 Welcome to Enhance.training YouTube channel. Let's imagine a scenario. You're presenting your product to be listed in your ideal retailer. They ask the price, but all you hesitate. You know the value of your product, but you really want the listing. So you're tempted to say a lower price than you planned, maybe even lower still. And then before they've even asked, you offer a discount too. And before you know it, you're only just selling above cost, if you're lucky. And you're certainly not selling at the value your product is worth or deserves. But it shouldn't be this way, and it often comes down to confidence. So in this video, we're going to explore five ways you can increase your confidence before your meeting. Five ways to improve your chance of pricing success and get the confidence you need to sell your product for its true value. My name is Anna Taylor, and if you're new to this channel, Enhance.training provides online business courses to help professionals, managers and business owners to improve their performance. For over 15 years, I've worked in finance alongside sales and marketing teams for companies such as Unilever, Mondelez, SAP Miller and Asahi. I've seen firsthand the importance of getting pricing right, and I want to help you do the same. If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe and share it with friends. So I get it, pricing is hard. It's hard enough to come up with a price in the first place, but it can be even harder to communicate it. In meetings with buyers, there will come a time when you're asked, well, how much? And how you answer that question will either set your business up for success, or, well, or not. There's a lot rising on it, and all too often it comes down to pricing confidence. So let's look at what you can do to help. Number one, do your research. Because it's a simple truth that if people value what you're selling, they will buy it. And this works for consumers and retail buyers alike. When you designed your product, you did this with a consumer in mind. You conducted market research, you looked into what the consumer wants and why, and you tailored your product accordingly. Well, when you're preparing for meeting with a buyer, think along the same lines. You need to know what they want, what they need. The buyer will have their own criteria, and you have to make it easy for them. The more your offer suits them, the greater the value they'll get from it, and the more likely they'll buy from you. So whether it's understanding margin expectations or being able to show how your product suits their customer and why, but do your research, make sure you know how your product will help the buyer. It's only too obvious to buyers who's done the homework and who hasn't. And doing your research will put you in a better position. If you're more prepared, you'll have more confidence and ready for those discussions. The second piece of advice I can give you to increase your confidence is to know your value. Because once you've done your research and know what the buyer wants, you need to prepare how to communicate your value to the buyer. If you don't have a clear idea of the value you'll bring, the buyer won't either. So by matching your product and your offer to what the buyer needs, you'll be making it easier for them. The easier you make it, the more likely they'll buy. Now there are tools you can use to match your product's strengths with your buyer's needs. I personally like Strategizer, Value Proposition Canvas, but there are others too. And even if you simply brainstorm on a rough piece of paper, it will still get you to a better place. Know your value, know how to communicate it, and the confidence will follow. You'll be better prepared and more confident to have the pricing discussion. This quote from A Connection of Mine says it all. The turning point for me was when I equated what I was selling to the outcome they were receiving. As my clients have said, I transform to their world. Knowing your value, your true worth gives untold confidence. The third way to increase your confidence is to know what you want. Because before you go into any meeting, you should know what you want to get out of it. Well, and pricing discussions aren't any different. I mean, I know this one is probably a bit of a no-brainer. What you want, you want the buyer to buy your product, but it's not as simple as that. There's another layer to it, another layer to drill down into. You've got to be more specific. If you know what you really want, then you know what you might be willing to negotiate on if push comes to shove. Do you want listings in all stores? What about shelf position or being included in their advertising? What is it that you really value? If the buyer asks you for a discount, it helps if you know what you want in return. Now, I don't think giving a discount without anything in return is a good idea. It can be a sign that you're happy to simply give away your margin anytime anybody asks. And once you move away from that first price, it needs to be for a reason. You can say something like, oh, you'd like 10% discount? Sure, maybe I can do that in return for, well, it could be faster payments. It could be a volume commitment or anything else that you value. It shows the customer that you're more than happy to discount if they confide you with value back in your direction, and it shows you offering a genuine discount. Look, it's the buyer's job to get the price as low as they can, but don't be put off. Just be prepared instead. You don't want to have to think of all these things in a meeting, so do it before you'll be more prepared and you'll be more confident. So this leads me onto the fourth tip, because once you know what you want, you also need to know what you could afford. Now, as part of your pricing process, you've hopefully calculated all your costs so you can be sure that you can make a profit from the price you sell at. So if you have a price or package for your product that you want to pitch at your meeting, you should know what profit it gives you. In an ideal world, this is the price you'll sell at, but you know, we'll have to compromise sometimes, and you might have to compromise on that. But you need to know before the meeting what your minimum price would be so you still make a profit. But be really strict with yourself on this, because remember that any price you agree will set a precedent going forward. If you know what you can afford, you should not be tempted to agree to something that you can't afford. Knowing these details before the meeting will make the meeting itself so much easier. No one wants to have to do on-the-spot margin calculations with me. That would certainly make me nervous. So, point five. Finally, practice makes perfect. It's human nature to be more confident in familiar situations in areas of our comfort zone. When we've done something many times before, we learn to believe in ourselves, don't we? We find it easier to predict the outcome and become more confident and less fearful. So how can we build confidence before our meetings? Well, we can practice. You could try performing your pitch to yourself in front of a mirror, think about the words you'll say and how you'll say them. You can even try videoing yourself and watching it back to see how you come across. Believe me, that will be awkward at first. But it's far better to practice at home than in the meeting itself. I mean, you can even try it with friends. Give them your sales pitch and your price. Listen to their feedback. You could get them to challenge you, so you get used to that bit of pushback. Practicing saying something out loud is really powerful. Even if there's that sort of in a wintz or uncomfortable feeling when you say it to someone and await their reaction, the more you practice something, the easier it gets. So be brave and give it a go. Summing up. Well, if there is a face-to-face element of your selling, then one of the things that affects your prices is confidence. Doing your homework before the meeting will make a difference. The more you practice something, the better you'll be. Now, it's not an overnight thing, but the more you practice the ideas and tips, the better you will get. Make sure you know what the buyer values, believe in your value, know what you want and what you can afford, and then practice. You may still have nerves going into the meeting and there's nothing unusual about that. However, now you can have the confidence that you have really thoroughly prepared. In our next video, we'll be talking about five top tips for pricing confidence in the meeting itself. And if you need a few pointers on how to choose a pricing strategy, so before you even get to the meeting or some other extra pricing advice, visit us at Enhance.Training and select articles. Or better still, sign up to the Pricing Learning Hub for access to pricing calculators, fact sheets, how-to guides and more. If you liked the video, please press the thumbs-up button below and subscribe and hit the bell to get notified about our weekly video releases. This really helps us produce more videos to help you. Thank you for watching and I look forward to seeing you soon.