Should I Discount?

The year I wasn’t allowed to do any discounts, was the year I learned the greatest lesson of my sales career.

I worked for a company and the D word (Discount) as it was referred to was not allowed EVER. Under no circumstances.

If you are in sales… what would you do? It’s the end of the month, quarter, or year OR you are trying to get the deal across the finish line and pricing is NOT something you can mess with.

As hard as it was, it was by far the best thing that happened.

Why? Because we didn’t have any cards up our sleeves of negotiating and forced us to focus on what was important to them and the value we could provide.

We knew inside and out what our product did. We knew how it compared to our competitors (who were much cheaper both in price and quality). We knew our strengths and focused on those all day every day. 

So when someone wanted to reduce the price, we went through options of taking out this or that to get to the price they wanted. Well wait… they really wanted that thing and it was going to really help them… so we kept it in for the higher price.

Not being able to give a discount was empowering.

Did we win every deal… no we didn’t.

Did we win most deals… yes.

We were a high-priced product and people paid for it… over and over again.

So why am I telling you this…

It’s not all about the price. It’s about the value of your product or service that they SEE.

Oftentimes sales reps (and even leaders) think about their own bank account and how much money the product or service is. They can’t imagine paying that amount for it. And then assume no one else would either.

The problem with this is… they aren’t the target market and they don’t have the pain point or problem that the buyer has. They aren't experiencing the impact of not having the product or service.

So the sales rep jumps to reducing the price way too fast. They assume it’s too much and want the deal done.

OR when someone pushes back they assume it’s about the price and automatically jump to “discount”.

Here is what needs to happen first... 

• What is the value of the product or service in solving their pain points and problems?
• How big of an impact will it have on them?
• How big of an impact is it if they don’t move forward?
• Why is this so important to them?

These are the most important things to be focused on throughout the entire process.

If you find out that it’s not that big of a deal for them… you probably aren’t a good fit. I know you don’t want to walk away from deals but the reality is bringing on a customer who doesn’t need you, will be most likely a pain to work with and will churn.

Run your deals like you don’t have the option to discount (even if you can) and dig in with them. The value to them is everything. They want to reduce the price, what can they live without?

When you are more focused on the value and less on the price, you present things differently. Which helps them think about it differently too.

It’s the end of the year… make sure the value is there BEFORE you start throwing every discount at them and doesn’t address what they really need. When you do this, you increase your sales at a higher price point and close more deals.

Good luck with your year-end push AND beyond... 2024 can be your biggest year ever if you make the right adjustments. 

PS... Not saying discount is the wrong move. Just shouldn't be your first move. If you focus more on the value and deep dive into it, I guarantee you will do more!