Jeb Blount - Selling the Price Increase

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JEB BLOUNT

SALESGRAVY.COM

Copyright © 2022 by Jeb Blount. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Blount, Jeb, author.

Title: Selling the price increase : the ultimate B2B field guide for raising prices without losing customers / Jeb Blount.

Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2022] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022015171 (print) | LCCN 2022015172 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119899297 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119899310 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119899303 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Willingness to pay. | Selling. | Business communication.

Classification: LCC HF5415.349 .B56 2022 (print) | LCC HF5415.349 (ebook) | DDC 658.8—dc23/eng/20220401

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015171

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015172

COVER DESIGN: PAUL MCCARTHY

COVER ART: © ZO3LISTIC/SHUTTERSTOCK

For Brooke Holt, Sales Gravy's first Million Dollar Club member. Thank you for the pivotal role you have played in turning Sales Gravy into a training powerhouse .

B2B organizations have counted on their sales teams to sell price increases to customers since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution more than 125 years ago. However, in the twenty-first century, as disruptive economic cycles have become more frequent and shareholder pressure for growth and profitability has become more acute, executives are exerting greater pressure than ever on their sales organizations to extract price increases from customers.

Inflation, demand surges, supply shortages, increased costs, shareholder demands, growth initiatives, mergers, and capital-intensive investments can all lead to the need to approach customers with price increases – as can the regular costs of doing business. Likewise, in our hyper-competitive marketplace it is common to acquire new customers at low (sometimes unprofitable) price points with the intent to raise those prices down the road once the relationship, trust, and value exchange are anchored.