“I wish my product was priced cheaper, so I could sell more.”
“I wish I could match the price demand of my prospect so that I could bag that Order!”
Did you hear these words from salespeople?
Every salesperson secretly wishes his product to be cheaper so that he could manage the resistance imposed by a prospect.
Discussion about pricing is One of the most prominent situations in the entire sales process. Given a choice, every salesperson would like to avoid this discussion. Almost every person has lost a sale because of the price issues. But there are super salespeople who have acquired mastery in selling premium products and they love it and they thrive by selling expensive products only. Selling expensive products has a definite advantage over selling cheap products.
ALSO READ – Avoid 4 Common Mistakes and Grow your Business
Like any other skill, ‘How to sell expensive products’ can also be learned and mastered.
Before I give you the tips on ‘how to sell a premium product”, let me share with you the mistake salespeople do in high-value sales.
1. Selling expensive products at a low price
Sometimes the salespeople commit a blunder by offering discounts on an expensive product. They don’t take the necessary time to justify the price and explain the value to the customer and they simply start offering a discount too early in the sales process. This leads to doubt in the prospect’s mind which creates problems in the sale.
2. Selling an expensive product from a low-value point of sales
The expensive products must be treated accordingly. You can sell a Rolex watch from an ordinary counter. You can’t sell Tanishque Jewelry from an ordinary shop. Nobody will buy. The product must be sold from an expensive hyper place. This mistake can be fatal.
3. Selling expensive products to low-value customers
A customer who can only afford Maruti-Suzuki Alto will not buy a Maruti-Suzuki Ciaz even if you are able to convince him of the good features and quality of Ciaz. If you want to sell a Ciaz you need to find the Ciaz prospect. So it is important to find out the right prospect for your product.
A salesperson should focus on a few key points to sell Premium Products. For companies selling Premium or Expensive Products it is beneficial to train or remind their salespeople from time to time about these key areas. It is also beneficial to contact a Sales and Business Coach from time to time.
1. Identify your premium Prospect
Not every prospect is going to buy your premium product. Not everyone buys the Adidas. Therefore it is recommended that you identify your premium prospects. Other prospects may not be your prospects at all. And whatever you do they will not buy your premium product, simply because they don’t need it, or they can’t afford it as they don’t have an emotional and logical value for it. So it’s foolish to waste your time with them.
2. Sell through a premium Salesperson
Selling a premium and expensive product is not everybody’s cup of tea. The salesperson himself needs to have a premium mindset for selling an expensive product. In the prospect’s mind it is not the price which decides the sale rather it is the associated value that decides the sale. While deciding the value, the prospect not only judges the features and benefits of the product but he looks at the total package which includes the salesperson as well as the kind of confidence the salesperson is generating and if he is being honest. Is he the right ambassador of a premium product? Does he himself value a premium product? How is a salesperson dressed and groomed, what about his attitude and confidence? Shabbily dressed and oddly groomed salesperson cannot sell a piece of expensive jewelry. Have you seen how well dressed and groomed the sales girls are at premium jewelry showrooms?
3. Feel proud that you are selling a premium product
Mercedes salesperson is proud of being associated with Mercedes. He knows very well that he is selling an expensive product. A Kalyan Jewellers salesperson knows that he is selling premium jewelry. No regrets about it. They know that premium products are expensive. They know that quality is expensive and they also know that there is a customer for quality products. These people enjoy in dealing with less number of prospects but still generating more revenue for the company. For them, less work gives high rewards.
4. Sell through premium outlet
Oh! You are selling expensive products. But, how good looking is your sales outlet? Have you seen the premium Christian Dior being sold from a poorly decorated showroom? No customer will go there. You can’t sell there. A premium or expensive product can only be sold from an appropriately designed place of sale. The outlet must match the value of your product. In fact, the opposite is possible. When you go and take an ordinary coffee from a five star its value gets enhanced 100 times. And you feel happy paying the high price for the same.
5. Create and use premium marketing material
The marketing material, the brochures, the samples and the packaging – everything has to be premium, with high visual appeal and with safety, reliability and other features. That is the reason why these days there is so much focus on product catalog and packaging.
6. In the sales pitch, make your prospect feel premium
Expensive products are often purchased as Status symbol. These customers generally have very high-status values and buying expensive products gets them high emotionally. They like to shop and flaunt. Therefore a salesperson must make use of their inflated ego and create an emotional picture and show them the status that they will be able to flaunt in front of their friends. The salesperson should be able to explain why a prospect deserves only premium products, Use Prospect’s ego in his favor to close the sale. “Mr. Prospect, you live in a posh colony and own a lavish apartment. This premium laminate will make your neighbours feel jealous when they visit your kitchen.”
7. Use influencers to endorse your Premium Products
Dealers and middlemen are a very important part of the sales process. They are called influencers. They do lots of recommendations on the basis of which the end-user decides to buy. The company makes sure that a team of influencers is created and appropriate schemes are promoted so that the community of influencers gives frequent recommendations and referrals to their clients. A patient goes to a Path Lab recommended by the doctor, a homemaker goes and buys the laminates and Plywood from the retailer recommended by the carpenter, a contractor buys the material as recommended and approved by the architect. So this is a very good foolproof proven method to push the sale of your premium products at the Marketplace.
8. Talk about your value
A person of a premium product knows very well the reasons why the product is expensive. So whenever the salesperson talks about the price he brings in the value and explains why the product is expensive. The value could be related to the technical features of the product, reliability, durability or an emotional appeal. It could be even related to the aesthetics of the product or look and feel of the product. The seller has to understand what exactly matters to the prospect. For understanding this he will have to understand the customer’s needs and desires very carefully and then position the product value accordingly. The premium salesperson knows this art very well. It is like diagnosing the hot button of the prospect and pressing this button again and again during the sales pitch so that the prospect realizes that this is the best product for him. The customer will not mind paying for a product that meets his emotional and logical requirements and gives him desired benefits.
9. Focus on what more you are providing other than technical features
Most of the salespeople focus too much on the technical features of the product. In this process, they forget that the customer is actually not buying a drill machine but he is buying a hole. So in place of only explaining the technical features of the drilling machine, he should be able to explain how capable the machine is in making the size of hole which the customer wants to create. This phenomenon is true and applicable to all types of products. When you are selling a premium product, make sure that you are able to explain the benefits that your product is providing to the prospect, how these benefits are meeting his needs. If a customer finds your product to be the right match for his needs and desires, you will be able to close the deal.
10. Eliminate low quality / low price competition first – compete with Premium
During all types of sales, you come across competition frequently. Most of the time you will meet a low-value competition as well as high-value competition. Lets us say A competitor is low value and B competitor is high value. Remove the low value A competitor so that now you are not under pressure to justify your price against a product which is too low in price. Now you will defend your product against an expensive product with a higher value. You must study your high-value competitor in detail and accordingly prepare yourself for communicating the value of your product. It will be easier to convince the prospect if the difference in the price is low, in comparison to a situation when the competitor’s product is priced too low.
11. Figure out your competition and Create a Competition Comparison table – CCT
“Our product is expensive, yes! But we offer a quality product”, said the salesperson. “Ok, but your competitor’s product is also a quality product”, replied the prospect.
How often do you hear this dialogue? Such a statement is common, very generic and does not add any value. Instead a premium salesperson should give a proof to build prospect’s trust. A competition Comparison table (CCT) is a very good tool to demonstrate the quality difference between your product and the competitor’s product. The CCT is a document that is created after due research on features of your competitors’ product and comparison with the features of your product is presented in tabular form. The table helps the prospect understand the quality difference between two products and your salesperson should be able to explain and convince the prospect as to why your product is priced the way it is.
12. Differentiate between Price and cost
There is a difference between the price and the cost. The premium salesperson must be able to explain the difference between the two and should be able to draw the attention of the prospect what’s the cost he may be paying by purchasing the low priced items. The salesperson must be able to explain that quality products are initially expensive but provide peace of mind subsequently, through high reliability, long life, durability, less breakdown, low maintenance cost, and many other benefits. We recommend that the salespeople must carry tools such as an excel sheet to demonstrate the return-on-investment (ROI), or cost-benefit analysis so that the customer gets convinced on the high price he is paying for the premium product
13. Share stories when a Prospect had to pay more cost by paying low price
It is a common saying that ‘facts tell but stories sell’. The premium salespeople carry with them the good stories and the bad stories related to their own product and the competition’s products. They use these stories to emotionally convince the prospect on the value of their expensive product. Stories go beyond the logical part of the brain and hit the prospect emotionally. And you know that all buying decisions are emotional. Therefore equip your salespeople with relevant stories and train them to use these stories during sales discussion.
14. Make it seem like everyone is Cool with Your Prices
Social proof is the best way to influence the thinking of prospects. The premium salespeople know it very well and therefore they carry a battery of testimonials /Customers’ voices who are happy after buying your premium product. Make your prospects feel that everyone is cool with the high price of your product. Let your happy customers declare that they are happy after buying your product and let them talk especially about how they initially thought that product was expensive but once they started using it they found that it was not so. Record their voice or record their videos in which they are endorsing your product.
15. Display photographs of premium users at the point of sales
Photographs and videos of actual users help a lot in building the trust of prospect and support them in making the buying decision. For instance, In the case of construction material, show the photographs of installations where your material has been used and explain how the current users are happy after using your products.
16. Let your product be endorsed by some celebrities
Celebrity endorsement works very well in case of premium product sale. Celebrity’s value gets added to the value of product. The prospect starts seeing the product at a higher pedestal. Celebrity endorsement adds to familiarity and trust which adds value to the brand. These factors help in making buying decisions.
So, next time you are selling an expensive product, use the above strategies and I guarantee that you will be able to convert your lead into an order.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rakesh Sharma— Founder of Prime Performance Solutions. He is also the best business coach in India.
He runs his own Sales Training in NCR. His company is rated one among the best sales training companies in the country by the clients. He is a sales coach in India. he has coached hundreds of clients. As Sales Trainer in India, he has trained coached and trained thousands of trainees across country. He a one of the best business coach in NCR and Sales Consultant in NCR.
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