No More Pack and Drop!
by Hal Slater

What is a ‘Pack’ and ‘Drop’?
We all need a reason to buy... TODAY. Whether we are buying or selling, we need a reason that will stimulate action. When we are buying, we like the reasons to be our own, but when we are selling, we like to be able to control the timing, so we must provide the reason. Your buyers feel the same way and that’s what makes it so challenging. The question is not whether to use a closing incentive, the question is how to offer one without losing your credibility. When you offer a reason to buy today, why won’t your reason be valid tomorrow?

Many sales-people try to offer a discount for buying today but few buyers believe that the discount would not be available tomorrow, or any other day for that matter. They have been conditioned by advertising offers and other amateurish salespeople to believe that theses ‘special’ offers aren’t very ‘special’ at all. They are usually right. If they are right, your salesperson becomes a liar in the prospect’s eyes and that seriously diminishes the chances of a sale, now or later.

The best reasons to buy today are the buyers’ reasons and it is the mission of the astute sales professional to uncover and target those motives. If you know that there in no compelling reason to act today, it is the job of management to provide one. If the salesperson must ‘pack’ the price for a subsequent ‘drop’ this is where credibility will be lost. If the buyers don’t believe in the first price, they won’t believe in the second price, either. Since the salesperson made up the first price, he or she will not be as credible representing it. The alternative is to hire only salespeople who can lie with impunity and I believe that you can imagine the problems that policy would bring.

If we want honest, credible and effective salespeople, we have to provide them with a reason they can give their customers to buy today, and it should be an honest reason. Added value premiums typically work better than cash discounts but it is the reason it is being offered that is most important. If the buyer is sold on the value of the product or service, and can afford it, and has a credible reason why it would be advantageous to act now, you have the elements of a sale. In lieu of any elaborate fabrication, you could tell the truth; marketing, including follow up, costs money. Ask them, “We know we are going to spend the money. Which would you prefer, that we spend the money to give you bonus gift X, or that we spend the money to pay George, our telemarketer, to stay in touch with you until you have made up your mind?”

I will admit, that’s not the strongest incentive to act that I have had to work with, but it is universally true that follow up costs money and you can deliver your product at a lower cost if your buyers are closed on the first call. By sharing that savings with only those who act today, and this is the hard part, you can improve your salespeople’s performance and make your buyers feel like they received special treatment. The difficulty will come when somebody wants to get yesterday’s special today. If you give in, you undermine the credibility of the offer in the minds of the salespeople, if you do not, you are forced to turn away business that you may need, at any price. I recommend that you stick to your guns but it is a decision that you must make for yourself. Welcome to the real world of sales.