By Fred Martel

In business the question may as well be “what is a prospective customer?” My sales mentor back when I was learning the sales business told me the one important thing to remember: “If it costs a dollar but they don’t want it, it isn’t worth anything. Price doesn’t matter.”

When you offer value you are educating that cynic. If you paint a good enough picture of the value, he or she may think that it is a great price! It happens. The problem you have is that you don’t believe it because you don’t try it. If you don’t believe something is worth the price, the people you are presenting it to will not either.

A friend of mine is a professional photographer. He approached the local animal shelter with a proposition. The photos they were posting of animals available for “adoption” were being taken with a camera phone and they were of very poor quality. The plan was to come in regularly and take photos of new arrivals. The professional shots would give people a better look at the animals.

The director of the facility declined the service. The price? No charge! Later the gentleman called a shelter in a neighboring town, and then called my friend back to accept the offer. I would have thought that if the proposal had a price attached it may have had the appearance of value, but that wasn’t the case here.

Value is value – price is price. If value is perceived, the price looks different.