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| Mar 04, 2005 5:02 am |
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re: Role of price promotions in B2B marketing/sales |
Douglas Karr
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My job is Database Marketing. Price promotions have honestly never worked with me or my clients. I run my operation very lean, so I require reliable business partners and reliable applications. My clients expect flawless execution.
I believe you run the risk of devaluing yourself and your product with price promotions. It may not seem very different, but I always like working with 'value added' work for my clients. Rather than reducing price, I may offer additional products or services at little/no cost.
I recently left a position where I grew our Direct Marketing budget 4040... a 40% increase with a 40% minimum margin year over year. I didn't do it with price. I did it by relentlessly increasing the quality of our program and data, reducing our contract costs through aggressive negotiation with long-term commitments, and utilizing those funds to re-invest back into our resources. Our customers took notice and we continued to grow. Very few talked about price.
Personally, I only expected price reductions when I brought additional business to the company or signed a long-term contract. Neither were promotions, though.
I might add that my Sales Staff ALWAYS talked about price. We were always more expensive than all of our competition - yet we continued to grow and prosper. If you have Sales Executives who can't sell something for what it is worth, you need new Sales Executives.
It's about the investment your client is making in you and you helping them leverage your solutions so they can get an ROI. Prove it, and they will come.Private Reply to Douglas Karr (new win) |
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