What’s one of the biggest sales and marketing myths?
The “tooth fairy” and “Santa Clause” of the business world?
It’s the “the people buy on price” myth.
Nuh-uh.
Nobody EVER buys on price.
And it’s my goal in this email to persuade you to IMMEDIATELY raise your prices and fees — no matter what you sell or who you sell to.
Anyway, here’s the scoop:
While back (circa 2002, I think) I was in a (now-defunct) MLM business and was extremely frustrated — even desperate — to figure out the whole selling game. I mean, I couldn’t sell my way out of a paper bag if my life depended on it.
Until one day, I ran into a fellow named Art Jonak.
Art is a brilliant marketer I HIGHLY recommend studying — whether you’re in MLM or not (I’m not in it anymore, but still study Art’s stuff).
And back in those days he had a weekly tele-seminar.
Each Sunday I was on these calls like white on rice — soaking up every lesson, tip and idea. Many of which I STILL use today.
But my favorite was, by FAR, his price shopper teaching.
And why nobody ever truly buys on price.
One of his examples was pizza.
If everyone bought on price, then why, in some some of the poorest sections of town (I once lived on this side of the tracks and knoweth of what he speaks) do you see garbage cans lined with pizza boxes?
After all, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just make your own?
To grow your own ingredients using a cheap packet of seeds, etc?
Frankly, when you buy a pizza (especially with delivery charges, tips, etc) you’re paying an extremely inflated price. And yet, even in the poorest areas, people buy pizzas.
So obviously, price isn’t the issue, is it?
More like convenience is the winner over price in this case.
You can also apply this to cars (if everyone bought on price, we’d all be driving the exact same, cheapest of cheap cars) and surgery (would you pick a brain surgeon based on price?).
So I think the message is clear:
Price is NOT the main reason people buy.
It may SEEM like it sometimes. And maybe, just maybe, in really rare cases it is. But if you’re playing the pricing game — and always trying to “lowball” your competition — STOP!
You’re basically robbing yourself of profits.
And “selling” yourself short.
Ben Settle
P.S. This price selling nonsense needs to stop.
It’s dorky, it’s silly and it simply doesn’t work as well as learning how to sell. You can learn 101 ways to clean up in your market without lowering your prices at:
