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Price will always be a key component of any sale, but it does not have to be the only factor in a decision, unless you as a sales person let it. Based on the studies you read, price can be as much as 40% of the final decision; and with certain individuals, it could go higher. However, when you step back and examine things, what is price?

At its most basic, it is the numerical value, nothing more. As with any number, there is no good or bad number, there is only the relative aspect it represents. It brings to mind the old joke explaining the concept of how numbers are relative by pointing out that three hairs on your head are relatively few, but those same three hairs in your soup, well. Just like +1 is not better than -1, they both represent a relative distance from zero; just as when it is zero degrees outside, it does not mean that there is no temperature, it is just a point between -1 and +1, slightly colder if you measure things in Fahrenheit.

It no different when it comes to the numbers that make up a price, the question of a good price vs. a bad price is not in the digits but in the relative value they represent. Which is why I continue to be surprised by both buyers and sellers and the relative importance placed on a set of digits with no context.

Now it is easy to understand why some buyers fixate on price long before they should. Some do it because they are price shoppers and feel that if they can get you to put a number out there, it is then just an exercise of them "beating" that number down. It would be interesting to learn who started this downward spiral, the buyers pushing on sellers, or a seller deciding to short cut the sale, "throw a discount on the table", in order to win the deal. In other instances it may be that the sellers and/or the buyer bring a consumer mind frame to a B2B playing field.

Others go to price because they really cannot differentiate between one product versus the next. In many cases, the top three or four products or offerings in a given space have 90% overlap in capabilities, and therefore seem indistinguishable to most buyers. In that scenario, which is more common than many like to admit, is it any wonder that price becomes the BIG differentiator. By the way, this is not something that is limited to "products" or to "commodities"; it happens to "solutions" sellers too. While there information abounds, the sales person still needs to play a key role in helping the client understand the "difference" and the relative value of their offering.

Avoiding the price trap takes work, but what in sales does not? Using our EDGE model, with the focus on ZONE Based Selling, provides a process and framework for managing this. At its core is a simple concept, make the discussion around numbers relative to the value to be realized, the impact you can deliver, not relative to the dollars invested or a competitor. As you would expect this involves two specific things that have to be executed in concert.

First, understanding the client's business and the value and impact that you can have on it; then developing questions that surface those factors, including follow up question to borrow beneath the veneer of knee jerk answers prospects may provide at the outset. It is often these secondary questions that get the buyer to really think through the issues. They may have been thinking about something in a certain way, and can respond to major aspects of the subject, but the follow up questions not only cause them to stop and think, but also put you in the light of a subject matter expert, and adviser. You can see the lights going on, "that's a different way of achieving..."

For instance, you may be selling a true wireless solution connecting your teams in the field not only with one another, a scalable platform, which can at the same time communicate with systems back at the office, an ERP for example. Your solution offers seamless integration and delivers reduced errors, reduced time to orders and invoicing, eliminate lost orders, reduce the required level of inventories, increased the number of service calls you can do in a day, and other tangible benefits. You are competing with a supped up cell phone offered by one of the carriers, probably efficiently achieve some of the above, but not all, and would require both hardware and software upgrades as the buyers requirements evolve.

If a buyer looks at it purely on a price basis, the supped up cell phone looks attractive, based on outcome, impact, improved processes and other results, the seamless solution is better value, and will deliver more upside. It is up to you to manage the Discovery process to be able to Demonstrate Impact. By executing the questioning routine highlighted above, you can move the discussion from the cost bandwagon to the returns bandwagon. After all, what is better a $1 saved, or $3.50 return on a $2.00 investment? If you can demonstrate that this advantage will be in place for four years, you can contrast $4 dollars saved with $6 net return.

I am not minimizing the effort of taking the discussion to returns, but it is doable if you focus on their business from a business perspective, not an "I need a sale" perspective. It also takes the will, knowledge and calluses to resist giving a number before you can build context.

Recently I sat with a potential buyer, very early in the meeting she asked, "How do you charge?" I explained our two models (project or program). Remember we just got past the small talk. She followed up:

Buyer: I need a number!
TS: No problem let's look at what is involved, what we are looking to achieve, project/program – scope, and then we can talk numbers, after all how will you evaluate the "number", what will you compare it to?
Buyer: No, you don't understand, I need a number so I know what I am dealing with.

I was thinking I need to know what I am dealing with as well, but did not say that; what I did say was:

TS: OK, number 1, that's my number, number 1. How does that compare?

Now I am not advocating that people use this approach, I don't, but I had to make her understand that not only is the number meaningless, but there is also a risk that she is encouraging her people to sell on price. (No, I didn't get the deal, yet, I did raise my number once we defined her needs, and I do have a next step.)

Remember that price is relative; relative to the value the buyer is anticipating, the greater the value, the greater opportunity to base the sale on value not price; the level of value anticipated is relative to the way you sell it.

What's in Your Pipeline?

Tibor Shanto – Principal - Renbor Sales Solutions Inc., is a recognized speaker, author, and sought after trainer. He is co-author of the book Shift!: Harness The Trigger Events That Turn Prospects Into Customers; his article "How to shorten your Sales Cycle?" was voted number one by readers of Top 10 Sales Articles. Tibor is a Director of and a contributor to Sales Bloggers Union, and his work has appeared in numerous of sales publications and leading websites.

Tibor can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or + 1416 822-7781. You can read our blog, The Pipeline with new material three times a week, and follow Tibor on Twitter @Renbor.