A Discount = Lost Credibility = Lost Sale
A Discount = Lost Credibility = Lost Sale
About once a month I succumb to a promotion and register to listen to a free telephone seminar that will "Double your income in twelve months"; or "Help you to make your book an Amazon best seller," or give you "The Seven Secrets to Sales Success." You name it. I do this because I am always ready to learn something new. Like you, I am subject to times of self-doubt, lower sales than I want, and times when my enthusiasm dwindles. Sometimes I register just to see how the "expert" presents his/her product/service; today was one of those days.
A friend forwarded the email pitch with the thought that it sounded like it might be worthwhile. It promised ten secrets to better sales. I read it, learned that it would happen in two hours, last one hour, and only 14 slots were left. I jumped right in. This was the "wild card" buying decision described in my book "The Perception Of A Difference". Was it worth it?
Yes, for two reasons.
1. It reconfirmed the value of what I have practiced most of my life, including the absolute value of consistency in sales and business practices and
2. It demonstrated the destructive power of discounting.
The ten "secrets" are not new, but they were presented in a different way. They can be found in the Torah, The Old Testament, The New Testament, and "Dad's Sayings" on page 293 of The Perception Of A Difference. There is nothing new in this world, only new approaches to helping you and me learn the eternal truths of human nature. I needed and benefited from hearing them again.
For me, the seminar experience was a powerful demonstration of how to lose a sale in a series of small steps.
- It lasted one hour and twenty minutes, not one hour.
- The last twenty minutes were pure sales pitch.
- The featured expert used too many superlatives in describing results, including doubling your business/sales in one year. All businesses are not created equal. What proof could he offer for this estimate?
- He used many references to high placed, oft-quoted, rich people that I will never meet. Even the moderator noticed this and asked if ordinary people could use what he was espousing.
- He talked too much.
He should have asked for the order after thirty minutes, everything he said after that weakened his presentation and proved that he isn't the expert he claims to be. An expert knows when to ask for the order.
His normal charge for the eight session phone seminar plus three one-hour, one-on-one phone calls for $1,997.00. Eleven sessions would cost $181,59 each,- not unreasonable if you improve your business by even ten or fifteen percent in a year. If you double your business, as he suggested, it's a flaming bargain.
But then he discounted the price of his seminar by fifty percent -- yes, 50%. That blew the sale completely for me. I knew instantly that he wasn't worth his "normal" fee of $1,000.00 per hour. If he were, he wouldn't be putting on this free telephone seminar. If he were he would not be offering his $1,997.00, eight session, regular phone seminar plus three one-hour, one-on-one phone calls for $997.00. If he were, he would not invite us listeners to pay in two easy installments instead of the usually required 100% up front.
Had he not eroded his credibility, which lowered the perceived value of his seminar, and had he not offered a discount, he might have landed an order.
Dad taught me to never discount, I have followed that policy with great success.
What has worked for you?
Wes
Labels: credibility, discounts, perception, sales, success
posted by Bill Austin @ 10:14 AM
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