Why Free Isn't Good Enough

The following is an article from a recent ezine by Jill Konrath of Selling to Big Companies. See her contact info at the end for more of her great stuff.
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Why Free Isn't Good Enough

The brutal truth is that they're not interested in your free trials, free assessments or free workshops. Even though you may think that it's a great deal, corporate decision makers don't. They're not stupid. They know there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Everything that's free ultimately requires two things:

• An investment of time.
• And a decision – which also takes time.

That's why free isn't selling these days. People don't have extra time to waste. Either something is worth doing or it's not. Free is entirely irrelevant.

Recently I was talking with a person whose service was actually FREE. His company analyzed corporate phone bills to help company's save significant revenue. He was paid on a contingency, so the actual out-of-pocket expense paid by the client was non-existent. Yet he still found it difficult to get appointments.

Why? Because he stressed that his service was free. When I hear that as a decision maker, my immediate thought is, "What's the catch?" I know nothing is free.

So even if your company has something it gives away for free – don't lead with it. Instead, focus on the business value. Unless decision makers know that it will reduce costs, increase productivity, shorten time-to-revenue or such, they won't clear time on their calendar for you. Remember, it's all about business. It must be worth their time – even though it's FREE.

Jill Konrath

SellingToBigCompanies.com

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Until next time,
Paulette - throwing "free" into the back end
www.tipsbooklets.com