The Sales Podcast: Jeb Blount (Part 3) | How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers

In this third interview of the series, Jeb Blount, sales expert and best-selling author, returns to The Sales Podcast to discuss his latest book, Selling the Price Increase: The Ultimate B2B Field Guide for Raising Prices Without Losing Customers.

Jeb shares essential strategies for navigating the often-difficult task of raising prices while retaining clients. Learn how to communicate value, handle objections, and successfully implement price increases without jeopardizing customer relationships.

Key Takeaways:

• How to frame price increases in a way that minimizes customer pushback

• Proven tactics for selling value and avoiding price negotiations

• Managing difficult conversations and overcoming objections

• Jeb’s step-by-step guide to executing a successful price increase campaign

About Jeb Blount:

Jeb Blount is the CEO of Sales Gravy and the author of numerous best-selling books, including Fanatical Prospecting and INKED. In Selling the Price Increase, Jeb offers a practical field guide for sales professionals who need to raise prices while preserving trust and long-term relationships with customers.

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Professional Sales Tips you'll learn today on The Sales Podcast...

• The only book on how to get higher prices from your clients
• Clients will accept your price increase but not be happy
• If the price increase is small just do it and defend it
• You need scripts to articulate why the price increase
• Explain why it's fair 
• Your customer needs to feel like they are getting good value

Related episodes and posts

• Jeb Blount Shares How To Use MLP to Negotiate Better Sales
• Get On The Sales Gravy Train With Jeb Blount

• Price increases are the fastest way to increase your bottom line...if you can keep your customers
• Eight different narratives for explaining the price increase
• Your job is to expand and retain your business as a salesperson
• Salespeople are great at discounting and terrible at discussing price increases
• Mature companies may not discount as much
• What is the risk of losing customer?
• A lot of companies do have CPI provisions for annual price increases
• It makes sense to slowly and regularly raise prices
• Salespeople are afraid to raise prices
• Companies are afraid of raising the prices and losing the client.
• They don't want to "awaken the sleeping giant!"
• Red/Yellow/Green your customers.
  • Green is a solid, long-term contract
  • Yellow is borderline
  • Red is a potentially lost client if you irritate them
• If a customer says they won't accept the price increase I can learn how I'm letting them down.
• Most of your customers are in the danger zone.
• Clean up your pipeline and accounts.
• Clients get amnesia when the scheduled price increase kicks in that they agreed to years ago.
• Have tough conversations early.
• Have guts and confidence.
• Get your message in order.

Salespeople are great at discounting and terrible at discussing price increases."

• Pull out your calculator and show them the value.
• Your price increase comes right out of the back pocket of small business owners.
• It's your job as a salesperson to stand your ground and make that sale.
• Most salespeople just walk away because they know they haven't earned the price increase.
• Jeb uses a fit matrix to scatter diagram his customers.
• Easy/hard to work with, high/low profit.
• He'll ask for a 100% price increase on the low-profit, hard-to-work-with clients.
• What's surprising is how few of your customers go away.
• Customers hate being fired.
• You need to know where you fit in the life of your customers.
• Ideally you are adding more value than what you charge.
• You need to be tooting your own horn.
• You need to stay in front of your customers.

You lose because you take your customers for granted."

• What is your messaging and method to stay in front of your customers?
• Do quarterly business reviews, especially if you're a small cog in their system.
• Get feedback from the customer so you know how you're doing.
• Pick up the phone and have a conversation.
• Do that maybe once a month.
• Just touch base to stay top of mind.
• You lose because you take your customers for granted.
• Just manage the account.

Sales Growth Tools Mentioned In The Sales Podcast

• Get his book, "Selling the Price Increase: The Ultimate B2B Field Guide for Raising Prices Without Losing Customers"