Most of us, in approaching the way in which we go to market with our clients and prospects, employ a variety of techniques to solve problems and land orders. Here are some of the more effective and professional ways to connect with buyers:

Value-Added Selling. Program Selling. The Agency Approach. Close-Out Selling. Solutions-Based Sales. Niche Marketing. Relationship Selling.

There are many varied approaches to promotional products sales, but the most common is selling based on price. This is definitely a hot-button issue in our industry and often an area of contention between the sales force and sales management. Coming from the latter group, I’m not shy about sharing my perspectives on price-based selling. So let the sharing begin ...

Check out this scenario:

You’ve been developing an exciting new account called Smackoff Concepts and they’ve asked you to quote them on 2,500 USB drives. You really want the order and the client, so you sharpen your pencil and quote the $15,000 project at a 30 percent margin. When you call Smackoff to follow up, your prospective customer tells you that they found the drives online for almost a dollar less than your price, apples to apples. If you are willing to drop your price to the whole dollar off, you’ve got the order — but this would cut your profit fully in half.

Do you do it?

The answer is ... no. Definitely no. Just say “no.” No, no Nannette. A thousand times no. Dr. No. Hell Triple-FREAKIN’ No!

Tell Smackoff to smack off.

Don’t sell based on price. Ever.

Why? Here’s why ... Because selling on price is based on fear and a position of weakness. It’s what most of your competition does. It doesn’t allow you to offer superlative service, startling creativity and amazing follow-up because you can’t afford to in this down-and-dirty arena of the great unwashed masses. It sends a terrible message to your client and damages your integrity. It cheapens everything you are attempting to accomplish on behalf of the client.

Because selling on price is ignorant. Ignorance on the part of your customers. Ignorance for which you are responsible. Fully educate your clients about the added value you and your company bring to the table. Avoid purchasing departments and purchasing mentalities. Be willing to walk away from orders and projects like this. Be willing to walk away and explain this to your client, and really mean it! Take pride in your professionalism and problem-solving abilities, and your crack responsiveness. Once you’re branded as price-cutter, you’re a commodity peddler in that account from that point on. This perception will never change.

Separate yourself from the lowest common sales denominator. You’re worth more. Your time is worth more. Don’t work with clients who don’t value all you can bring to their marketing and promotional efforts. If you have clients like this, fire them and find new clients. They’re out there. Find them. Partner with them. Create relationships with them. Make it clear that you are an extension of their marketing team, not merely a vendor.

I have an account executive here in Southern California who lives this approach every day. He books about $700,000 annually and NEVER cuts his price. When his clients and prospects ask him to do so, he educates them about why he can’t. Does he lose business? Sometimes. But his customers “get” that he’s willing to walk away from that business and that he means what he says — and they respect him for it. More often than not, he gets the project. Don’t sell from fear. You can be VERY successful and never cut your price.

Read through the list of sales approaches at the beginning of this article again. Decide which ones speak to you. Focus on marketing yourself through one or more of these effective methods in order to connect with and bring value to clients and prospects. Be bold, be different, be memorable! And know that, when you quote your customers, you are WORTH it!

Rick Greene, MAS, is the Western regional vice president for HALO/Lee Wayne Corp., the 2009 president of SAAC and the author of the comic fantasy novels “Boofalo!” and “Shroom!” available at www.amazon.com.