Jingle bells jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what a fun it is to be an order taker
And give 20 percent away

It is that time of the year folks. Not just Christmas but the end of the quarter.

The time where salespeople realise they are nowhere near what they need so it is time to give discounts away.

Santa Claus is coming in AE form.

We see it every December. Desperate reps start sending out emails that look like this.

"Hey Prospect, if you sign by the end of the year we will give you 20% off the first year!"

This is not selling. It is discounting to win business.

And although you may think you are helping the prospect and your business you are actually damaging both.

What Your Prospect Really Thinks

When you drop your price at the last minute you destroy your credibility.

You might think the prospect is happy about the saving but they are actually asking themselves three dangerous questions.

1. Why wasn't I offered this price when we spoke last month?

You have just proven that your pricing is arbitrary. You tried to charge them full price before and now you have revealed that the "real" price is much lower. You have broken the trust.

2. Why are they trying to force me to spend now?

If they said they were ready to proceed in February but you are pushing for December you are serving yourself not them. They will wonder if you will treat them this poorly when they become a customer. This is the definition of the "commission breath" we warn against in Stop Begging for Meetings.

3. If they are this unconfident in their price, how confident are they in the results?

Premium products command premium prices. If you are willing to slash 20% off just to get a signature it signals that you do not value your own solution.

The Real Problem is Upstream

If you are doing this at the end of the quarter then you mucked up months ago.

You are in this position because you haven't prospected hard enough in Q3. You ignored the pipeline because you were "too busy" managing existing deals.

This is why consistency is the first thing we teach in our SDR Sales Training. If you stop filling the top of the funnel you will always end up desperate at the bottom of the funnel.

Your sales process is leaky. You likely sent a proposal too early without agreeing on the value first. As we discussed in The Death of the Sales Proposal, price should be a confirmation of value not a negotiation tactic.

Fix the Culture

If you find your team doing this right now you have a big sales problem.

You are training your customers to wait until December to buy from you. You are training your reps that it is okay to be an order taker rather than a value seller.

This requires a fundamental shift in how your team operates. It is something we drill into teams during our Account Executive Training.

Stop playing Santa Claus. Start acting like a professional.

Hold your price. Hold your nerve. And if you missed the target this quarter use the pain to ensure you prospect harder in January.

Related Articles: