Selling Goods or Services without Selling Yourself Short

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Whether they’re millionaires or they live in a van down by the river, customers love a good deal. That’s partly why the local TV commercials for “Uncle Bob and Aunt Tammy’s Ginormous RV Super Center” that boast “prices so low, you’ll burst a kidney” are as successful as they are.

Of course, there’s selling, and then there’s selling yourself short. Too many entrepreneurs sell out early in the sales negotiation process. As a result, they don’t get what they deserve! This slice is all about what a lowly banjo taught me about optimizing your leverage at the negotiating table.

Click to tweet this: Let your customer play the opening riff in the “Dueling Banjos” of pricing negotiation. @DaveCrenshaw

Video transcript:

If your customers aren’t just a touch uncomfortable with the price of your product or service, odds are your price is too low.

I had an experience when I was about sixteen or seventeen, I had a banjo and I wanted to sell it so that I could get a better banjo. I took it into the music store and he asked me “How much do you want for this banjo?”

And I thought two hundred and fifty dollars because that seemed like a lot of money to me at that time.

He immediately said “Sold!”

It was a powerful lesson in my life because I realized I had undersold. I probably should have asked two or three times that.

So, how do you avoid underselling yourself? I recommend that you slow down in the selling process and let them share their first price. Or, if that doesn’t work out, aim for a high price. Then let them negotiate from there.

So my question for you is—are you underselling your product or service? Please share that in the comments section below.

Also, if you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future video, ask that below as well.

Thanks for watching. Now go close the deal.


Struggling to close sales that should be a slam dunk? The problem might not be what you sell, but how you get results. Get free, instant access to Dave's newest book, The Result: The Practical, Proven Formula for Getting What You Want.
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