I recall addressing a sales team of mine at an off-site meeting several years ago - we sold multi-million dollar telecom infrastructure equipment. The issue of approved discounts dominated the session..."Anyone can give-away products and services." I said. "You're in this profession and company to give us an alternative to that."
Some markets are more price sensitive than others. But in complex sales, price is rarely the determining issue. Many sales people hate to hear this reality and push their company to continually lower prices.
Price can rise in importance though when value, benefits, difference, and reason to believe are left from the discussion.
Certainly there are markets more price sensitive than others and some companies are weaker on price than others...it doesn't change the reality that our job - sales and marketing professionals - is to mitigate price in our customer's buying criteria and maximize the dollar value of each sale.
About the Author
Jim Logan writes, speaks, and consults on the issue of revenue growth; working with clients to build their revenue the only three ways possible - getting more new customers, increasing the value of your average sale, and getting more repeat business. Jim can be reached at http://www.jslogan.com.