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Rod Aparicio

What's coming

Published 19 days ago • 1 min read

Here are a few themes that are recurring in the small/medium business I see.

Which ones do you feel you resonate with?

  1. You're struggling with getting your sales to be better.
  2. The market is highly competitive.
  3. You're pushed to play on (the lowest) price.
  4. You can't say No to customers. That's losing business (and stupid).
  5. If you say No to a customer, you're losing opportunities.
  6. Your competition is poaching your customers.
  7. Your revenue goals are not where you want them, despite everything you've tried.
  8. Raising prices has a big pushback from your customers.
  9. You can't charge more than what the market can hold.
  10. Discounts is the way to win business.
  11. Your closing rates are approx. 40%
  12. You apply to biddings, and win less than 30% of times.
  13. When giving proposals, you need first to "have a feeling of the customer" to know how price-sensitive they are.
  14. You respond to all the RFQs (Requests For Quote) that go into your inbox.
  15. You need to figure out how to fix/improve your costs to be profitable.
  16. Your margins are below 20%.
  17. If I ask you "How much are your top 20 customers making?" you don't have a clear, fast answer.
  18. You charge based on your time, effort, difficulty, materials + a margin.
  19. Your prices are based on the market.
  20. You rely on giving samples of your work (for free or for peanuts).
  21. You need to build strong relationships first, then talk shop.
  22. You can't give away how you do things. That's your secret sauce!
  23. Prices are given only in your quotes.
  24. You don't talk price BEFORE sending a quote/proposal.
  25. You need to accommodate to your prospects' budget.
  26. If they tell you they're tight on money, you need to concede so that you don't lose business.
  27. You trust their promises to grow and expand with you will happen. So you give them a "better" initial price.
  28. You have to tease the competition with lower prices, so that they lower theirs too.
  29. The focus of your business is on the revenue created —no matter how.

Lemme know. :)

Rod Aparicio

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Read more from Rod Aparicio

How do you get to the 4 questions to figure out where you are in the mind of your prospect? With an empty mind. Without previous judgement, Without a solution. Without being in solution-mode (ready to fix the problem on the spot). You go in blind, as in a blind-date. To listen. To see if there's a fit. To understand if/how you can help. To say No when it feels like a No. That's your gift: knowing you're in control. To help.

about 12 hours ago • 1 min read

To have advantage in a sales conversation. you'd wanna ask 4 things: What's the new status in the future when everything's going amazing. What's the reason behind the specific solution they're after. What's the urgency of doing it NOW, and not in a year. What's the reason for them to be even talking to you. Getting the answers to these questions will let you know where you stand —in the mind of your decision-maker, in the process, and compared to the alternatives.

1 day ago • 1 min read

To do this, you need to stop thinking inwards. It's got nothing to do with your costs, your efforts, with how much sacrifice you put into. It has nothing to do with how much you think it's worth. It's got nothing to do with your pocket. It's all about your customers. About their situations. What they value. And with their pockets. If it's worth to them, they'll find the way. And it's them who define what expensive is. Not you. :)

3 days ago • 1 min read