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Why Price Is Secondary

By Tom Reilly, author, Value Added Selling (McGraw-Hill, 2003)

Consider that there are primary and secondary decision variables. Primary decision variables describe the end-result and the reasons for buying. They typically answer the question, “Why do I need to make this buying decision, and what do I want to happen as a consequence of my acting?” Primary decision variables are motivating forces and desired outcomes.

Secondary decision variables describe perceived limitations, like-to-haves versus must-haves, and “clutter” on the buyer’s decision radar. Price is clutter. Long after the price is forgotten, buyers live with the consequences of their decisions. Price may be an attractive, even seductive, decision variable, but it is always subordinate to the outcome that awaits buyers.

Your job, as a Value Added Salesperson, is to direct the discussion to primary decision variables. Ask questions that focus on the long-range outcome of this purchase.

 Ask:

• “What do you want to see happen as a result of your moving forward on this decision?”

• “When you reflect on this decision two years down the road, on what criteria will you judge the effectiveness of it?”

• “Once this solution is in place, what will success look like to you?”

Price shoppers are secondary-decision-variable buyers. They focus on the “now” and the acquisition price that appears on the invoice. Your job is to direct the conversation down the long-term road. Begin and maintain your sales conversation with the end in mind. Make the primary outcomes, the real needs or must-haves, the topic for discussion and decision.

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