In last month’s coaching session on sales, Mark Leeper spoke about integrity as a key component of sales. Having credibility with a client or potential client is absolutely key. Discounting or throwing in extras to get the business undermines your credibility. Although it may get you the sale in the short run, it makes things difficult for customer service, resells, upsells and the rest of the process in the long run.

Ryan Keough, our guest instructor this month, says: Too many CSR staff and Junior salespeople feel that discounting to “get the customer in the door” is the only way to grow business, when it actually acts in a counterproductive way… because the customer uses price as the first differentiator, when QUALITY should be first and foremost. Honest and fair pricing needs to be given proper attention these days. Customer service teams need to be involved in these decisions, and pricing rationales need to be communicated to them.

In an ABCI podcast last year with Jason Marrs, Jason explained that providing large discounts undermines your credibility because customers naturally wonder – if you’re giving it to me for this price now, then the discounted price must be the “real price” and anything you charge above that, under any circumstances, is “B.S. Discounting is an advanced sales strategy and needs to be done with careful consideration to credibility, positioning in the market, your other customers, and your long-term sales strategy. Join us for the podcast Wednesday February 8 at 1:00 p.m! Coaching program members and consulting clients have already been invited, if you’d like to join us send me an email – Paula@AviationBusinessConsultants.com and I’ll send you the details.