Quick notes to help you find new business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week.
In this issue:
- Thoughts on Pricing
- Being Human
- Random Stuff
- Back In The Day
Thoughts on Pricing
- Need help answering early direct price questions better? Use ranges and couch price in language like, "I don't know enough about YOUR exact situation to give a quote, and I hate to even give a range because you'll remember the low end and I'll remember the high. . .BUT, if you were to twist my arm I'd say companies looking for the results you want tend to invest between X and Y." Then move on.
- If plans for 2027 include price increases and removing the bottom 15% of customers, prepare your team for the change. The marketing team is perfect for this. Start now.
- Match your language to your customer's stage of the sales cycle. Early stage sounds like "How much is. . ." late stage is more "What's the best price for. . "
- Salespeople don't want to talk money too early because it can kill momentum. It doesn't have to be this way. Teach them to think about early ballpark pricing and late decision negotiation. They're different.
Being Human – Defining
This week's theme: it's dangerous to assume the words we use with our target audience mean the same things to them as they do to us.
It's time to bring back a favorite joke.
A dog went to a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote: "Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof."
The clerk examines the paper and politely tells the dog, "There are only nine words here. You could send another 'Woof' for the same price."
The dog said, "well, then that would make no sense at all."
When it comes to high stakes communication, take the time to define by making a simple statement and follow on question like, "before I make too many assumptions and race off on a tangent, when I say ______, what comes to mind?"
It will help you get more done in less time. Swear.
Random Stuff
Today, as I felt myself getting ready for an afternoon nap, I remembered "newsletter!"
It's been that kind of week. Productive but a little frantic.
Part of the reason for this is I've been helping a startup find some new customers in a new market. It's humbling. I feel like a stranger in a strange land. One of the funny things is seeing how people I need to talk to act on social media. More than few get into beefs on LinkedIn. It makes me feel old. I can't think of anything I am passionate enough about to get in a fight on LinkedIn.
But if I did, it might lead to some great new content.
"I got in a fistfight with a stranger last week. Here's what it taught me about B2B Sales Management. . ."
Back in the Day
What I was thinking about last year, five years ago, and ten years ago.
- Last Year: Right FIT #492 – I was just talking to one of my nephews about sales tactics and told him about my old "list" technique. Useful back when you could say "it's my job to talk to all the people on this list" and show the list to them. Not sure how it works today, but then again, I just talked to a sweepstakes guy. What's old is new or something like that.
- Five Years Ago: Right FIT #283 – Pricing. It must come up a lot because I'm talking about it this week too. (of course it comes up a lot! It's sales, dummy!) Best to have something someone really wants to eliminate price discussions. Even that's not foolproof.
- Ten Years Ago: Right FIT #21 – At twenty weeks in I was already referring to some "long time readers." Little did I know.
