I do a lot of work with our sales people at AutoNetTV. One of the recurring statements/themes in our coachings and trainings is, “Did you focus on the value?” One of the analogies we like to use is; you walk into my office and I hold up a pair of scissors. I ask, “Do you want to buy these for $2 dollars?” Typically the response is, “No, I don’t need scissors and if I did I know where to get some.”
Then I say, “Ok, let’s say I tie you to your chair. Do you want to get free?” Inevitably I get the wisenheimers that tell me all sorts of things that range from, “I’ll wait till the police come to let me free, then you’ll be in trouble” to “No, I like to be tied up” (no judgment here).
But the point remains the same. You are now tied to your chair and I have a pair of scissors that I’m offering to sell to you. Do you want them? The answer, whether grumbled tentatively or offered with a light bulb illuminated face is always, “Yes, I want to get free and the scissors would do it.” Then I say, “Well, the price just went up to $50 dollars, you still want the scissors?” Most people reply, “Well, $50 dollars is worth not spending the night here tied to a chair, so yes I’d pay that much.”
You see, scissors are a commodity that everyone knows where to get and frankly… aren’t that valuable. But when you connect the commodity to a use, the commodity takes on the value of the need associated with the use. Suddenly you’ve created something much more valuable.
Few consumers understand the benefits of services and/or preventative maintenance. Even fewer connect that benefit to their lives and see the potential ‘tied up’ times looming if they don’t get their car serviced now.
People are willing and happy to spend money when they get a good value. Chances are, you are giving an excellent value to your customers and they just don’t know it, so they don’t appreciate it as much as they should or could. Let us help you communicate the value of your services by connecting them to the use. You’ll sell more services and your customers will thank you for it! In sales, we call that a Win-Win.
By Jon Ellsworth, V.P. Operations, AutoNetTV Media, Inc.