It's Q4 already, which means you begged your way into barely making your Q3 number, and now the biggest stall of the fall is already being thrown your way.
With the holidays already here (Halloween seems to be an official holiday) we've already had Amazon Prime Day, Christmas ads are running, and you know along with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, these other crazy online sale offers will be flying everywhere, including your inbox, voicemail, and SMS promising...
- once-in-a-lifetime pricing!
- best pricing of the year!
- offers good until noon today!
- prices too low to put into print!
As a salesman, sales trainer, and fellow entrepreneur, I understand that time kills deals and nothing creates urgency like a deadline.
And if you need to make up for lost time—and lost revenue—having a sale is a great way to bring in an influx of cash.
However, if you are going to offer a discount, make sure you have a reason—an excuse—to both offer the lower price, and to also return to your full price when the prospect asks for that lower price after the sale ends.
A Good Excuse For a Sale
When I say you need to have a reason or an excuse, it can literally be ANYTHING as long as it's SOMETHING other than...
I'm not going to hit my quota unless I swallow my pride, throw myself at your mercy, accept any terms and conditions you force upon me, and whimper back to the office with the sorry excuse for a sales order with which you bludgeoned me...but at least I made my quota...this time."
In other words, if the prospect is just beating you up and forcing you to "sharpen your pencil" either because she's a better negotiator or she knows when your desperate season is, she's in control and will always be in control of your pricing for as long as they are a customer of yours.
When you sell by price, you'll die by price.
Once you start that merry go round of doom, it's hard to get off.
But if you do throw blood into the water, make sure you're not the chum by tying your sale to an event or an excuse such as:
- Scratch and dent sale
- Moving sale
- Make room for the remodeling sale
- Company anniversary sale
- Wedding anniversary sale
- Your birthday sale
- March Madness = Mad Savings When You Order By March 31st
- Only a Fool Would Not Lock In These April Savings
- Bring In Your Tax Refund and We'll Match It
- My kid needs braces so I'm having a sale to pay for them (I did this one)
- My kid is getting his/her driver's license, so I'm having a sale to pay for my headache medicine...and his, his, her, her, her car (with two more to go!)
- My child is getting married so I'm having a sale to pay for the wedding
- May is "photo month" so post a picture of you using our product to our Facebook page and receive 10% your next order in May and the picture with the most comments and shares gets a 50% coupon
Use this site of Funny Days and Weird Holidays to find inspiration for your next sale.
It takes creativity and discipline to hit your sales numbers before midnight on the last day of the month and without begging and offering deep discounts.
Want to be inspired on how to make that happen?
Check out the interview I did with sales superstar, Oren Klaff, on episode 142 of The Sales Podcast.
If you need more help growing your sales, consider joining me here...
