ASK for the sale: Price your products and services on your website or lose your sales

May 2^nd, 2019

Over my 25++ years in various jobs, I have taken a lot of sales courses, as well as learned from some of the truly most talented sales people I have had the fortune to meet.

One of the most common lessons they will tell all aspiring salespeople is "ASK for the sale."

It is amazing how many sales reps will present all the information about the product or service there is to give, and, when they are finished - simply stand and wait for the customer to do something.

It is usually in that critical 60 seconds after presenting the information that, when given silence as an option: The customer walks away, with a "Thanks" or "I'll think about it"

This, my friends, is just as true with web marketing and selling as it is in person.

I came across a really neat site, yesterday. I will not name it, because my purpose is not to embarrass. The site is beautifully designed: There are many examples of the products uses and benefits (it is an eco-friendly paver underlay, allowing stable lanes, decks, pads and such that can be installed professionally or by the do-it-yourselfer) - There are videos of installations, how-to guides for customers and all sorts of testimonials.

There is one thing, however, that kept me from taking that next step towards a potential purchase:

There were no prices. None. Zip. Nada. For all I knew, they were either being given away for free or cost several billion dollars per square meter. I don't know, nor will I ever know.

When a potential customer comes to your site, the first thing you are attempting to do is to build trust.

No trust: No sale.

This site I visited, yesterday, started off quite well: The product was very well described: It's benefits were listed and with third party citations for verification. There was plenty of documentation to show that I could use the product. There were many examples of the product being used, suggesting that it had a greater life than just that for which I envisioned. It had credible sounding testimonials, along with installation pictures, to suggest that there are satisfied customers.

However: That trust still is not yet at that 100% level: Because it is asking me for my email/contact information to give out the single most basic piece of information that I need to know whether I can proceed or not: "Can I afford this ?"

If it is one hundred dollars per square meter, then I can absolutely afford it. If it is one thousand dollars per square meter, that is just on the edge of affordability. If it is two thousand dollars per square meter, then that is absolutely outside of my affordability range and I wish to waste neither my time nor the vendors' time in talking about it. Furthermore: I do not wish to be added to a mailing list, either theirs or a third party, until I am absolutely sure that I wish to engage in a relationship with the vendor.

It is absolutely understandable that many products and services have a range of costs and that no price could be guaranteed without first determining needs: It is well worth your time and the respect to the customer, however, to at the very least give a range of costs and/or several typical examples.

Because if you do not: Your competition is - And guess who is making the sales that you are not ?

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