Cutting your price is not the magic bullet that some people might think. Independent of whether it is good or bad, there are times when you should indeed do some price cutting. For example, if cutting the price is the prospect's only concern, and that is the last thing that needs to happen for them to buy, and they will not buy otherwise, then cutting your price is justified. Also, what is assumed here is that after the price cut, you are still making enough money to justify continuing with the sale. But how do you know that cutting the price is the final and only remaining issue at stake? Obviously, you should try your best to be confident of that before you do any price cutting. Otherwise, if they end up buying, and the prospect had no issues with your price, then you just made yourself (and your company) less money. Therefore, if you don't know if price is their only concern, you need to find out. If you have exhausted everything else, then one way you could find out if price is their last and final consideration is to say something like, "It seems like price is the only thing keeping you from buying today". This is direct, and it should only be used in order to find out where you stand before you lower your price. Even if they seem to agree with this, before you pull the trigger on lowering the price, say something like, “If I can find a way to lower the price to your satisfaction, what happens next?”. If they don’t say they would buy, then you probably have something else that needs to be addressed other than price. In order to potentially bring that into the light, you can say, “It seems like even if I was able to do something about the price, there is still something else about this that does not work for you.” Expect that serious prospects will tell you what their real concern is, which would provide you with an opportunity to directly address that. The key takeaway is to strive to be confidently certain that price is the last required stop before a sale. If it is not, then encourage a prospect to share with you what their true concern is.

Providing information to a prospect should be done with a purposeful aim. There should always be a reason why you are sharing something. I know this seems obvious, however everyone has probably had another person share something with them that seems to have no significance. If you do this when selling, you could lose the sale right then and there. And it is just not about the point that you are trying to make. It is about how you end your statement with something that provides a direction for the conversation to move towards. For example, you could tell a prospect, "You mentioned wanting peace of mind when you purchase a product, and this product happens to offer the industry's best warranty. Do you have any questions about that?" The warranty's advantages have been purposely left open to see what questions the prospect asks. Also, information was just not given and abandoned, such as saying something like, "You mentioned wanting peace of mind with this product, and this product happens to offer the industry's best warranty," and stopping there. If you do not suggest where the conversation should go after you finish your point, the prospect could potentially try to steer the conversation to places that you might not want to go at all. Therefore, consider always ending any giving of information with something like, "Do you have any questions about what I just shared with you, " or "Have I explained the process properly?" Each of these ending questions can help move the conversation towards a direction that covers things that you would like to discuss. Even though this seems like a simple and possibly inconsequential way of capping off the giving of information, because it might merely seem like an attempt to influence where things go next, saying something like the examples given here could make the difference between a conversation staying on track versus meandering wherever a prospect's whims take things next. Strive to always end with a suggested way forward, and as a result, your ability to help more people buy your product could reach a whole new level.

Sales can be tough, and as a salesperson, if you put in a lot of time and effort, and you think that you have a deal, a cancellation can be an extremely bitter pill to swallow. Also, a cancellation does not help the customer whatsoever. After all, if a customer ultimately has no product to use, they can't solve the problem they were looking to solve by initially buying that product. Therefore, if you can cut down on cancellations, you can potentially help both the customer and yourself. One way you could reduce cancellations is by respectfully questioning any potential doubt that a prospect even mildly expresses, which can sometimes even be something as subtle as a reaction or a sound. For example, if, after you speak, you see a look of concern on a prospect's face, you could respond with, "It seems like something here is not sitting right with you." A serious prospect should share anything that concerns them just based on this observation. Or let's say you sense that a prospect might be ready to buy, so you ask them what they want to do next, and they respond with an "Um" and a blank stare. If they are thinking, let them think. Then, if it seems like there is still a concern due to either verbal or non-verbal cues from them, you can say something such as, "It appears that you still have some doubts". Again, expect that a serious prospect will appreciate that you picked up on that, and then they will verbalize any doubts. It is important to note that if a serious prospect has no such concerns, anticipate that they will tell you that, which is often a good sign to re-ask for the order. The above examples all took place prior to the prospect committing to buy, which is often the best time to address a prospect’s concerns. By directly acknowledging any concerns or doubts that a prospect has at the exact time that a prospect expresses them, you should be able to avoid the feelings around those concerns building up and culminating in that prospect not buying. However, you have to respectfully deal with any challenges that a prospect is having as soon as they come up in conversation in real time.

Missteps will happen. You can't always say and do the right thing, because you are human, complex, and the people who you are interacting with are just as human and just as complex. With that number of variables, there are bound to be some miscalculations. When you happen to be the one who miscalculates, apologize...and mean it. For example: If you make an offer to a prospect, and their reaction alone telegraphs that you were well outside of their acceptable range, in order to get things back on track, you can say something like, "I can tell that my offer has offended you. I apologize. Please provide me with something that might work better for you so that I can try to rectify my misstep." Some of you might think that you have put yourself in a weaker position. However, let me ask you this. Who would you respect more: the person who makes a mistake, apologizes for it, and means that apology, or the person who defends their position, even when they believe that it is actually wrong, and they may even believe that you actually believe it is wrong, too. Most people would respect the first person more. It takes a big person to admit they were wrong. Be that bigger person. See if people don't respect and trust you more, and don't allow pride to stop you from connecting with other people.

Some of you are probably going to enthusiastically disagree with what you are about to read, and you are going to think that you would never want to do it. Even so, I ask you to keep an open mind, and even if this seems wrong, consider that it might work a lot better than you anticipate. If you have parts of your product that have turned people off in the past, one of the best things that you can do is to draw attention to those potential deal killers as soon as possible. For example, if your product is considered expensive, mention that right at the beginning so that you can know as soon as possible if there is no potential agreement here. What you, also, want to do is to counterbalance that potentially negative admission with something that could benefit the other person who you are speaking with by saying something like, "My product is by far the most expensive on the market, and independent studies have shown that it lasts 8 times as long as the competition’s. How do you feel about that?" Saying this gets what could sink a deal on the table right up front, which is your bast chance at having some potential influence on the prospect's decision. Bottom line, it is invaluable to know where you stand in any conversation, and that is the driving force behind what is suggested here.