Selling the Price Increase

27Explain

Once you get your customer's position on the table, the next step is to minimize their concerns by explaining your position.

At this point, they have accepted the inevitability of the price increase but not the terms. Therefore, your primary objective when explaining your position is to convince them that your terms are reasonable, without making any concessions.

Explaining your position may seem repetitive since, by this point in the conversation, you've already made your case. But it is natural for amnesia to kick in once the negotiation begins. It is also normal to use a less is better approach with succinct because statements and not go into extensive detail with your justification.

So, when explaining your position in a price increase negotiation, you'll need to go deeper into your business case and introduce more anecdotes and narratives to support your position. This is when proof sources, business cases, and bringing in internal advocates can help you hold your price increase points without giving away concessions.

Most importantly, you must know your numbers and be able to demonstrate the math.

Do the Math

When Sheila approached her customer about a price increase, she knew it would be a tough sell. Sheila runs a staffing company that provides temporary workers to the staffing industry. Her customers are often myopically focused on the hourly rate they pay rather than the outcomes.

In this case, her customer, Ravie, had been complaining loudly that Sheila's ...