Lately I realize that price, ethics and long-term viability of residual commissions seem to be the hottest issues on everyone’s mind. So, I thought I would give you my initial thoughts on the topics to get everyone ready for the upcoming show.
Price: When do you sell on price? My opinion is whenever you have to, 100 percent of nothing is nothing. I find this particular subject somewhat amusing as we all know that each client is different. A good salesperson should be able to identify when to sell on solutions and when to sell on price. Sometimes the lowest price is just needed to get in the door and get the clients attention so that you can sell on the actual solution.
My point is why would you ever walk away from a deal because you have to give away a little margin? How many times have you heard a carrier say, “I refuse to lose this deal based on price, just tell me where I have to be?” I hear that at least once a week!
I have always been a firm believer of getting in the door and proving your worth anyway you can. You may have to give a little up early in the relationship, but once you have built the confidence of the client you have gained a new loyal customer. Ultimately you just need to get in the door, because 100 percent of nothing is nothing and you don’t have a new customer to whom you can sell upgrades and future business.
Ethics: A lot of times I think ethics are tied right along with price. You should always be doing the best thing for your customer. Isn’t it in your best interest to keep your customer happy? Isn’t our goal in the channel to keep customers happy and continue to sell to them over and over for years to come? Well, making sure they always have the best price for the best service is paramount to that goal.
I have a rather large customer that always buys from me. Every once in a while they check other pricing just to make sure I am not pulling one over on them. If I inflate a price or don’t show them the lowest price, they will catch me. So, my ethics are correct here by making sure I always give my clients full disclosure on what is available in the marketplace for their needs. This disclosure includes price, customer service, reliability, performance etc. As long as I am completely up front with my customer, then I am confident that I am ethically in the right (and secured a long-term customer). Do we wish they would have bought company B over company A because company B pays us a few more points? Sure we do, but if that solution wasn’t right for the customer, then we aren’t providing the service we claim to be, which leads me to my next topic…
Long-Term Viability of Residual Commissions: Let’s face it; we are all in this business because of residual commissions. I will be willing to bet (especially on the horses…) that most of us are here because we used to work for a carrier and got tired of only getting paid once for a deal. The lure of residuals is the nature of our business. In order for those to grow, you have to make sure you take care of the first two items on this list. Make sure you give your customers all the information necessary for them to make a fully informed decision and ensure your company provides them the best service possible and in an ethical manner – and you likely have a customer for life. Remember, 100 percent of nothing is nothing and as one of the best reps that ever worked for me said, “If ya ain’t got nothing ya ain’t got nothing to lose!”