will not solve the problem, nor will it overcome the customer's reluctance to purchase what you have to offer.
At this point, I would like to address another point that will help illuminate the path to understanding: In my years of consulting, I have met quite a few business owners. Each of them has the "grass on the other side is greener.".
And what do I mean?
A business owner who has only one product for sale, cries and envies his business neighbor, who has an inexhaustible 'arsenal of products'.
""It must be easy for him!" he told me bitterly. "If a customer comes in and isn't interested in product A, he pulls out product B and repeats, God forbid, until the customer purchases something. Whereas with me," the business owner claimed, "with me, if the customer doesn't like/want the product - I have nothing to offer them...""
Strange. But I heard the same claim, just the opposite, from our neighbor.
""What fun for my neighbor across the street," he claimed. "I deal with dozens of products, inventory, catalogs, and even that selection isn't enough for my customers. Whereas my neighbor has one product - and that's it...""
Two reasons to purchase
Which one is right?
none.
Really. None of them are right.
Because customers don't buy if you have one product or a thousand. Customers don't buy if you have expensive or cheap. They also won't buy if you have red or blue, long or short, luxurious or popular.
They will be purchased for one of two main reasons:
Either because they need to or because they were pressured (directly or indirectly).
And that, in fact, is what the two main methods of sales boil down to.
And here it is important to emphasize: each of the methods has advantages and disadvantages. It would take me weeks (and broken fingers from typing) to explain each side - something I do in the sales workshops I teach.
Arousal, the name of the game
And in any case, I will try to explain briefly: there is a way to identify a need in the customer and there is also a way to arouse a need in him for your product.
And you won't be able to do these two things if you lower the price.
Remember our cousins who walk the sidewalks in certain cities in Israel, loaded down with fake sunglasses, glass bottles with a yellowish liquid inside (they call it perfume), or giant kites.
They have an entertaining sales method: they stop by a potential customer and offer him the product.
The customer politely refuses.
They are moving forward with it, offering a discount of 10%.
The customer refuses, still politely.
They continue to move forward with it and offer a massive discount of 50%.
The customer is already quickening his pace - and refuses again.
I, unlike those customers, really enjoy these sales meetings. I deliberately slow down my pace. That's how the price drops to 90% discount and more. Try it.
Please note: Because I have no desire to purchase a Western product on the street (trust, reliability, etc.), lowering the price does not help.
In other words: if I don't need the product, lowering the price won't make me consume it.
Therefore, if a customer refuses to purchase what you are offering - remember: a discount will not solve the problem.
Try to get him to a point where he actually wants/needs your product. And if you don't know how to do that - go learn how to make sales...
Maybe we'll organize an art workshop selling to column readers.
Interested?
Questions, answers, comments and clarifications are welcome at my personal email: [email protected]
Yours as always,
Micah Sholem.
• The writer is the CEO of the consulting firm M&S, which specializes in business consulting, raising credit for businesses, building and improving sales departments, valuations and recovery plans. And he founded the 'School of Business Management - Startup'.
