Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Fun fact. What you think about price determines how much you bank.
[00:00:08] And if you can't imagine selling without a discount, you're stuck in what I call the markdown mindset. Dun, dun, dun.
[00:00:20] I may have to edit it so that. That's in there. Hey, listen, this is just that reflex to slash your price because you're afraid they're going to walk away.
[00:00:31] And here's the problem. The second you do that, friends, you teach yourself. You, you literally are programming yourself to believe that you cannot sell at full value.
[00:00:47] And you teach your customers to wait for the deal.
[00:00:54] Listen, if that stings, good, because the markdown meltdown, if that stings, sorry, not sorry, because the markdown mindset is stealing your confidence. It's draining your profit, and it's filling your business with bargain basement hunters who will never become your best customers.
[00:01:29] So how do you know you've got markdown mindset?
[00:01:33] Well, you discount without a strategy.
[00:01:37] You drop the price before somebody even asks. You lead with a discount.
[00:01:44] You feel like you owe them a better deal to make it fair.
[00:01:49] And here's the big one.
[00:01:54] You don't even feel motivated to show up and sell until there's a discount to offer people.
[00:02:02] Oh, most people I work with are shocked when they realize price is the last L A S T.
[00:02:12] Last, last thing on the list of why people buy. Like what comes. So here it is on the bottom of the list, what comes before why people buy. And this is like selling psychology is authenticity right up there at the top of the list, custom solutions and reliability.
[00:02:35] And there's so many of you who are reaching out to me and you're saying things like, I just don't feel authentic from how I'm showing up, how I'm being taught to show up. And I just want to validate this one thing for you. Authenticity is at the very top of why people buy.
[00:02:54] And that's good news because all of those things, the reliability, the authenticity, the custom solutions, those are all within your control.
[00:03:06] So let's dial it back and talk about why you even feel this way. And, and I will take this right off the table. It's not because you feel bad at sales.
[00:03:16] It's honestly because you feel rejection. Like you'd actually rather lose profit or commission than hear the dreaded word no.
[00:03:27] You also have self limiting beliefs about money in its entirety. And somewhere, somewhere in that self limiting belief, you decided people won't pay that much or they won't pay full price.
[00:03:40] You've actually been conditioned, like by stores and ads like you've actually been conditioned that people only buy on a sale. And I will be honest, there are certain stores and like, if you're listening to this, I know you can definitely verify this. There are certain stores out there. I'm only shopping there when there's a coupon because they offer coupons. Michaels when they offer coupons. Kohl's all the time. Like, they have definitely told me, like, you don't have to ever pay full price here.
[00:04:13] And honestly, discounting for you feels easier than holding the silence after you say a price when they might be thinking about it.
[00:04:26] Now you can unlearn it and I'm going to show you how in this episode. If you're new around here, my name is Genevieve Scory. I am the creator of the Savvy Selling System. I am the host of this podcast, Fix this Grow Fast and a speaker and also a former C Suite executive for a $350 million brand where I was in charge of the sales strategy and training. So I know a little something about this and I can help you.
[00:04:55] But first, can I tell you a story?
[00:04:57] Back in the day when I had a computer training company, I remember going head to head with a national competitor. Like we were a little company. Like I had one office in like an A class building and I had to deal with competitively a company that had stores all across the country and they sold based on discounts, they sold cheap and they sold hard. And they had this like boiler room of salespeople that were constantly just doing whatever it took to get the sale.
[00:05:38] There was always like the biggest sale ever. There was always discounts based on quantity.
[00:05:45] And that was like what made them super competitive. And I knew that if I was going to survive, I had to do something different because I couldn't try to beat them on price. I knew that I would lose. There was no way I could sell at that price. And I also knew that my business would become a commodity, meaning that, like, it's something out there that is so readily available that the only way to compete is to compete on price.
[00:06:16] When you can't compete on service, when you can't compete on authenticity, when everybody has it, it's a commodity. And the only way to sell that is to compete on price.
[00:06:29] And I knew that if I kept undercutting, there would be nothing left profit wise.
[00:06:35] So I flipped the game.
[00:06:37] They wouldn't just buy training from me, they would actually buy me. Like, one of the things I figured out very quickly after losing several bids first was that they didn't have me, the person submitting the bid from this big company didn't really care. They literally were filling in a quote, and this is the price. And if it's between this many classes and this many classes, like, boop, this is the discount. They didn't have me. I knew in my heart that I was better, that I was more authentic, that I was more fun, that I understood learning and I understood teaching better than any.
[00:07:14] And I also knew that those salespeople didn't know that. They didn't know that they couldn't supersede my ability to engage the customer and actually promise them results. You see, they were selling seats in classes. Literally.
[00:07:32] I was selling eliminated friction. I was selling a boutique offering, selling a process that made it easier for decision makers and for students.
[00:07:45] I added things that they didn't think of. I added software demonstrations. Because part of what would happen is you'd get a bunch of people to buy these coupons for these training classes, and then nobody wanted to go because they didn't think that they needed to go to the training, and then the company would have wasted the money. So we came up with the idea that we would go in and do what I call the dog and pony show.
[00:08:07] So we would have throughout the day, a bunch of different demonstrations of the software, showing them how they were doing things the roundabout way.
[00:08:17] And we had custom rollouts, and we even had the option where you could lease an instructor, meaning you would set up a training room in your office.
[00:08:27] We would provide an instructor, and we would provide an instructor that cared, because guess what? She taught all of the classes.
[00:08:37] Now, many people made the switch from price to positioning. They finally stopped chasing every single lead.
[00:08:45] And I even remember a time that we won a bid for a municipality, and they actually wrote every single person on the council and told them there must be something going on because they were less expensive than I was. We had to have all these meetings to show that I had created better value.
[00:09:08] And most people who have made this switch from price to positioning find that they can finally stop chasing every lead.
[00:09:19] Because the right clients, well, they start chasing them. And here's something I wish everybody knew. The highest pay. The highest pay goes to those who are paid for who they are and not just what they do or what they sell.
[00:09:39] As a matter of fact, write this down.
[00:09:43] 90% of why people buy has to do with you.
[00:09:50] So let's break down the markdown mindset makeover. Because who doesn't love a good makeover?
[00:09:58] I'll tell you, if you can just Implement this. It will change everything for you. It'll create more impact, you'll have more confidence, you'll actually even have more fun. It's three easy steps to making price irrelevant and to stop worrying about being the cheapest option.
[00:10:18] Step number one is stop acting like you're selling a commodity and start selling you.
[00:10:24] Even if you're selling a commodity, stop acting like you're selling a commodity. Because if we are all selling, let's say, the pink coffee mug, the question you got to ask yourself is, well, all things being equal, why is someone going to buy it from me? Same price, same product, same outcomes.
[00:10:46] You've got to learn to start selling you. And when you start showing up as you, oh, my gosh, everything changes. You feel so much better.
[00:10:57] Because if you look like everyone else, the only thing you're left to compete on is price.
[00:11:03] So you've got to decide, first off, what do you want people to think and feel about you before you ever present the price? Before they ever see the price tag, what do you want them to think and feel about you? This is a very intentional step.
[00:11:25] Make the buying experience about the product, your expertise, connection, and understanding.
[00:11:34] Notice what I didn't say there. It's not about price.
[00:11:39] Most people I've worked with have said, oh, my gosh, I wish I had done this sooner. Or they say, oh, my gosh, I knew I wasn't selling from a place of authenticity or I knew I wasn't selling from my highest strength.
[00:11:55] There is so much empowerment and freedom in selling you and not fighting to be the cheapest anymore.
[00:12:05] In addition, if you're waiting to get a discount before you even start to talk, if you're waiting to figure out how to make it as cheap as possible before you show up, you're not. Are you having fun? Really? Like, where's the fun in that?
[00:12:25] So many of my clients say, I really wish I had done this sooner, because once they started selling like them, they actually could show up, have fun, create impact, and they didn't feel the pressure to be the cheapest anymore. You know, when I look at the most successful people, you know, barring like a big, huge Amazon that's focused on discounts and quantity. When I look at people who have their own businesses the most, there's like, there's two ends of the spectrum. People are either wildly successful, and, I mean, like gangster money wildly successful, or they haven't figured this out, so they're struggling.
[00:13:08] Step number two, and this is where it gets good.
[00:13:12] Either differentiate or you're Going to die. So you've got to create your own uniqueness package your offer so it can't be price shocked. There's a big difference between here's my price and here's my offer.
[00:13:27] If it's a price, it's here. It's X amount of dollars for my coffee mug. That's it. That's a price. If I'm going to give you an offer, it's going to be an experience.
[00:13:40] Here's what we do. We're going to teach you how to roast your beans. We're going to teach you how to pick beans. We're going to teach you how to create the best cup of coffee ever.
[00:13:51] And so that you have other options in terms of getting better as you go, we're gonna put you in a community of coffee lovers. We get together once a year. We talk all things coffee. It's like coffee heaven. And then on top of that, you're gonna pay for your mug, and then you're going to be part of the community.
[00:14:11] Like, your offer should include the things that make the person believe that they can be successful above and beyond the products.
[00:14:21] I've worked for so many companies that you know what they want to sell. They just want to sell the pen. And every day I wake up and it's transaction after transaction after transaction after transaction. There's really no reason to buy from that person versus somebody else. You know, for my friends in network marketing, a lot of times I've heard over many years that people do things like, well, you know what? I have been busting my butt to try to get my friend to buy, and she ended up buying from somebody else. And I'm like, well, when all things are equal, why would they buy from you? Oh, because I'm their friend. Like, maybe that wasn't enough. Maybe how you were showing up wasn't enough. Maybe you didn't create an offer.
[00:15:05] You were just selling a product.
[00:15:08] So ask yourself, can I name what I sell? Can I add some sort of signature element? Can I bundle things that they don't even expect?
[00:15:18] Because when you're the only one selling that way, you control the terms.
[00:15:24] This was my competitive advantage with that really big company.
[00:15:29] They were just selling like crazy fools. I was selling relationships and solutions and reliability.
[00:15:38] And I'm telling you, there's a ton of my clients that say, I am super surprised at how quickly I stopped getting price objections once I figured out how to make my offer unique and uncomparable.
[00:15:53] Step number three, move yourself positionally from salesperson to Trusted expert.
[00:16:03] Like nobody really wants to buy from a salesperson. They want to buy from a trusted expert. They want to buy from someone who cares about them. They want to buy from someone who, who authentically shows up, is reliable, is believable and offers something unique to them. And that's your person shift from. I can sell this to you. Here's how we're going to get you there.
[00:16:33] Oh, and this is a big one for you guys that are kind of in and out of your businesses or you show up and you don't show up. You have to prove to your customer that, that you are serious, that you're, you're going to be there after the sale. Because believability is a buying trigger. This is a huge mistake that a lot of people make. And when the value is clear, the price becomes irrelevant. Where I see this come into play is there are a lot of people out there with like, this is my side gig or this is my thing I do on the side. Like, yes, you'd like it maybe to be something that replaces your income, but you know what you don't want to do? You don't want to look like you're unreliable. Sometimes I talk about it, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I'm in, sometimes I'm not. Once you buy from me, I'm ghosting you. So it's really important if you want to make price irrelevant that you have a believability in your offer.
[00:17:34] So what are we going to do with this? Well, I want to offer you a safe rep challenge and some magic words.
[00:17:43] Here are your action steps.
[00:17:45] Say your price of your offer.
[00:17:49] So that includes you going back to the drawing board and determining what your offer is.
[00:17:56] Say it out loud 10 times. Today it's $350 to start your transition. Today it's $300 to start your transformation. Today, $5,000 for us to get you on the path of success.
[00:18:14] It's $10,000 to get your business humming and singing and put you in a place of ownership instead of operator.
[00:18:24] There's no discount, there's no qualifiers. There's no laughing at the end.
[00:18:31] There's no maybe. Sorta. Could you. Would you. Here's kind of the price.
[00:18:36] And I have to tell you, if this makes you nervous, like you're gonna have to train yourself to breathe before you pitch.
[00:18:43] A big mistake that people make in sales is they don't take their sales role seriously. Like you see yourself as a part time salesperson instead of the trusted expert. And if you're A trusted expert. You want to play these conversations out in your head again and again and again and again so that by the time you're ready to say it, you're not hearing it for the first time.
[00:19:09] You know, I've spent a lot of time training people and in particular training people how to train on sales and how to do talking. And the one thing that I would have to pull people's teeth on is practice your talk out loud three times. I don't mean in your head, I mean out loud. You've got to hear how it sounds. You've got to hear where you trip up. You've got to hear where it's boring. You've got to hear where you don't have a translate a transition. You've got to hear how you sound. Because a lot of people aren't used to hearing their own voice.
[00:19:42] So get used to practicing and take a breath before you pitch, before you say the price.
[00:19:52] And remember, progress trumps perfection.
[00:19:56] So track and celebrate every time you are calm.
[00:20:02] Track the calm, not the cash. Because every regulated moment is a micro win.
[00:20:10] Every regulated moment tells your body it's safe to say the price, it's safe to say the offer.
[00:20:20] You know, I was listening to some really great sales training because school is never out for the professional. And one of the things this person said, actually it was Russell, Russell Bronson. He said, your offer should be so exciting that you actually can't wait to get there.
[00:20:38] Like I was like, what? Say that again. Like slow.
[00:20:43] It's like your offer needs to be so exciting to you that you literally can't wait to get there. That this is your favorite part of the presentation. I mean, I just imagine in my head being able to say, now we're going to talk about my favorite part of the presentation. Now we're going to talk about the favorite part of my. This is my favorite part of our conversation.
[00:21:08] What I'm going to say now, right?
[00:21:13] This really changed everything for me because when I thought about, oh my gosh, that's so true. If the offer is so good, if I've set it up in a way that really creates a winning pathway for them, I should be really excited to talk about that. I shouldn't shrink away from that. And when you practice, you're going to save yourself money. Months and months of trial and error.
[00:21:39] So let's insert some magic words.
[00:21:43] One of the magic words that we know for sure is because.
[00:21:47] Because definitely justifies without over explaining. So make sure you're using the word because another magic Word is here's how we'll get there together.
[00:21:59] This actually shifts the brain from transaction, yours and theirs to, to partnership. Here's how we'll get there together.
[00:22:07] And you heard me use this several times today. I did use because and also I used most people.
[00:22:14] I use the phrase most people.
[00:22:17] Most people create social proof and it reduces their perceived risk. Most people who work with me or my best clients say those are all magic words. So let's break it down. I'll give you a couple examples for different industries. So let's say you're in coaching and consulting. You might say most people who work with me find that after the first 30 days they're already closing more sales without dropping their price.
[00:22:48] Most clients discover that by week two, they've gained back the confidence that they thought that they'd lost.
[00:22:56] Most people are surprised by how quickly they stop needing to make discounts to get a sale.
[00:23:03] If you're in online education and courses, maybe it's. Most of my students tell me that they wish they'd learned this pricing strategy much earlier.
[00:23:14] Most people are shocked by how simple it is once they see the step by step framework.
[00:23:20] Because my graduates feel confident in charging full price, they're actually making more money and doing so by the end of the first module.
[00:23:31] If you're in health and wellness, most people start feeling more energy within the first week of following the entire program.
[00:23:39] Could be because the entire program works synergistically, you can count on feeling results within the first 30 days.
[00:23:47] Most of my clients find their confidence comes back faster than they expected.
[00:23:54] Most customers are surprised at how sustainable this feels compared to what they've tried before.
[00:24:01] Let's say you're in the creative services business like you're a designer, a photographer, et cetera.
[00:24:07] Most people tell me they didn't realize how much easier this process could be until we work together.
[00:24:14] Because there's so much value and so much personal attention in this program. I, I have a very high repeat customer and retention rate.
[00:24:25] Because people love the program and get results so fast, they're referring their friends before they even finish the project.
[00:24:32] And if you have a product based or retail business, it could be something like most people tell us they'd gladly pay more now that they know the difference in quality.
[00:24:43] Most customers end up reordering within 30 days because they can't imagine going back to to what they used to do before.
[00:24:51] Because so many people get such great results from the products, they can't imagine living their life without it.
[00:24:57] See how that all works and because most people find this of high value and most people want to sell without discounting their prices all the time.
[00:25:08] I've got something special for you. If this hit home for you, I want to offer you the Markdown mindset Detox. This is my free guide to help you learn how to sell at full price without flinching. It includes some verbiage. You'll learn how to build value, how to hold your price, and how to stop training your customers to wait for a deal.
[00:25:32] Grab it in the URL in the Show Notes below and start making price irrelevant in your business today.
[00:25:41] If you enjoyed this podcast, and I know you did, make sure you leave a comment, leave a review, and in the Show Notes, there's an opportunity for you to join our newsletter or get a consultation. I'm excited to stay connected with you and have you as part of our community.
