Is your offering just a number?

When the phone rang this morning I thought it was another booking for the training program we were conducting on Saturday.

“Good Morning, this is Jayadev.” I said, putting on the warmest smile in my voice.

“Hi, this is Kumar speaking; got your number from Raj. Didn’t he mention that I would call?”

Before I could get a word in edgeways he continued, “How much do you charge for your training program?”

That, my friends, defines the prospective customer. If you aren’t careful they turn you into a number!

For a second I thought I was in the groceries business. It’s at the corner grocery store that one walks up to the seller and ask, “How much for the cabbage?” and he would respond without registering shock.

Thanks to the proliferation of “trainers” (the definition being anyone who can stand at the head of the class, run a PowerPoint Presentation and talk) in the market prices for our services have been heading south. There is a desperate rush to acquire business at any cost and the average customer believes he is onto a good thing.

This also tells us a lot about the customer’s attitude towards training. H.R. Managers and Training Managers wish to show the stake-holders that while the employees are being skilled and developed he is keeping an eye on the cost to the company – and the fund outflow is kept under control by bringing in trainers who are willing to conduct training at next to Zero cost.

Later on they would lament that the program was ineffective and the employees are performing just the way they used to prior to the intervention. What happened?

Let’s return to the phone call, I told Mr. Kumar – “My cost depends on the nature of the program you want done. Please send the requirement; I shall study it and send you my suggestions and then we can work towards a solution.”

I did not give him the price, but I did not refuse him one. I did not annoy him either with an abrasive comment – the declaration of price was just postponed. And this is critical.

You can do the same. Don’t succumb to the prospect’s ploy of pegging you to a price point. If they insist tell them something above your regular operating point and work your way back by the end of the deal to the realistic level.

Instead of getting tangled in the price game focus on value- building. It’s better not to sell if the value isn’t right. Of course, it is for you to decide what you are worth and how you have to price your product. But it has to be your decision, not your customer’s.

You can show your prospect what brought to the table by way of experience, quality of the service offered, previous work done and the results achieved. Show them how each element of your is a value-adding component of the deal.

The man who called me later sent an email with the specifics of the requirement – in it he had stated two times that he wishes to get the program done at the lowest price.

Who doesn’t? How does the prospect know what is the lowest price for your offering? That is for you to decide. Define what are you selling or on what terms you will sell?

Play it smart … believe, and make others believe, that you aren’t just a number!