Dave Starcher spoke to our class this past Friday. He is in charge of sales nationally for Keystone Ridge Designs. Starcher works with a team of around ten to fifteen people and they collaborate to cover the whole country. Each salesperson has a sector in the United States; each day they are able to decide what areas they would like to focus on. Starcher shared about his experience working in Keystone Ridge Designs, especially in relation to price.
Starcher noted that they cannot beat their competitors on price. The furniture offered is expensive, and that can be a tough factor to overcome for many. Therefore, Starcher works to help the client reframe their thought process. He asked, “If you were going to buy a pair of jeans, what would you look for?”. In response, no one mentioned price as a driving factor, even though we all think it plays a huge part. However, Starcher explained that “we all like the idea of a low price, but we all are VALUE buyers.” Value is subjective to each person, and the amount of money that someone is willing to spend is dependent on how much or how little they value certain aspects of that product or service. Starcher gave another example of a business that wanted to buy his furniture. He found that this business truly wanted to standardize the furniture at the different properties they owned– this is their pain– so Starcher made it easy for individual property owners to select from a few of the chosen furniture.
Starcher explained the importance and utility of reverses. A salesperson comes alongside the client and helps to remind and convince the buyers that they are buying on value. It is not about pushing a client to your answer, but helping them discover the answer for themselves.