By Jeffrey Gitomer

I went to the National. I collect sports memorabilia, and the National is where everyone who is a serious collector or dealer goes. People fly in from all over the world to buy and sell every kind of sports collectible imaginable.

One of the National’s most interesting elements is that each dealer has his or her own museum: collectibles dating to the turn of the century, every form of ball, bat, glove, helmet, card, jersey and autograph. Prices range from 1 cent to $100,000.

When I go to a dealer’s booth, I look carefully at the items for sale. If I like one, I ask the price, even if it’s marked.

Once I ask this question, every element of salesmanship is revealed. I’ve told the seller that I want to buy what he’s offering. How much more of a signal can I throw out? More than 90% of the sellers will say something like, “I’m asking $150 for it, but I’ll give it to you for $100.”

Now maybe this is a ploy on the part of the seller to make me feel like I’m getting a bargain, but the bottom line is, he just cut his price by one third as an incentive for me to buy.

But my real incentive was, I wanted it. And I was willing to pay $150 for it.

A small percentage of the dealers will say, “I’m asking $150.” And I’ll say, “Is that your best price?” Or I’ll say, “Is that your cash price?” And then the bargaining begins.

But there are a small handful of dealers who will look me straight in the eye and tell me that $150 is their firm price. And you know what? I pay it. The same guy who reduced his price by a third could have had more money if he had just changed his language or his manner, if he had more self-confidence or believed in what he was offering, if he hadn’t developed the habit over the years of bargaining, dickering or haggling over the price with each customer.

As I said, maybe it’s a ploy and the seller wanted only $100. But the bottom line in sports memorabilia is that it’s a supply/demand marketplace driven by desire, perceived value, actual value and pride of ownership.

So what does my sports memorabilia buying have to do with your selling structure or strategy? It’s this: The memorabilia dealer’s price process is no different than yours. Your customers ask for discounts, and you try to figure out how low you can go while still making somewhat of a profit and completing the deal. Big mistake.

If you were able to stand your ground by proving your value and having your customer perceive that the value was there, not only would you get your price but you would also have the beginning of a mutually respectful relationship that would end with customer loyalty rather than with customer satisfaction.

More than 74% of all people are willing to pay the price. Ditch the other 26% and concentrate on the customers who are willing to pay.

But there’s a secret: In order to get people to pay your price, you have to know which ones are willing to do so and which ones are not. This requires engagement.

Often, when I ask a dealer, “How much is this?” he begins with a story rather than with a price. He talks about what the piece is, where it came from, why it’s unique, what gives it value and why it’s worth owning, thereby proving its worth or value. The stories are not only compelling, they’re historical and actually heighten the desire to buy.

What stories are you telling? What value are you proving? How deep is the engagement with your customer?

If your engagement boils down to a proposal, or if your main contact is a purchasing agent or someone in a procurement department, you lose.

I’m a loyal customer to sports memorabilia. I will continue to go to the National and try to negotiate price at the point of sale. But if any dealer put up a banner behind his booth that said, “Our prices are fair and our prices are firm,” he’d make more money at the end of a show, and so would you.

Jeffrey Gitomer, author of “The Sales Bible” and “The Little Red Book of Selling,” is president of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer. E-mail him at salesman@gitomer.com.

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