Are you using the placebo effect to your sales advantage?
The stories that we tell ourselves are the most powerful. People, by and large, believe that they get what they pay for: that's the placebo effect. Are you using it to your advantage?
What do you expect when you get something for free? In most cases nowadays, you expect to end up on a mailing list and hope to not have your inbox strangled to death by promotions. Of course, that's how many of you began receiving my emails every Sunday.
On the flip side, I don't expect a whole lot out of you, because you don't have a whole lot of skin in the game when it comes to this relationship. I asked for your contact information in exchange for the ability to send you a regular message that I hope you'll read and enjoy. Maybe something will resonate. Maybe you'll tell me you like it. Maybe you'll even tell a friend to sign up. But given a lack of a significant transaction, neither of us expects a whole lot from the other, outside of basic respect and digital decency.
I had a client tell me once that he loved reading the premarket studies for new pharmaceuticals. "It's fascinating," he said, "how many people receiving the placebo drug complain of significant side effects."
The mental and emotional aspect of participation is immense. Expectations ratchet up quickly as soon as there is a significant investment involved. All of a sudden there are potential risks- real or imagined.
What else could I do with that money? Is this the best use? Am I paying too much?
All worthwhile questions to ask, and they all serve a common purpose for the seller: attention. The kind of attention that you don't get when the price is low or free. The kind of attention and emotional involvement that you beg for as a salesperson, and that you don't get nearly as often as you'd like.
That's why I always loved selling at a high price point. It gets attention. It often creates intrigue and emotion, especially when the prospect doesn't know why something would cost 20% more than the similar product they're already using.
The buyer starts to think... This doesn't make sense, maybe I'm missing something...
Asking how much something costs is a buying signal. Getting irritated when it costs too much is an even bigger one. When you want to speak with me about why my product costs so much, you're interested, you're emotional, and you're skeptical. You're leaning in, trying to figure out why, and now I've got you right where I want you.
Sure, not everybody leans in. Most casual buyers (most of them only concerned about price) don't care to put in the effort. In this way, my prospects begin to qualify themselves. I'm still not going to make every sale, despite the additional intrigue. However, the people that buy become loyal customers. They're begging me at the outset to justify the value on the higher cost. They're intrigued by what my company and I bring to the table in addition to the solution. There has to be something. They're looking for it, and if they go as far as deciding to purchase, it's because they appreciate that something, and I'll never fight competition on the basis of cost. Aren't those the customers you're looking for?
Let's contrast that approach to how many of you are selling by leading with a low price. Those of you who feel you sell a commodity and regularly lose business to competitors on the Internet. You make it a financial conversation at the outset, and you feed into the story that your buyer is telling herself that she can absolutely get a better deal elsewhere. It's no wonder she's not engaged. It's no wonder she's not loyal. It's no wonder you're constantly frustrated.
Should you raise your prices just to have these conversations? Maybe. Maybe not. If nothing else, I want you to think about the value of having real sales conversations, about piquing interest, about getting 'the lean.' By making it solely about the transaction at the lowest cost, you're making it about the lowest opt-in, and that means the least amount of engagement. If people believe they get what they pay for, and if they're not paying a lot, what do they expect? Is the story you're encouraging right now in your prospect's mind the one you want them believing?
Jeff Bajorek
Real. Authentic. Experience.
There’s a big difference between knowing how to sell and being able to. Jeff Bajorek spent over a decade in the field as a top performer. He’s been in your shoes. He knows what it will take. He can help you succeed.
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