What Matters Most: Pricing or Customer Experience?

In my conversations with originators, they will often confide how much more difficult it is to sell today versus in the past. The truth is it is more difficult to sell in the current marketplace. Real estate agents don’t go to the office anymore; brokers don’t want more than a few lenders; and borrowers don’t seem interested in purchasing a home. If you are frustrated in dealing with today’s prospects or referral sources, join the club. It seems like no one returns calls or responds to emails. But top producers seem to navigate these issues with ease. Do they have special pricing or different products? Not really.

The better originators have the ability to deliver a valuable sales experience to prospects. Poor performers tend to blame lack of results on pricing and product. However, research indicates that the prospect’s sales experience with the originator is the key differentiator when making a purchasing decision.

In Jill Konrath’s Agile Selling, she states “buyers are saying that sellers are the primary differentiator. That means you matter more than what you sell, what it costs, and whom you work for. They choose you, or if you don’t do a good enough job, they choose your competitor. The good news is that you have something you have total control over—the sales experience you deliver!”

What makes a great sales experience happen? According to Konrath, “to become the differentiator, you need to always be learning. Just because you have been in sales for years doesn’t make you immune to all these changes. In fact, it makes it worse because of all the things that you have to unlearn.”

Today you need to be smarter than you have ever been before. You need to provide value in every conversation and manage the customer experience. The good news is that “each individual has it within their power to become the person our prospects choose to buy from.”

Are you ready to make the commitment to deliver a valuable customer experience? The choice is yours.