The success of any margin improvement initiative is to use it. Yet we see that system price is reduced at order entry by sales people over 50% of the time. So, no matter how much effort you’ve put into your numbers, they won’t impact your bottom line if your sales people don’t trust them.
At Profit2, our pricing service offers more than number crunching. Our methodology addresses both price and sales behavior to ensure that the price is right and that your sales people buy in. Here are five ways we involve your sales team when establishing prices when you work with Profit2:
- Start Early – Nothing kills a program like rumors and fearful imagination. We make sure the sales people are included from the beginning and are comfortable with the methodology and understand exactly how their input will be included.
- Play Defense – By including sales people in the decision about which customers and items are price sensitive, and by protecting those prices, sales people are much more willing to trust system pricing on non-sensitive sales.
- Build Trust – Profit2 works with distributors and manufacturers to design a program that will build sales people trust over time. This can mean starting very slowly and only increasing margin on the least price sensitive sales. When a sales person’s worst fears don’t come true, then trust is gained and the program can move forward. The good news is, even a margin increase on a little as 20% of sales can generate significant impact on the bottom line.
- Give Sales the Final Say – At Profit2, we have seen system price utilization increase from 50% to 85% of sales by giving sales people the final say on customer price increases.
- Measure and Review – If you know where you’re going, you’ll know if you’ve gotten there. Profit2’s proprietary client dashboard gives sales people and management frequent feedback on margin performance. This means your sales team can monitor utilization as they go and management can set clear goals.
