How often do you hear prospects say things like “I can get a cheaper price from your competitor“…
Or “So-and-So is offering a 50% discount. What can you do?“
It’s usually at that moment where – as a salesperson – your heart sinks, you get a lump in your throat, your chest tenses up and you immediately think two things…
- You lost this deal
- If you can still win this, you’re going to need to severely cut your margin, basically making this deal not worth your time anymore
That’s a horrible feeling, and something that salespeople deal with every single day.
And it’s not just the emotions that sting, but it’s all of the lost deals and lost money that hurts the most!
But luckily there is actually a way to all but eliminate this situation, and this is a proven method used by the most valuable companies on the planet like Tiffany’s, Rolex, Rolls Royce, Ritz-Carlton and the like!
Make Like a Butler, and SERVICE!
SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE! Think about those companies mentioned above…
What do you think of when you imagine (or remember) doing business with them?
Do you imagine that they just give you the standard “Hi, how’s it going? Can I help with anything?”
Do you imagine they make you do everything yourself, provide the average level of enthusiasm, treat you like a bum off the streets, barely smile, and make you wash your hands with generic dish soap?
Of course not! You expect to be treated like royalty when you do business with a company like that, because after all – that’s what you are paying for.
I’m going to say that again so that this sinks in, because this is the entire point…
You are paying for the customer experience, and to be serviced like you are the king of the town.
Does that kinda, sorta line up with what you expect?
Well sadly, this is exactly where most salespeople go wrong. They are more concerned with their efforts than the customer’s effort and experience.
How to Provide Luxury Levels of Service
When you think of “luxury service”, what do you think about?
For me, it all comes down to these 10 things:
- Make everything easy for the customer
- Do as much for them as possible so they don’t have to lift a finger
- Give them more than they ask for
- Make sure they are comfortable (physically and emotionally)
- Always get them what they need and ask for quickly
- Always get questions answered
- Always wear a smile
- Never argue with the customer (this isn’t bush league here)
- Use Please and Thank You
- Always be positive
Can you think of any other ways that you could provide luxury levels of service within your company?
As you can probably already see, these qualities are pretty unique to luxury brands, but they are going to be shared across all companies that are charging a ridiculous amount for their products/services.
What does that tell you?
I’ll answer that…It tells you that the way to charge a premium – and to separate yourself from everyone else in your industry – is to dramatically increase your personal level of service!
But make no mistake, you will still have cheapo’s asking for discounts (I usually do to see what life will give me), but you have a very easy way to deal with all of those requests…
“I’d love to be able to give you a discount! But there is a reason why my price is higher, and it has nothing to do with our product. We’re going to service you better than anyone else anywhere, and if you like and appreciate that, I’d love to work with you.“
Now obviously you won’t close everybody with that, but neither do those luxury brands.
But you WILL close a whole lot more deals, especially where your price is about equal to your competitors!
REMEMBER: When the products and the prices are the same, the other determining factor is SERVICE.
-Jake Martincic
JakeMartincic.com 