Question: As the amount of information the customer gathers prior to making a decision increases, what happens to their ultimate decision?
A. They make the same basic decision they would have made initially.
B. They make a better decision.
C. They make a worse decision.
D. They make the wrong decision.
About a decade ago we left the Information Age. We are now in the Information Processing Age.
Information is readily available in so many places, formats and versions that we have trouble ciphering our way through it to make the best decision. So do our customers. The more the customer learns, the less likely they are to make - are you ready for this - the right decision. That's right; more information will often lead the customer to make a decision that is contrary to their likes, best interest and their bottom line. The answer to the question above is "D".
WARNING
You are about to deliver a message to your customer that neither of you wants to hear: your prices are going up. Costs are increasing in many categories and the only way for your company to survive is to raise your prices. Cost increases can wipe out your margins.
During the economic downturn your organization cut costs everywhere they could. Now costs are rising again: energy costs (pumped gas lately?), raw material costs, shortages resulting from natural disasters, etc.
How will you deliver this message?
Fewer words are better.
Your customer does not care about your costs - they care about theirs. Some of your competitors will stick to their lower prices even as their profits disappear. So some of your customers will continue to buy from the lowest priced provider unless you can teach them otherwise. And you must teach them with as few words as possible.
HOW TO
PREPARE - develop as many cost-justification approaches as you can. Share them with others in your organization and keep adding to the list as your experiences increase.
LISTEN - your customer will tell you which one of those justifications will be most effective with them. Use that one and leave the rest for later. You may need to combine two or three approaches to reach full cost justification - just remember, less is more.
QUALIFY & QUANTIFY - use the qualify/quantify process to walk your customer through the justification process. If you use the Q&Q process and drill down just one justification element, you will usually find enough cost offsets to justify your higher price.
Higher prices are coming - prepare now!
"He who teaches is never a scholar, but always a student."
"The single, most important function of sales is to teach."