The rep who can't say no to discounts

Published: Wed, 05/01/24

Updated: Fri, 05/03/24

May 1, 2024

TOGETHER WITH

Good morning! It’s the first day of May and the last day of prospects ignoring salespeople. If enough of us manifest this idea at the same time, maybe we can will it into existence. While you’re using your psychic powers, take a scroll through this week’s newsletter, where we’ll talk about Mark Cuban’s career, share a Fail about a strange interaction, and give advice to a rep who doesn’t know how to discuss discounting. Enjoy.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

Door-to-door sales still generates nearly $30b a year in sales.

Source: Zety

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

The very first Ford Mustang ever sold is still with its original owner, and could be worth $350k. Gail Wise bought her blue Mustang convertible brand new in 1964, specifically on April 15 from a Ford dealer in Chicago. 54 years later, she still owns the car, with no immediate plans to sell. You can read more about the Mustang here.
While residents of Oklahoma were taking shelter after a scary tornado warning, one door-to-door salesman was ignoring the threat and making his pitch to a concerned homeowner. The video of the oblivious salesman pitching away while the twisters touched down was shared online by the homeowner, who implored the pitchman to get to safety. You can read more about it here.

FEATURE

"Mark Cuban" by jdlasica is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

How Mark Cuban Sold His Way to a Billion Dollar Fortune

We all know Mark Cuban as the billionaire entrepreneur and investor he is today. But at heart, Mark Cuban is a salesman. After all, he told Wired that if he lost his entire fortune tomorrow, the first thing he would do would be to go out and get a sales job. Despite all the media coverage he gets as a television star and NBA franchise owner, there’s a lesser known story of how he came from humble beginnings and sold his way into a billion-dollar fortune.

It all started when Cuban was a 12-year-old going door-to-door selling trash bags in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. He purchased boxes of trash bags from a friend for $3 each and sold them to his neighbors for $6. He identified a need and crafted a compelling 14-second pitch: “Hey, I’m Mark. Do you use garbage bags? I’ve got a great deal for you.” He gave out his phone number, offering to deliver more garbage bags anytime they were needed, creating what might have been the only subscription garbage bag service in the country at the time. Little did he know this was the first step on his path to building a billion-dollar empire.

At the age of 24, he moved to Dallas,Texas, and after a brief stint as a bartender, Cuban landed a job as a computer salesman at a local store. His natural sales abilities shone through, and he quickly became a top performer. However, he was fired within a year after he took a morning meeting with a potential client instead of opening the retail store. Undeterred, Cuban turned this setback into an opportunity and founded MicroSolutions, a software reselling company, in 1983.

At MicroSolutions, Cuban's sales prowess blossomed. He relentlessly pursued clients, often working 16-hour days to close deals. His tenacity paid off as MicroSolutions grew to over $30 million in revenue, scoring big deals with marquee clients like Perot Systems, one of the biggest IT companies in the U.S., founded by legendary salesman Ross Perot.

In 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe for $6 million. He netted around $2 million from the deal after taxes. However, his entrepreneurial spirit craved a bigger challenge, leading him to start exploring the burgeoning world of the internet.

In 1995, Cuban and a friend launched Broadcast.com, an audio and video streaming service that allowed users to listen to live sports broadcasts and other events over the internet. As the company's primary salesperson, Cuban tirelessly pitched the service to potential clients, securing deals with major sports leagues and media companies, including a deal to live-stream the first ever Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Cuban's relentless sales efforts, combined with his visionary understanding of the internet's potential, transformed Broadcast.com into a trailblazer in the streaming industry. In 1999, at the height of the dot-com boom, Yahoo! acquired Broadcast.com for a staggering $5.7 billion, making Cuban a billionaire overnight (he claims he sat in his underwear refreshing his bank account while waiting for the money to come through).

Throughout his journey, Mark Cuban's commitment to selling has set him apart. He embodied the qualities that every successful salesperson should strive for – perseverance, a willingness to take calculated risks, and an unshakable belief in the product or service being sold. As Mark says, “Everything goes back to sales, no matter what.” Indeed.

THE MOST IMPORTANT SALES EVENT OF THE YEAR

AI is the biggest opportunity — and risk — of our generation.

You’re either developing your AI strategy now, or you’re signing up to get left behind.

That’s why Clari is hosting Charge: The Revenue Summit.

Charge is the single most important event for leaders who want to capture more revenue and stay ahead of the competition.

The jam-packed sessions include panels with:

1️⃣ Andy Byrne, Clari’s CEO, talking about revenue growth, AI strategy, and operational efficiencies.

2️⃣ Brian Cody, Clari’s VP of Sales Engineering, digging into ways to apply descriptive, predictive, and generative AI across your revenue process.

3️⃣ Ben Fiechtner, Clari’s CRO, sharing real-world examples and strategies to identify and eliminate revenue leak.

4️⃣ Scott Peyser, Clari’s SVP Rev Ops, breaking down the ultimate guide for designing and running revenue cadences.

5️⃣ Stephanie Buscemi, Confluent’s CMO, discussing the three methods for creating, converting, and closing pipeline.

➕even more guest speakers

Ready to charge?

Join Clari virtually or in-person in select cities here.

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

Which famous sales trainer wrote The Little Red Book of Selling?

A. Jordan Belfort
B. Jeb Blount
C. Jeffrey Gitomer
D. Zig Ziglar

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

I sell luxury cars at a dealership. One day, this guy came in. He knew what he was looking for and wanted to take a test drive. He was nice enough, pretty quiet, but there was something odd about his mannerisms.

Anyway, after the test drive we're both sitting in the car, and I was telling him about the different packages. He asked what the price would be for the exact car we were sitting in if he drove it off the lot today. I told him the price. He looked me dead in the eye and said, "Mike sent me," and smiled. I sat there confused, trying to figure out who the hell Mike was. Nothing came to mind. I tried to be polite and asked him which Mike he was talking about. There was no one at our dealership named Mike and I hadn't sold a car to a man named Mike in a while. He looked me in the eyes again with a completely straight face and said, "Mike sent me, he said you'd give me a good deal."

I kept trying to get more details out of him about who this Mike character was, but he just kept saying that Mike had sent him and he was told he'd get a special deal. Eventually, I gave him the lowest price I could give him. I could see him thinking about it for a few seconds before he said, "That doesn't seem like the Mike discount. Too expensive." He got out of the car and left. I never found out who Mike was.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- April 2024

WORTH A PEEK

What is the current state of B2B sales? Our friends at Salesroom conducted one of the largest studies in B2B sales and put together a free guide that shows what’s working, what’s not, and what reps and leaders should be doing. It’s full of easily consumable stats and tidbits. Check out the free guide here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team

I'm still new to sales. I've been very focused on learning and investing in myself to get better as a salesperson. I feel like I've come a long way in the last few years, but I'm aware I still have a lot to learn and there are definitely certain things I need to get better at.

One thing I've always struggled with is discounting. I didn't have to deal with a lot of pricing conversation when I was in my entry-level role, but now, almost every prospect is asking me about discounts. I usually just tell them what the price is and never bring up a discount unless they specifically ask for it. Usually when this happens I just default to, "We don't usually offer any discounts, but let me talk to my manager."

My manager looks at it on a case by case basis and sometimes lets me give them a discount, but recently he's been telling me to push back and try to close these deals without giving anything away. Do you have any tips on how I can better navigate discounting with prospects? I know it's something I need to get better at and have in my toolkit if I want to be a top performer some day.

Learning in New England

Dear Learning,

Discounting is tough, especially when budgets are tight. There are a few different tactics you can try when customers request discounts. First, we'll assume that your product pricing matches the value it provides. Your job as a salesperson is to make sure prospects understand the value they're getting. It's helpful to provide a personalized value proposition. This requires understanding your customer’s needs and how your solution fits. Questions like "what additional value can we provide to make our solution worth the cost" are a good place to start. Instead of giving a discount, can you give them additional add-ons like priority support?

Sometimes pricing might actually be the deciding factor (oftentimes it is), but you won't know that unless you specifically ask your prospect. Asking questions like "Is price a huge barrier to your final decision?" can help you understand where they're coming from and uncover potential solutions. Would giving them a monthly payment plan instead of upfront payment help? Would giving them an opt-out option in the contract help them feel more at ease? Offering these types of options can help get your prospect to a 'yes' without compromising on price.

One last piece of advice: you need to be confident in the value your solutions provide. You're solving a real problem that your customer has, and there is value in that. They wouldn't be talking to you if they didn't need your help. Be confident in your product and its value. Your customers will sense this. You showing confidence that they will be happy with the results and that you can solve their problem goes a long way. Good luck!

Quiz Answer: C. Sales trainer Jeffrey Gitomer wrote The Little Red Book of Selling

SHARE THE QUOTA

Help us grow, and we'll send you a reward!

{% if subscriber.custom_field['RH_REFLINK'] != '' %}

Share The Quota, get cool stuff!

Know a salesperson who’d love The Quota? Give them your unique referral link (below), and we’ll give you some awesome rewards when they subscribe.

facebook

twitter

PS: You have referred people so far

{% endif %}

How did you like today's story?

Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Looking for a new gig or to hire for your sales team? Check out our jobs board — powered by RepVue.

Looking to take your sales career to the next level? Check out Ian Koniak, our Preferred Sales Coaching Partner.

Advertise with us

Books

QUOTA MEDIA LLC

651 N. Broad Street., Suite 206
Middletown DELAWARE (DE) 19709
USA

Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options