Can you sell ICE to an ESKIMO?

[ninjitsumo]

Originally Posted by SN3

Exactly. Listen! If you do not have the product or service, find them someone who does. Don't badmouth your competetor. Be nice, even if you don't get the deal.

I agree. Also, many people make the mistake of trying to undersell the competiton when selling a different yet similar product.

Here is a little secret. Sell it at a higher price, the higher the better. Believe it or not, most people equate price with quality. They would rather pay more believing that the higher price makes the product better and more reliable.

I learned this from experience. A few years ago I got fed up with a computer service company I worked for. A few minutes after walking out, I went to see an acquaintance who also owned a fledgling computer service business to see if he would hire me.

He told me that he would like to hire me, but he was very quickly going broke. He could not understand why. His techs and engineers were just as good as the competition, even better, but he could not get any business.

I asked him what he charged for service to his customers, mostly businesses. He told me that he was charging $45/hour, about one-half to one-third of everybody else. Surely, he thought, that would lure the business to him.

I explained that when businesses are looking for computer service, they are concerned about competency and down time. A business will look at the low prices and assume that the service business is starting up or has less qualified people if they only charge $45. I suggested he raise his prices to $95/hour for standard service and $110/hour for networking. I also told him that I would work for him for nothing for one month if he followed my suggestion.

He was reluctant, but figured he could afford me if I worked for nothing to offset the additional business he would lose by raising his prices.

One month later his business had quadrupled, I was paid a generous share of the additional revenue and I became his partner in the business.

Never sell yourself short. Never sell your product for less than its real value. Qualify your customers and always, ALWAYS FOLLOW UP. Wear down your customer by being polite yet persistent and you can make the sale.

One last thought. When you see a product advertised on TV do you run right out to buy it or make a dash for the phone? No, you don't. You may see that commercial over and over and over. Sometimes you see a commercial so much that you get sick of it.

Eventually, you buy it!! Don't you?

It takes a minimum of 7 - 10 views of an ad or promotion to generate a sale through media. Remember this. Put it into practice. Never give up, and you will start to see results.