Generally, I’ve never been a great fan of competing by offering the lowest price of all competitors because it doesn’t work well. I’ve had individuals tell me they can compete with Walmart’s price. My general response is that they are probably not competing as well as they think. Furthermore, undercutting Walmart’s price may lead people to view you as cheap rather than inexpensive.

When I was in the international trade business, we priced our services at a premium level because we felt the customer would receive good value for their money. We knew if a customer was looking for price and price alone, we would lose the business. Our business model charged a higher price and delivered a superior service. If we tried to provide the superior service for a lower fee, it would be a prescription for pushing us out of business sooner rather than later. Instead, our responsibility was to demonstrate our value to the customer and sell to customers who appreciated that value proposition.

The hope of every business owner is new customers.  Sometimes they come every day; other times less frequently. An overlooked strategy is to send a “welcome aboard” email to begin a business relationship. This is useful for several reasons.

1.  People like to be thanked.

Sending a warm thank you for being a new customer tells the customer you notice them.  It is a good first step.  

When we try to make a sell, we can say more than necessary to move the customer toward saying yes and signing the order. However, every time we utter a phrase or a sentence to a prospect; we need to put ourselves in the customer’s position. The first thing our customer thinks should not be, “So what?” 

For example, I may say that my company has the best service; but if I haven’t said anything to prove this statement, the prospect may think, “So what?”  A furniture store salesperson may talk about how good the fabric on a chair is.  Again, the customer may think, “So what?” The salesperson’s job is to answer the “so what” question for every feature or benefit we point out to a customer. A customer may not care what type of fabric is on the chair, but probably cares a great deal that spills don’t become stains.

We all receive unsolicited information particularly by email. Most are targeted in such a way to make us believe we are one in 10,000 or 100,000 receiving such a generous offer. I received one the other day apparently as follow-up indicating they had not received a response to their invitation to a wonderful seminar. I never asked to be invited. I never asked to be on the mailing list. Frankly, I had zero interest in attending the seminar. Yet, the follow-up came again and again. Unsolicited offers where the sender acts like they know what we need and want are annoying.

Anyone who makes marketing or sales calls will experience people who send clear signals that they don’t want to talk to you. They may be polite but quickly send you on your way.   Others may not look up from their computer screen or use body language to suggest that the sooner you leave, the better.

I have learned that that when you have an A-list prospect who has rejected you, it is still effective to make another contact for several reasons.