April Tip of the Month

What should you do when your prospect or customer wants a discount?

The process is simple:

If someone asks for a discount and you are open to it (as it depends on the account), you simply ask them “what kind of discount are they looking for to move forward?”

You will get 2 responses:

a. They won’t tell you but will say “you do your best and come back”

b. They tell you

  • They won’t tell you: you tell them that you don’t want to guess. You would love to do business with them so encourage them to tell you. If they don’t, then accept and do your best and hope you win (but your odds are lower).
  • They Tell you: you tell them that you will try to see what you can do (unless you know on the stop that it is or is NOT possible) and that if you are able to meet that, you expect the business (said in a nicer way). If it’s not possible, tell them. No sense in discounting a $40,000 to $32,000 when someone only wants to spend $25,000.

Discounting exists but there needs to be a “reasonability” barometer. And .. you are challenging your customer to say .. “if I meet this, the biz is mine”, right? (again, said in a nicer way).