Nickels & Dimes...Selling that Makes More "Cents"

Sales goals and a company's bottom line go hand in hand. In a down economy making sales can be more challenging than in an up economy, but it is still possible to meet and even exceed your goals without having to throw the company under the bus. Expertise, equipment, and time are valuable commodities in any economy and in any geographical location. When you waive or discount ancillary or other fees you might think you're doing the customer and yourself a favor, but the reality is you are doing both of you and the company a disservice.

Ancillary fees are structured for a purpose and every time you waive or discount them you devalue the services you provide as well as undermine your own character as a sales person and representative of you (or another's) company. In selling the benefits of what you do you are educating your prospects on the value of your product(s) or service(s) and the expertise of you and/or your team, hoping the result will be a new customer or client; a new contract. If they should cancel, reschedule, or hold you up with delays, revisions, or cancellations or returns your company needs to be reimbursed. You lose money otherwise because not only were you left unavailable for another prospect or client, but also by way of you and the company's time and resources, the time it took YOU to sell them in the first place, and so on. These are all things that cost you and/or your company money; in other words, these are things of value.

The product(s) and/or service(s) you offer, the tremendous benefits to the end-user, and your own skills and talent are unsurpassed; that holds way more value than you could ever jot down in a quote and it is a value that even the happiest customer can easily habitually ignore if they think it might help save them money. It is the rare customer who isn't going to complain about being "nickeled & dimed", and it is a rarer salesperson or business owner who can still convey value to the customer after the initial sale. The sales cycle doesn't end when schedule an appointment, sell a product, or provide a service. In fact, it never ends, that's why it's called a "cycle".