Quid pro quo is a Latin phrase meaning “this for that.” In sales terms, quid quo pro is a negotiation and creative selling skill as well as a sales philosophy.

Are your reps QPQ black belts? If you and your reps need to learn more, here are a few customer cases showing examples of common sales rep responses and some better QPQ responses.

A buyer asks: “Can you beat the price I’m currently getting?”

Common rep response: “Thanks for the opportunity. Let me see what I can do.” Meanwhile, he is thinking, “Wow! A shot at new volume with more margin-dollars incentive pay for me. I hope my manager won’t veto an aggressive price. This could lead to even more volume.”

The QPQ response: “A lower price is usually possible assuming we can find ways to both lower your total buying costs and our total service costs. Can I have my cost to serve (CTS) analyst do a quick audit and proposal?”

A buyer who routinely asks for a concession on existing sales flow (with no other changes):

Common response: “Thanks for checking with me first, let me see what I can do.” Meanwhile, he is thinking, “I’m getting last look; I’m good! But, I need to reciprocate their loyalty, curry favor, and show them I can make things happen. If I give up two points, my pay gets hit, but at least I don’t lose it all.” No thought at all to the company’s profit hit on the account.

The QPQ response: “What other total procurement cost factors do you and others consider to get best, total, service value? We can help you look good on price savings, but what can you do in return for us? Let’s turn your you-win, we-lose, zero-sum request into a we-both-win retuning of our shared replenishment system. Can we negotiate for more total volume and/or work to improve your average order size so we lower our cost to serve enough to afford a lower price?”

How Can You Boost Your QPQ IQ?

Pursue both quick optimizations and long-term sustainable capabilities. Quid quo pro is a negotiation and creative selling skill that you want your sales team to be well versed in.

For a quick fix, give your sales force a QPQ tactical training class. Check out Barry Wright, an extraordinary speaker and trainer, at the Advanced Profit Innovation Conference, April 20-21 in Scottsdale.

To turn price shoppers into win-win replenishment partners, you need CTS math and buying statistics for every customer. Contact me to get started at bruce@merrifield.com.