Selling a More Expensive Product

by Michele Beto
(Clarksburg, WV)

How to sell against your competitor with much cheaper prices they are offering.

Answer

Hi Michele,

since your competitor's offering is much cheaper my first question is what's the difference between the two offerings ? Until you know and appreciate that difference and the positive benefit for your prospect it's going to be hard for you to have the right attitude to sell.

It isn't always about price, of course. The cheapest cars on the market here at the moment are some commercial vehicles from China and India but they are not selling very well. One of the more expensive commercial vehicles are the Toyotas but they are the biggest seller. Maybe an issue of reputation or brand or knowing there will be backup with the more expensive product ?

Sometimes it's about availability. Have you ever bought an item because it was in stock at the time whereas the cheaper item was not ?

I once shifted a big multinational from buying a cheap product from Asia into buying a significantly more expensive product from out of Europe. The clincher in the deal was that I offered consignment stock, which is to say the buyer only paid for what they used each month. Of course, a deal like that requires a long term commitment to make it work which meant I had a 12 month order from them to start off the deal (keeping the cheaper opposition at bay for at least 9 months). The business actually ran for many years until the multinational stopped making that product in Australia.

Customers are not just after cheap prices, they are looking for good value. Sometimes they can even be looking for image. Why are iPods and iPhones selling so well ?.

Look for the advantages in what you offer and then look for people who want those benefits.

Hope this helps, Greg