In this episode of The Small Biz Fix, we spoke to sales expert Frances Pratt and small-business owner Jasmine Parasram about how entrepreneurs can beat sales shyness and grow their income. Listen to the episode for proven tips to quickly upgrade your sales, retention strategies, and how to fix the number one mistake business owners make when selling.
With the cost of doing business rising, seizing a share of your customer’s wallet is more important than ever. But many business owners cringe at the idea of asking their customers for money – and with rising living costs, it’s only gotten trickier to talk price without wincing.
Small-business owner Jasmine Parasram knows the feeling all too well. In the early days of running her design business, she struggled to quote her prices with confidence.
“I was preemptively discounting,” she recounts. “I would find myself going, ‘It’s going to be $500, but you know, it’s okay – just pay $250!’”
Inside Small Business Editor Mia Lockett talks to Jasmine in the second episode of The Small Biz Fix podcast about how the entrepreneur went from sales-shy to sales success. A key driver in this process, according to Jasmine, was to start approaching the “the money conversation” from a very different angle.
If you’re also struggling to talk about the cost of your services, here are some top tips from this episode to help you do it – without feeling awkward, pushy, or guilty.
1. Flag when you’ll discuss money at the beginning
Sales coach Frances Pratt – our industry expert for this episode of the podcast – recommends flagging “the money bit” at the beginning of the conversation, if it’s appropriate.
“The thing that I think is really useful for people is to flag it,” she says. “Then everyone can relax because they know that you’re not going to ask them to buy until ‘over there’.”
For example, let’s say someone has approached you to talk about your products or services. You might briefly walk them through how you handle this type of conversation: from understanding more about the customer’s problem, to exploring whether you can solve it, to talking about your products and services and what they cost.
2. Before you discuss money, make sure your value is clear
In the ideal sales conversation, the customer sees the monetary value of your product or service as irrelevant – because in the long run, they are saving money (or time, or stress) by purchasing it.
For this to happen, you should not only listen to your customer’s pain points, but revisit them before you discuss money. Thank them for sharing their challenges with you, review how your products and/or services could alleviate their challenges, and then bring up the price.
“Before I talk about price, I review the conversation with the client – because price is what you pay, but value is what you get,” Frances sums up. “We want them excited and engaged with getting the value that we’ve discussed through the solution component.”
3. Don’t assume that the client wants a lower price
Something that Jasmine Parasram had to internalise was that customers weren’t asking her the price so that they could swindle her, or get a discount. They were asking because they genuinely didn’t know.
“We’re taught from a very young age that if we see something with a dollar sign, the first thing to think is, ‘Can we afford that?’” Jasmine says. “But when we’re pricing our services, when we’re selling our services, we aren’t actually the ones paying the bill.”
Additionally, a higher price can signal that your products and services are truly valuable. If you discount, you might actually be eroding customer trust.
4. Know your boundaries
Jasmine shares that she puts up sticky notes around her office to remind herself of her boundaries.
“I have one right in front of me at the moment that says negotiate the deliverables, not the dollars,” she says.
Negotiating deliverables and not dollars is a great example of a boundary you can set to avoid accidentally undercharging. If a customer can’t afford you, review services first – not the price.
“So if you come in and say, I’ve got a branding package for $5,000 with all the bells and whistles, maybe they don’t need all of the bells and whistles,” says Jasmine. “Maybe they just need the bells.”
5. The first quote sets up your value
Often, the first price you quote is about setting up your value – not about being the perfect price for the customer. This first price sets the standard; it’s the baseline value of your products, services, and expertise. You can then negotiate deliverables from here.
Knowing your worth – and therefore being able to instill trust in the customer – was a recurring theme in this episode of The Small Biz Fix. It’s not just important for nailing “the money part” of a sales conversation, but all the rest of the sales process too.
Want to know more? Listen to Episode 2 above or on your favourite podcast app.
