《銷售技巧》：價格競爭，避開陷阱，滿意與忠誠的客戶相去甚遠
Price Competition Study，Escaping the Price Trap!
價格競爭研究，避開價格陷阱！
中英對照
The Sales Board’s Price Competition Study was undertaken in an effort to provide hard data to aid in the understanding of a dilemma facing U.S. sales organizations in companies of all sizes and across all industrial categories.
Sales Board的價格競爭研究是為了提供有用的資料，以説明瞭解美國銷售機構在各種規模和所有行業類別中所面臨的困境。
The challenge is price competition. In today’s global economy, salespeople are under pressure like never before to match or beat lower prices from competitors, domestic and foreign. When they do, their sales margins shrink, resulting in lower profits for their companies and lower commission-based earnings for themselves.
挑戰在於價格競爭。
To make matters worse, every time salespeople cave into pressure to discount their prices to match a competitor’s offer, they teach their customers to ask for more discounts next time.
更糟糕的是，每次銷售人員都會屈于壓力，將價格打折至與競爭對手的報價相當，這樣客戶下次會要求更多的折扣。
This creates a vicious cycle in which price haggling becomes the focus of sales conversations, with value propositions having no place.
這就形成了一種惡性循環，討價還價成為銷售對話的焦點，
As the creator of Action Selling, a proven, research-based system for managing and conducting the sales process, The Sales Board has seen this vicious cycle at work in numerous client organizations.
作為行之有效的管理和執行銷售流程的研究型系統，行動銷售的研發者，The Sales Board在眾多的客戶組織中看到了這種惡性循環。
The purpose of our Price Competition Study was to quantify the problem on a national level and to provide statistically valid data that would shed light on a number of questions vital to the future of companies and salespeople across the industrial spectrum.
我們的價格競爭研究的目的是在全國範圍內對問題進行量化，並提供統計有效資料，從而揭示在整個工業領域中對企業和銷售人員的未來至關重要的一些問題。
Among those questions:
這些問題包括:
1
Is price competition, indeed, a worsening problem for many or most U.S. companies?
對許多美國公司來說，價格競爭是一個日益惡化的問題嗎?
2
Is it pushing companies and salespeople into a discounting cycle that threatens margins and amounts to a self-defeating race to the bargain basement?
它是否會將公司和銷售人員推入一個打折迴圈週期，從而威脅到利潤率，這將會是一場自我毀滅的競爭?
3
WWhat factors are contributing to the problem?是什麼因素導致了這個問題?
4
What strategies, if any, appear to be effective at combating the dilemma and allowing salespeople to protect their margins?
如果有的話，什麼樣的策略能有效地應對這種困境，並允許銷售人員保護自己的利潤率呢?
That last question is crucial not only to the health of U.S. organizations but also to the very future of the sales profession. Because if the sales process degenerates into a game that involves little more than matching competitors’ lower prices, why should companies continue to employ salespeople?
最後一個問題不僅對美國企業的健康至關重要，對銷售行業的未來也是至關重要的。因為如果銷售過程退化為僅僅涉及與競爭對手比價格低的遊戲，
Across the board, products and services are becoming increasingly commoditized, making them harder to differentiate on a classic features-and-benefits basis. Value-added strategies such as extended warranties and “partnership” programs also are being copied and commoditized. If sales professionals cannot find a way to differentiate their offerings and add value that justifies higher prices in customers’ minds, they are merely additional overhead. They have no business— and no future—on corporate payrolls.
全行業產品和服務正變得日益商品化，這使得區分一個經典特徵和基礎利益變得困難。諸如延長保修和“夥伴關係”計畫等增值戰略也正在被複製和商品化。如果銷售人員無法找到一種方法來區分他們的產品，並增加產品價值來證明更高價格的合理性，那麼客戶會認為更高價格僅僅是額外的開銷。
Satisfaction...A Far Cry From Loyal Customer
滿意度…與忠誠的客戶相去甚遠
中英對照
Customers expect to be schmoozed by salespeople. They expect that in the course of this schmoozing, the salesperson will at least pretend to take an interest in them as individuals. They expect to be asked a few questions about their situation and their individual needs.
客戶希望與銷售人員閒聊。他們期望在這一過程中，銷售人員至少會假裝對他們感興趣。他們希望被問到一些關於他們的情況和個人需求的問題。
Then the product presentation begins, perhaps with a demonstration, and guess what? The customer’s individual needs are forgotten as the demonstration turns into a canned sales pitch that addresses all the glories of the product with no regard to which features this person actually might care about.
然後產品介紹開始，
That’s like throwing darts in the dark, hoping something will hit the target.
這就像在黑暗中投擲飛鏢，希望能擊中目標。
Schmoozer vs. Partner
健談者vs. 夥伴
If you really want to distinguish yourself and build customer loyalty, here’s how: Conduct sales calls in which the focus on understanding customer needs never goes away.
如果你真的想要區分你自己並建立客戶忠誠度，必須做到:在銷售拜訪過程中焦點永遠要放在瞭解客戶的需求上。
In Action Selling terms, the product presentation occurs in Act 6. But a demonstration also should be a spot where you continue to Ask the Best Questions (Act 3). Demonstrating a product or walking a customer through your process gives you a wonderful opportunity to drill down on specific needs and concerns. How might the customer use this or that feature in his operation? Why would one of your capabilities be more helpful than another?
在行動銷售流程中，產品演示出現在行動6。但是，演示也應該是你繼續巧妙提問的地方(行動3)。展示產品或客戶通過你的流程，給你一個很好的機會來深入瞭解客戶具體的需求點和關注點。客戶如何在他的操作中使用這個或那個特性?為什麼你的一個功能比另一個更有幫助?
Here’s a chance to understand your customer’s world even more clearly and specifically. So why on earth would you stop asking questions and clarifying needs while you demonstrate a product?
這是一個更清晰、更明確地瞭解客戶的機會。那麼，當你展示產品的時候，你為什麼要停止問問題和明確客戶需求呢?
Our sales book “Masters of Loyalty,” describes ways to gain your customers’ loyalty and trust by behaving like a business partner instead of an ordinary vendor. How would you feel about a “partner” whose concern for your actual needs suddenly evaporated while he gave you a canned product demonstration?
我們的銷售書籍《忠誠大師》，描述了通過表現得像商業夥伴而不是普通的供應商來獲得客戶的忠誠和信任的方法。當他給了你一個通用的產品演示，對你的實際需求的關心突然消失了，你會怎麼想?
If your focus on the customer’s needs comes and goes, you’re just another vendor, and the customer knows it. A partner is committed to the customer’s success. And that focus doesn’t waver.
如果你對客戶需求的關注不夠重視，那麼你只是另一個供應商，而客戶也知道這一點。合作夥伴致力於客戶的成功，那種關注不會動搖。
Action Selling In Action
“行動銷售實踐”
Farm-equipment manufacturer AGCO Corp. has trained its salespeople in Action Selling. So has HJV Equipment of Ontario, Canada, a distributor for AGCO and other brands. One Action Selling professional can always spot another, as AGCO’s regional manager Arnie Sinclair discovered when he rode along on a sales call with an HJV rep named Randall.
農業設備製造商愛科集團已經讓銷售人員接受了行動銷售課程培訓。愛科集團有代理加拿大安大略省的HJV設備和其他品牌。一個專業的行動銷售專家總是可以找到另一個如AGCO的地區經理Arnie Sinclair在與一個名叫Randall的HJV代表的銷售拜訪中所發現的問題。
Sinclair was especially struck by the way Randall demonstrated a crop sprayer to a farmer. Instead of just showing off all of the machine’s features, Sinclair observed, “Randall used the demo to ask great questions (Act 3) about the customer’s needs and then to Agree on Needs (Act 4).
Sinclair尤其被Randall向農民展示作物噴灑器的方式所打動。不僅僅是展示機器的所有功能，Sinclair說:“Randall用演示來詢問客戶的需求，然後就需求(行動4)達成一致。”
“Randall then sold his company (Act 5) by stressing HJV’s and AGCO’s commitment to service and support. When it was time to Ask for Commitment, the customer basically came out and said that what he was really buying was the salesperson. Randall had sold himself!”
“然後，Randall通過強調HJV和AGCO公司承諾的服務和支援，銷售了他的公司(行動5)。當顧客要求承諾的時候，基本上成交，客戶也說明他真正買的是銷售人員。Randall把自己賣出去了!”
展示產品或客戶通過你的流程，給你一個很好的機會來深入瞭解客戶具體的需求點和關注點。客戶如何在他的操作中使用這個或那個特性?為什麼你的一個功能比另一個更有幫助?Here’s a chance to understand your customer’s world even more clearly and specifically. So why on earth would you stop asking questions and clarifying needs while you demonstrate a product?
這是一個更清晰、更明確地瞭解客戶的機會。那麼，當你展示產品的時候，你為什麼要停止問問題和明確客戶需求呢?
Our sales book “Masters of Loyalty,” describes ways to gain your customers’ loyalty and trust by behaving like a business partner instead of an ordinary vendor. How would you feel about a “partner” whose concern for your actual needs suddenly evaporated while he gave you a canned product demonstration?
我們的銷售書籍《忠誠大師》，描述了通過表現得像商業夥伴而不是普通的供應商來獲得客戶的忠誠和信任的方法。當他給了你一個通用的產品演示，對你的實際需求的關心突然消失了，你會怎麼想?
If your focus on the customer’s needs comes and goes, you’re just another vendor, and the customer knows it. A partner is committed to the customer’s success. And that focus doesn’t waver.
如果你對客戶需求的關注不夠重視，那麼你只是另一個供應商，而客戶也知道這一點。合作夥伴致力於客戶的成功，那種關注不會動搖。
Action Selling In Action
“行動銷售實踐”
Farm-equipment manufacturer AGCO Corp. has trained its salespeople in Action Selling. So has HJV Equipment of Ontario, Canada, a distributor for AGCO and other brands. One Action Selling professional can always spot another, as AGCO’s regional manager Arnie Sinclair discovered when he rode along on a sales call with an HJV rep named Randall.
農業設備製造商愛科集團已經讓銷售人員接受了行動銷售課程培訓。愛科集團有代理加拿大安大略省的HJV設備和其他品牌。一個專業的行動銷售專家總是可以找到另一個如AGCO的地區經理Arnie Sinclair在與一個名叫Randall的HJV代表的銷售拜訪中所發現的問題。
Sinclair was especially struck by the way Randall demonstrated a crop sprayer to a farmer. Instead of just showing off all of the machine’s features, Sinclair observed, “Randall used the demo to ask great questions (Act 3) about the customer’s needs and then to Agree on Needs (Act 4).
Sinclair尤其被Randall向農民展示作物噴灑器的方式所打動。不僅僅是展示機器的所有功能，Sinclair說:“Randall用演示來詢問客戶的需求，然後就需求(行動4)達成一致。”
“Randall then sold his company (Act 5) by stressing HJV’s and AGCO’s commitment to service and support. When it was time to Ask for Commitment, the customer basically came out and said that what he was really buying was the salesperson. Randall had sold himself!”
“然後，Randall通過強調HJV和AGCO公司承諾的服務和支援，銷售了他的公司(行動5)。當顧客要求承諾的時候，基本上成交，客戶也說明他真正買的是銷售人員。Randall把自己賣出去了!”