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Ask The Expert with Adrian Ulsh

by | Adrian Ulsh, In the Magazine

featuring Adrian Ulsh, CEO Leader Publishing Worldwide

Q. Hi Adrian, I’m struggling with a client that competes solely on price. He never had much competition until recently and now several of his competitors are easily undercutting his pricing and he’s screaming for help. Any suggestions?

Jerry Oliver   Spokane, Washington

Hi Jerry,

Recently, I read a wonderful article in Go-To-Market Strategies regarding the topic of selling value versus price. If you have ever read any of my columns, books or training courses, you have undoubtedly heard me say repeatedly that prospects don’t buy price… they buy value.

That’s why your client must first focus on identifying the specific things their ideal clients want… and then looking for ways to innovate their business so they not only give them what they want… they go above and beyond what their prospects were expecting.

All small business owners, at some point in time, are faced with the pressure to negotiate price. This is especially true for those who sell, or want to sell at the higher end of their market.

There are many schools of thought about dealing with this common sales objection, but the general consensus is to steer the prospect away from the conversation of price and toward a discussion of VALUE.

But what is value?

Technically, value means “the amount of money or relative worth that’s considered to be the fair equivalent for what’s to be received in return.” Should be easy to identify and communicate, right? If it were only that easy. The truth about selling value is that it sounds much easer than it is to actually do.

So, as your client begins to develop their “value pitch,” remember these two very important things… their value must be RELEVANT to their buyer… and it must be an EXCLUSIVE value-ADD… meaning only your client offers it.

Let me give you a quick example of this. There was an advertisement on TV for LaQuinta Inns several years ago. I have stayed at LaQuinta several times in the past and have always found them clean and comfortable. I would rate them in the middle of the road for hotels. They’re better than Motel 6 but not on the same level as a Hilton.

So what were they highlighting in their advertisements? They focused on the fact that they have remodeled their sleeping rooms and their lobbies. And guess what? They have COMPLETELY missed the boat. Rooms and lobbies are NOT the hot button issues with travelers. First of all, I EXPECT a nice room when I go to a LaQuinta Inn. In fact, the rooms they show me in their ads actually look tackier than what I remember when I last stayed there. The rooms look exactly like a room in a Motel 6.

As for the lobby, how much time did you spend in the lobby at the last hotel you stayed at? Who cares anything at all about the rooms or the lobby? No one… because travelers expect both of those to be nice. The key to selling value is to give your prospects what they want and expect so you don’t disappoint… but then you MUST “innovate” your business so you blow them off the face of the earth by exceeding what they expect.

If I owned a LaQuinta Inn in southern California for instance, and my ideal client was a family of four enjoying vacation time, then I know they expect a nice room, clean sheets and towels, probably a swimming pool for the kids and a continental breakfast in the morning. Bu that’s what they EXPECT… so I better make sure I offer all of those.

But what if during check-in, I inform them that they will receive, as part of our service, a 5 minute vacation analysis with our concierge. During the meeting with the parents, the concierge discovers the family is on vacation… and they plan to take the kids to Sea World in San Diego, Disneyland in Anaheim and Universal Studios in Hollywood.

What if the concierge handed them discounted tickets to each of the parks, discounted meal coupons at restaurants close by all of those parks, provided them with free passes to a live filming of one of the kids favorite TV shows and then handed them a Garmin GPS locator to make sure they never got lost during their adventure?

And all of this is complimentary. Think they might “notice” this service? Think they might just mention this to friends, family, relatives, acquaintances and business associates when they return home? Think the local newspaper, radio and TV stations “might” be interested in doing a local news spot on this hotel offering this remarkable “standard” service?

Now, you might be asking what all of this would cost LaQuinta. All of the discount coupons are provided by the parks. Same thing for the meal discounts from the restaurants. The ONLY cost LaQuinta would incur would be to purchase the Garmin GPS locators for a hundred bucks… and they would last for years.

By the way, what if the hotel created a special “vacation package” that included all of these services and discounts? Think they could charge an additional 20% per day for the room rate… and get it all day long? You wouldn’t be able to book the demand for this hotel fast enough.

Can you see what I mean by “value?”

It truly is in the eye of the beholder. That’s why I encourage you to focus on ways you can “innovate” your client’s business. If you massively innovate their business, marketing becomes easy. The value becomes so apparent all you have to do is just mention it without worrying about fancy words or magic phrases. Try it and see if it works for your client’s business. I guarantee you won’t be sorry.

 About Adrian Ulsh

Adrian Ulsh is the CEO for Leader Publishing Worldwide, the largest online provider of coaching services worldwide. Adrian currently works with more than 500 coaches in 24 countries advising them on building 6 and 7 figure coaching practices.

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