Part 8 of 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge.
Long tail of green sales costs...
You’ve heard about long-tail sales, it’s when the right side of the sales bell curve extends out indefinately as buyers can buy things forever off the web and retailers don’t need to discontinue products. Think about itunes and how songs that have long run their course are still being purchased. In many cases the cumulative affect of that long-tail surpasses the sales generated inside a typical bell curve sales cycle.
The cost of owning a product has a long-tail as well. With green products, which tend to cost more initially, installation, use and maintenance becomes the long, green-tail of total cost. Seasoned reps know how to step around this one, but for the newbies in the audience, lets break it down.
1. Money. What’s this gizmo going to cost up front.
2. Money. What’s this gizmo going to cost over its lifetime? When it comes to working with a new, green product line:
- Installation: Who in the company needs to be trained to use the right tools, the right adhesives, or set up a room with the proper ventilation, etc.
- Use: What happens when things wear out? Is it like a light bulb with higher up front costs, but a longer life? After that life is over, will you take the product back? If not, how do they dispose of it and at what cost.?
- Maintenance: Who will come in contact with the product? What’s it’s VOC level (volatile organic chemicals? Do you have to use additional special materials to keep it looking its best? What are the safety risks if workers are over exposed?
Add up the bigger package and pretty soon you can demonstrate where you outshine the other contenders. As a sales leader you should have a checklist or FAQ of the above ready to go and part of your second call proposal.
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If you have an LCA conducted on the product, make that available as well as the Material Safety Data Sheet. Companies, consumers and investors are all looking to avoid risk. The more you can prove that your product’s risk is low along with long-term costs the closer you are to closing the sale.
