Customer Reviews

How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors : Winning Every Sale at Full Price, Rate, or Fee

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I rate the book a 5 on content and timeliness but a 1 on presentation.

All you need to do is look at most advertisements today to realize that price competition has become the major way to conduct business. I have recognized and for years advised clients that "If you compete on price you are competing to go broke." Price pressure is even more intense considering that finding the lowest price for most products is just a few clicks away. Merchants have all conditioned consumers to be price conscious buyers. And our mind set as consumers carries over to our businesses.

The authors do a very good job of showing that most pricing problems are in the mind of the salesman or CEO and not in the mind of the buyer. They further show that it is simply impossible to cut prices and make up the difference in increased volume. One of the better concepts they present is if you lower your prices to increase your volume, all you do is work harder and go broke in the process. If the CEO can grasp that concept - and unfortunately all you need to do is to look at the history of companies that have gone bankrupt, especially in the airline industry - then the book is well worth reading.

As far as presentation, I have a lot of problems.

The authors could not really decide who their reader was. At times they were writing to the CEO and at times they were giving tips to the salesman in the field. It would have been much better if they had written two separate books - one for the CEO who determines policy and one for the salesman in the field.

They have a bad habit of repeating the same lessons throughout the book. It is okay and sometimes necessary to refer back to an idea or concept. But anyone reading this type book does not need the entire example repeated. Too much of that obscures the lesson to be learned.

The use of bold "bullet points" at the beginning of paragraphs was overdone. One place, opened at random, I found four bold paragraph headings on each page. To me these were a distraction.

It was annoying for them to keep repeating "one of your authors" experienced ... What is wrong with saying Lawrence or William?

They overdid some clichés - "the south bound end of a north bound donkey" was one. Once is enough. And they ended lots of examples of conversations with "blah ... blah ... blah"

The authors make some valid and important points. If you are going to conduct business in today's price conscious environment, you must learn to sell your product on something other than price. So the book is well worth reading. In my opinion, the presentation could be improved greatly.

I just received this new book and read it cover to cover over a three day period. The authors do an excellent job of demonstrating the effects of discounting on profits, and why it is considerably better to sell less volume at higher prices.

After all, the function of a business is not to be huge, but to be profitable. Numerous examples are given.

Once this is established, the authors go to great lengths to show how salesmen should behave in order to get these higher prices, and the tricks that customers and purchasing agents pull to try to force us to give big discounts.

If you are a B2B sales pro, this book is well worth your time to read it, and the $20 investment.

For those who have ever heard the words, "You'll have to do better than that," this book is for you. Steinmetz and Brooks effectively make the case that margin is the key to a successful business--not volume. And more than that, cutting price is very similar to cutting your throat, though not as visible.

How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors is filled with very clear illustrations of the cost of price-cutting--and the impact on the bottom line. Would you believe that a small thing like a 10% discount on 35% margin can require nearly double the sales volume to make up the profit lost? Or that raising prices 10% on 35% margin can allow sales to go down by 34% and give you the same level of profitability? It's true and this book spells out with clear examples just why it is true.

But more than that, the book illustrates why buyers try to beat up sales people on price--and all the other things that buyers want and need, such as on-time delivery, quality, service, etc.--that most often are far more important than price. This book will help any CEO, sales manager, or sales person learn how to think more clearly about pricing and all the other issues that are critical to selling, serving, and keeping the customers and clients you most want to have.

You'll also learn:

-- Why you should never use adjectives or adverbs when discussing price.

-- What your buyer is telling you when they use the subjunctive mood. Hearing this grammar term may make your head hurt, but the authors make it easy to understand in a business context--and understanding it means money in your pocket)!

-- What your buyer is telling you when they use if, unless, and either-or.

-- How to sell at your price even when your competition is cutting theirs.

Armchair Interviews says: Even if you don't like grammar you'll find understanding these simple things critical to success in selling at the right price. The book even has chapters that cover how to know when your price really is too high or too low--and what to do about it.

Urges companies to sell based on margin n ot price. Makes sales people understand why it is important to stay strong on price and how to do it.

Doesn't answer the question of how you compete when all your competition is price cutting!

Those of us who have read Steinmetz's How to Sell at Prices Higher Than Your Competitors (first published in 1992) were delighted to learn that he has co-authored a new book with William T. Brooks. The need for Steinmetz's insights is even greater now than it was 13 years ago, especially given the focus in this book on margins. Of course, this presumes that margins have been accurately measured, as have been those of competitors. For many of who read this book, I suspect, one or both assumptions are incorrect. Frankly, I am astonished by the nature and extent of ignorance and/or misunderstanding of margins. The consequences are predictable.

Consider these statistics which Michael Gerber cites in The E-Myth Mastery: "Of the 1 million U.S. small businesses started this year [2005], more than 80% of them will be out of business within 5 years and 96% will have closed their doors before their 10th birthday." These are indeed chilling statistics. Now consider this one: The average life expectancy of all businesses in the U.S. is 7.7 years. The reasons are varied, of course, but one of the most common is to sell a product or service for less than its total cost to produce or provide. If decision-makers in companies (regardless of size or nature) do not know exactly what the given costs are, they sure as hell don't know what the margins are. Anyone who challenges that statement are urged to re-read the statistics just cited.

Steinmetz and Brooks carefully organize and then present their material within 19 chapters, followed by an appendix, "The Premium Price Seller's Ready Reference Guide." (This appendix all by itself is worth far more than the cost of the book.) What especially impresses me about their approach is primary emphasis on effective application of the strategies and tactics recommended. To me, the word "downsizing" is frequently misapplied. The more appropriate word would be "right-sizing." Within the frame-of-reference within which Steinmetz and Brooks present their observations and recommendations, the key word is "right-pricing." Their expertise is based on dozens of years of real-world experience with thousands of different companies. They are determined, indeed passionate about helping decision-makers to answer questions such as these:

1. What is the total cost of what we sell?

2. Given that, what must our margins be?

3. What are general guidelines on how to price?

4. How can service be a decisive competitive advantage?

5. Why should we avoid those whose purchase decision is based solely on price?

6. How can we sell at higher prices with lower volume and thereby increase profits?

7. What are "the two cardinal sins" of selling? Why?

8. What are the indicators of over-pricing?

9. What are the indicators of under-pricing?

10. How to close on a sale when price is the only remaining barrier?

The observations and recommendations which Steinmetz and Brooks offer in this brilliant book are, however, essentially worthless unless and until the first question has been answered accurately. It is impossible to manage what cannot be measured; fortunately, costs can and must be measured. Moreover, they must be monitored constantly. As marketing initiatives create or increase demand for what you sell, keep in mind Warren Buffett's assertion that price is what is charged for a product or service but value is what buyers think it's worth.

This book really does explain "how to sell at higher margins than your competitors" so that those who read it will be better prepared to "win every sale at full price, rate, or fee." I strongly recommend that you read it before your competitors do. Of course, if they do and then apply what they have learned, your competitive marketplace will become especially lively. Forewarned is forearmed.

This is a small but detailed book and one I recommend to any sales manager charged with getting margins up. A bonus with the book is a complete addenda that lists all the ways professional buyers will mistreat (beat up ) a seller in order to get him to crack on price. if you have been there as a sales man you will recognize some of these immediately! Buyers lie in order to get you to lower price. If they could get it from someone else at a better price, why are they still talking to you (unless they can't get delivery, quality, service or they are not allowed). The authors discussion of the price buyer is excellent and thorough. What I appreciate about the book is that it is more than a list of what happens, they then give you tactics that are useful in the sale. I have been at this a long time, and never knew the breadth of tactics in this book. I have already been able to use a few in the last few days to great results. (What do they say about the old dog, new tricks?) Their one chapter analysis on setting prices gives the practitioner immediate tools to help decide where you should stand. They are dead set against letting the market determine price - you have to. An essential book for your sales library.

With books like this it is hard to believe that people and companies still believe in the volume sales trap. If you are new to sales or have been in the field for a while you will see the sales patterns that others have falsely bought into. Plainly said if you are giving up your margins you are giving up the lifeblood of your company. This book is fairly easy to read and understand and a quick read. For the new salespeople out there you will be given great ammo against those who just shop on price. If you are a sales pro you will just get great information reinforced for what you already know.

This is an extremely well written book. Lots of Tips. Great insight into how buyers try to get you to reduce prices. I have purchased 5 copies of this book and given them to all of the people with direct influence on pricing, negotiation and financial decisions in the company. Once you understand and begin applying the principles, the margins just go up. The book will change your whole outlook such that you don't feel guilty turning down business that is only price based. This is probably the most significant business improvement book I have read in the last 5 years,

I can think of 5 business books everyone should read, this is number 1

This is an excellent book in great condition as described. I highly recommend this book for anyone selling a product or service or both.