Tag Archives: B2B

Your Price Is Too High!

Your Price Is Too HighWho in sales hasn’t heard these words?

Buyers have many ways of saying your price is too high:

  • “We are reducing down to only two suppliers. If you want to be one of them, you’ll need to sharpen your pencil.”  
  • “I don’t care about service, delivery or quality.  Price is all that is important.”  
  • “My guys sell what the customers want.  They don’t see the difference.”
  • “I need an incentive to cut off a long-term vendor.  You must be lower if you want me to do so.”

Remember, it is the buyer’s job to discount your value, while simultaneously securing it.

The forgotten elements of price that are part of your value

Overcoming Price ObjectionsMost everyone thinks of the invoice price and terms.

But these forgotten values of price are part of the total picture that you must paint for your merchant.

In other words, this is part of the value you are bringing, not just a price.

  • Growth rebates
  • Promotional allowances
  • Show specials
  • Special buys
  • Advertising allowances
  • Co-op plans
  • Pallet configurations
  • Terms
  • Dating
  • Price protection
  • Rebates
  • Pick-up allowances
  • Guaranteed service cycles
  • Merchandising allowances
  • Service
  • Packaging
  • Stocking allowances
  • Customer accommodations
  • Inventory consignment

And more that are unique to your industry.

Each of these elements makes up your pricing – and your value – to the buyer. Don’t forget them when negotiating and remember they all are eating away at your account profitability.

Your price is too high really means “You haven’t shown your value to me”

I Said Your Price Is Too HighSurvey after survey of retailers, dealers, distributors, contractors and homeowners shows that price is rarely the key driver in the decision process. In fact, it is usually 4th or 5th.

Make sure that the customer has truly earned and justified the price they need. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples and considering all of the forgotten elements of price. Understand what you are up against by asking smart questions and getting all the facts.

Once price is relinquished make sure you have gained something for the value you provided. Finally, communicate thoroughly, professionally and always be reinforcing your value.

Being competitive is more than just price

Lowest Price Is Not Always BetterWhat added value can you offer?

  • What else can we bring to the party other than price?
  • How can we help grow the customer’s sales?
  • How can we lower their cost?
  • Can we use any of our unique capabilities to keep from cutting the price?

Marketing is all about 4 P’s, only one of which is Price

Marketing MixMake sure you spend as much time understanding pricing as any other one of the P’s.

Pricing deserves respect, attention and creativity. You will be rewarded with greater profitability and be more competitive as a result.

Good Selling!

Greg Bonsib is an author of the new Mighty Guides Ebook Data Disruption.

Active Search Results (ASR) is an independent Internet Search Engine using a proprietary page ranking technology with Millions of popular Web sites indexed.

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5 Ways To Make B2B Communications More Effective

five quick tips for making your communications more powerfulWhat is your one competitive advantage – smarter? faster? cheaper? – or the most service-driven player in the field? You need to find it and communicate it. Because being all things to all people went out with floppy disks and slide projectors.

This insight comes from Bill Faust, managing partner at Ologie. I’m sharing his original article combined with an updated version from the Ologie site: Think B2B doesn’t apply to you? Think again.

Use these 5 tips to power up your B2B marketing

5 Tips fopr making B2B communications more powerfulCommunicating with a business audience is very different from talking to consumers. And this is important because just about organization has to do both.

Here are five quick tips for making your communications more powerful, B2B or not.

1. Simplify the complex

Channel Marketing Can Help You Through The Customer MazeDon’t hide behind your jargon. Every potential client or prospect wants the plain truth – straight talk, simple terms and no-nonsense explanations.

Regardless of how complex the product or service, avoid the temptation of using complicated explanations and overly technical copy to make your selling point. You understand it, your customers might not.

Break it down into simple chunks and focus on the benefits. Skip the laundry list and focus on the relevant results. Walk step by step through your business. It’s complex information. Show them that you’re smart enough to keep it simple.

 2. Focus on the benefits

In any industry, it’s easy to get caught up in who you are and what you do: your products, your services, your offers, your approach, and your capabilities. But your clients would rather hear about what’s in it for them. As you communicate, stay focused on the benefits—what you will do for clients. You’re bound to make more connections that way.

3. Consistency, consistency, consistency

Consistency Consistency ConsistencyIn real estate, it’s location, in B2B it’s consistency. Consistent execution. Consistent branding. Consistent focus.

This is especially true for communications. From your website to collateral to PowerPoint presentations, show a clear and consistent image with a single, powerful voice. One-eyed branding. There’s too much competition out there already – don’t add to that by looking like two companies instead of one.

4. Make the intangible tangible

confused-manNo matter what you’re selling, from legal advice to IT consulting to business insurance, there are ways to make intangible products and services tangible.

Use narratives, metaphors, analogies, and case studies. Lean on video, photography, and infographics. Make what you do more tangible, and you’ll quickly transform your communications.

Remember; just because you get it doesn’t mean your customers do. You live it, every day. And, believe it or not, that can be a disadvantage.

So think like your prospect.  Get in their head. Step back and ask the dumb questions. The same questions your customer is probably asking all the time. After all, a little naivete can go a long way.

5. Be bold and behold

keep-calm-and-be-boldB2B doesn’t mean your marketing has to be like watching paint dry. Differentiate your company and your offer by being bold and taking some chances. Stand out in the crowd. Use your communications to get noticed and get your message to cut through in a crowded marketplace.

Many marketers assume that they have to be emotionless, or they won’t be taken seriously. Nonsense. Most B2B marketing requires communicating with senior management. Don’t underestimate them. They’re educated, sophisticated and well-traveled. They get humor and subtle messaging. They appreciate the unexpected. They look for out-of-the-box thinking. Show all of that in your communications.

Use your communications to stand out in the crowd, and you’ll get your message across. The safe road isn’t always the one leading to prosperity.

Good Selling!

Active Search Results (ASR) is an independent Internet Search Engine using a proprietary page ranking technology with Millions of popular Web sites indexed.

How To Tell If It’s Time To Fire Your Ad Agency

Should You Fire Your Ad AgencyGoing through an ad agency review for a is both difficult and energizing. Every meeting brings new insights. You see opportunities, solid creative and begin to see how this could help bridge some of your sales gaps.

Make no mistake, the effort involved is overwhelming in identifying and selecting a new marketing communications firm. Programs are on hold and the team is making do because the compelling new marketing theme/tagline/look is just around the corner. That’s the hope anyway.

Is it time to fire your ad agency?

Is It Time To Fire Your Ad AgencyMark Mitchell and I discuss this topic in length in his recent blog Is it Time to Fire Your Agency? posted on Whizard Strategy.

While there are a few good B2B client/agency relationships, Mark has seen over and over that find the majority of them are not very strong.  The result is that the client doesn’t get the results they should.

We explore 10 key situations that undermine a strong relationship.

  1. They don’t understand your business
  2. Purchase motivations are more complicated and nuanced than, “The customer will make more money selling your product”
  3. They don’t ask why
  4. They think increased spending is the only way to succeed
  5. You don’t have access to the leaders
  6. Constant turnover of your team
  7. What is their measure of success?
  8. A focus on creativity over strategy
  9. You feel taken for granted
  10. You can’t imagine the agency leaving you

More importantly, we provided you an actionable Ask Yourself tip to each one to help you better understand if that might be your situation.

There are a lot of agencies who do a good job of servicing their clients. Mark notes, “In my experience, there are a lot more who make a number of these mistakes. It’s like any good relationship, you have to work at it and not just take things for granted.”

What if the problem is you?

Time To Fire Your Ad AAgencyMark and I also see a lot of good agencies who can’t do a good job because their client gets in the way.  I know – I’ve been that client. Here are some ways this happens.

  1. Thinking that you are the creative person
  2. You hold back information
  3. You are cheap

Agency client relationships are the best when both groups are open and honest about the issues the business is facing and what it will take to overcome them. When these relationships are true partnerships, both companies will ultimately succeed and grow.

Good Selling!

About The Authors: Mark Mitchell is a Sales and Marketing Consultant who specializes in helping business owners and senior executives in the building materials industry overcome difficult sales problems. Using his extensive hands-on experience, he shows them how to creative effective strategies to identify and eliminate blind spots that allow them to get past the roadblocks that keep them from realizing their revenue goals. Click here to learn more about his one-day workshop “Selling Today’s Building Materials Prospect.” Or sign up for his monthly building material marketing newsletter here. 

Greg Bonsib gives his perspective from the client side. Greg has extensive experience in working with agencies in his marketing leadership positions at ODL, Owens Corning, Rubbermaid, Sentry Safe and Zenith Products. Greg also publishes an industry leading blog on Channel Marketing.

Active Search Results (ASR) is an independent Internet Search Engine using a proprietary page ranking technology with Millions of popular Web sites indexed.