Sell from Strength

Buzzwords in the Sales profession come and go like fads.  As I sit here in my parachute pants and tie-die shirt listening to Depeche Mode, I realize that not all buzzwords that are new and current are necessarily fads!  I’ll try to make my point quickly, as my Jackson 5 tribute band has practice in 20 minutes.
Selling from Strength seems like a passing buzzword, but it really should go into your mental inventory as a true north principle-based habit.  True north on the globe doesn’t change.  It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, which season, or where Haley’s comet is in the solar system.  True north always stays the same (magnetic north does change, but this isn’t a science lesson now, is it?)
One of the biggest behavioral observations I have in the post-2008 market environment is that most buyers are looking for value.  Shoot, I went to Sonic drive in last week for happy hour and made the manager top off my vat-sized 85-cent diet Coke because I felt like I was being ripped off!  I mean, really, people want to preserve the value in their purchase!
Which is why good salespeople know that selling from strength means raising the non-financial value of the sale in the mind of the buyer.  Buyers ask for a deal or a discount because they can understand a discount.  They can quantify the deal….. or can they?  You see, a buyer can’t live in a discount.  They can’t drive a discount.  They can’t eat a discount, make copies with a discount, or get better by taking a discount 3x a day with plenty of water.   In my world, they need a house.  Selling from strength means demonstrating effectively what comes WITH the house, all the details, all the benefits, before discussing price or incentive.  The whole story, the entire enchilada – BEFORE talking price.  Price without an accurate frame of reference is weak, and often results in failure.  Price in the context of value now makes sense, and can help you make more cents.

Location: Alpharetta, GA, USA

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