What We Can Learn From Selling Strategies in Japan
The psychology of "why someone buys" has always fascinated me. The psychology of "what someone will pay for something" fascinates me even more.
Cadillac started making a pick-up version of the Escalade. Did stock 
brokers suddenly have the need to haul debris on the weekends? No. In fact, the people who own these cars will rarely do "pick-up" work with them. It's more of a fashion statement than anything...you won't find many Cadillac Escalade pick-up owners who would want to risk scratching their beautiful vehicles by actually using them as they were first designed. Anyone who pays $53k for a pick-up has other motivations for driving the car.
The same holds true for the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. They charge $500 and up per night for the priviledge of letting you sleep on one of their beds. Why would someone pay more for their bed and the off position of the room's light switch than the Marriott down the street? It's a statement. It's an attitude.
Author Michael Masterson has some observations from the way Japan has developed an exclusive, high-priced sales culture for ordinary products. Here are some observations upon his family's visit to a very clean, up-scale grocery store:
The first thing you notice is how perfect everything is: the polished floors, chrome-plated display cabinets, hand-painted signs, and hi-tech lighting are first rate. It's the kind of atmosphere you would expect if you were shopping for $600 shoes at Gucci or a $6,000 watch at Cartier.
The employees are immaculately clean and beautifully dressed. And the food... the food. I promise you, you won't believe your eyes.
I took Daniel, Allie, and K to one of these markets yesterday - and I was just as excited by the experience as I was the first time. We raved about how fresh all the produce was, how beautifully cut and arranged all the vegetables were, how pristinely packaged and well-presented the cakes and pastries were.
The sheer variety is awesome. I counted 32 bins of gourmet coffee, 98 varieties of tea, 22 types of Kobe beef, two dozen types of aged cheese, 16 types of French bread, and hundreds and hundreds of mouth-watering desserts.
But the most amazing thing is the pricing. Throughout this massive market, there are things selling for prices you just wouldn't believe. For example:
In Japan, these are routine, everyday prices for top-quality produce.
Japanese marketers have succeeded in doing what might seem impossible to a Westerner: selling ordinary food products as high-priced, prestige items.
Western consumers are used to the idea that wristwatches can vary in price from $10 to $100,000, but they would have a hard time applying the same understanding to bell peppers and turnips.
It's hard to imagine, yet it's being done. The upper-middle-class Japanese consumer is not only willing to pay $800 for a Louis Vuitton wallet and $150,000 for a BMW 760 and $600 for a pair of Gucci loafers, he's also happy to dish out $36 for a piece of the world's best apple pie. (Yes, they sell gourmet apple pie!)
As I said at the beginning of this article, when it comes to being consumers, we don't hold a candle to the Japanese. Of course, the Japanese pay cash for their luxuries. We pay with credit.
But that's another story.
My point is that if you understand the psychology of marketing, you can sell anything at a much higher price than you might think. It's all about what we refer to as "deeper benefits."
Affluent customers will spend more for a product or service - even if it's only slightly better than a similar product or service - just to own the best. This is not because they need the quality. No one needs a Rolls Royce to get from Point A to Point B. You could drive a Toyota Camry and, rest assured, it will get you there safely, comfortably, and reliably. But people are willing to shell out exorbitant amounts of money because they want the prestige that comes with being the owner of that Rolls Royce.
Does this give you, the sales professional, some food for thought when it comes to pricing strategy of your product or service? It should. Perhaps you'd find people willing to pay more for what it is that you're selling if you'd demonstrate to them why its worth it, and why doing business with you is a "status symbol" that they can be proud of owning.
Source: http://www.landingthedeal.com/2006/07/what_we_can_learn_from_selling.html
