When You Give Away Things for Free, You Are Telling the Customer That Thing has No Real Value
Customers and prospects will often ask for a “favor”. When prospects ask for a favor, that always means they want what you sell for less than than you quoted. They want cheaper. The prospect will always guarantee the rosy future you will share because they will “need a lot more” of what you sell in the near future. Of course, next time they will say “last time it was cheaper….” Only grant the discount to the first time buyer if you have the margin and understand that you are establishing a base price with a customer. In other words, understand that you will be giving that same discount forever.
When a customer asks for a favor, consider it carefully. Keep in mind that a customer is someone who has already done business with you. All others are prospects. Customers are worth the consideration. Maybe they need to cut price to get a big deal. Maybe the buyer is trying to save his job. There can be a lot of reasons that a customer asks for a favor. If you decide to do it, be careful.
Careful?
Yes. If you do a favor for a customer or a prospect, do it only once. If they do not reciprocate somehow, sometime, do not grant a second favor.
Selfish? No. Prudent. I said, do the favor. But two favors lead to three favors and that is called “using”.
The user will plead and beg and whine when asking for the 5th and 6th favor. And they will turn on you like a rattlesnake if you say no.
The nastiest people I know are the ones I have give mutiple favors. It’s better and wiser to stop at one.
Now, if they actually step up and do something for your business, and I don’t mean say “thank you”, you can grant another favor. Solid business relationships are built on mutual trust and support. No relationship will be built by allowing someone to use you. When a prospect or a customer reaches that point, the point of using you, fire them. It’s time to step away. You won’t miss them.
Chris Reich, TeachU
By the way, I am coming to Atlanta soon. Would like to see your business!