Bill French is a Licensed Business Coach with ActionCOACH, the World's Leading Business Coaching Team (as voted by Entrepreneur Magazine), based in Garscadden House, Drumchapel. If you would like more information on his services he can be contacted on 0141 274 2020 or billfrench@actioncoach.com.

You can also visit his website at www.actioncoach.com/billfrench

HOW TO SELL TO PRICE-FOCUSED SHOPPERS

The most common complaint we get today as business coaches from small to medium business owners is that customers always want a cheaper price.

Now that VAT has gone back to 17.5 per cent it seems that they do not want to pay the additional 2.5 per cent either.

The perception in the market place is that people are shopping on price alone.

The only reason your customer asks the price up front is because that is what we, as business owners, have trained them to do.

Not only that, you are probably also thinking 'they're going' to complain about paying the extra VAT" - which is a great unconscious invitation for your customer to bring it up.

So what do you do to take the conversation away from the price?

How many times have you gone to buy something without thinking carefully about what you want?

In other words, not really knowing what model, style, colour or features you were looking for and so you just asked for the price.

At this point did the sales person come back with "that is £19.99" or did they ask you some questions about why you wanted to buy it?

Let me explain. Let's say you are looking for a kettle.

Now in most people's eyes a kettle is a kettle but they have many different features and offer many different benefits.

So what if the sales person simply said to you when you inquired about price, "just so I can help you best, is it OK if I ask you a couple of questions about the kettle you are looking for?"

Would you have answered "yes"?

My bet is that the answer would have most definitely been "yes".

The sales person could then ask questions like - are you looking to replace an existing kettle or is it a gift for someone? Do you regularly use your kettle or is it rarely used? Would you like a kettle with a quick boiling time? Have you seen the cordless options that are available? Are you looking for something to match your kitchen? So what colour are you looking for?

Is it important that it has an automatic cut off when the kettle is boiled? Are you after a stove-top option, or an electric kettle? Kettles come in different cup capacity; do you require 10 cup capacity or is five a better size for you?

From these questions you will begin to get the idea that the sales person is genuinely interested in your needs, they understand kettles and are able to offer you options on the most suitable kettles for your needs.

The question of price has been lowered in importance.

Provided you have been offered something thaat closely matches your needs, it is just a matter of asking you to buy.

A good sales person would then ask, "based on what we have just discussed there are two options to choose from, model X and model Y, which ones suits you best? Great, how would you like to pay for that cash or credit card?"

The focus has been taken away from the price and how they are going to pay.

Because you have sold it so well, your customer will already be thinking about using the product and the price has become even less of an issue.

Ultimately there is nothing you can do in the short term about the changes to VAT.

In a few weeks your customers will have forgotten all about it.

The choice you have is how are you going to let it affect your business.

If all you do is worry about making price-focused shopper happy, you will end up losing customers or losing profit.

If you take action to focus the sale on something other than price you will maintain your margins and probably grow your business as you will also sell to customers who perhaps would not have otherwise bought.

There will always be shoppers who buy only on price but they will never be loyal customers so learn to recognise them and spend more of your time with customers who are looking for something other than a cheap price.

If you would like further information contact your local ActionCOACH (Bill French) on 0141 274 2020

Clydebank Post - 24 February 2010