A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

What kind of sales job should you be aiming for?  Internet marketing expert Yanik Silver says, "the more pricey, the better."  He explains his thinking here:

Higher Prices Means You Need Fewer Customers

First off, if you want to make $1 million this year, you'd have to sell 20,000 pieces of your doohickey at $50. Or 2,000 pieces at $500. Or, better still, 200 pieces at $5,000.

It's a lot easier dealing with 200 customers than 20,000. Think of all the customer service and infrastructure you'd need to handle a crowd of 20,000. Plus, as a general rule, the buyers of a high-priced product or service are easier to deal with than someone who bought a $9.95 item.

Higher-paying customers also usually appreciate and pay more attention to your information or product/service than a low-paying clientele. That means higher-priced products are actually better for your customers, because they are more committed to benefiting from them. Think about it. I've attended $500 seminars and I've attended $10,000 seminars. Which ones do you think I paid more attention to?

And there's still more to consider on the economics side ...

Higher Prices Means More Money for Marketing

With a higher-priced product, you'll have more money to advertise it. Let's say you're selling a $199 home-study course, and you're competing with someone selling a $19 e-book on the same subject. Who can spend more?

No contest, right?

Your competitor can only spend up to $19 (unless they've got a back-end product), but you can actually spend up to $199. And what else does that let you do? You can come into a marketplace and suck up a big part of the resellers, because you can give more commissions. Hey, that's the name of the game for many affiliates! You can give them $100 to promote your product instead of the measly $10 your competitor can afford.

Big Returns for the Same Effort

Now, a lot of people think selling high-priced products is a lot tougher than selling low-priced products. Not true. They both take about the same amount of effort. However, many marketers make the mistake of trying to "1-step" it. That means doing nothing more than sending prospects off to a webpage or sending them a sales letter. But only a small percentage will buy a high-priced product that way.

I prefer doing some lead generating first - where I get prospects to "raise their hands" and say, "Yeah, I'm interested." Then I can afford to spend more to chase them. And it's not enough to just e-mail them a follow-up or two. I have a whole marketing arsenal at my fingertips, including direct mail, voice broadcast, telephone calls, and postcards.

Higher Prices Means Bigger Profits

And, yes, there's more money in it for you. If you've got a high-priced product, it should have a very high built-in margin. If it doesn't, raise the price even higher. Don't be uncomfortable with this idea. Most people undercharge for the products and services they provide.

Of course, to charge a high price, your product has to deliver. I've always said, "I am richer by enriching others 10 to 100 times what they pay me in return." That's a big deal for me. If I sell a product for $1,000, I want to make sure it delivers $10,000 in value for my customers. I suggest you consider something similar. If your product isn't good enough for you to raise its price ... make it better!

Bottom line: If you're over-delivering on value (as you should) - hold your breath and add an extra zero to your price. You'll thank me for it!

A lot of what he has to say makes sense to me.  What do you think?