Stop Competing on Price, Ep #469

Sales and leadership expert Peter Turley, known for his refreshingly honest, no-fluff approach to winning business.

After years of witnessing average sales behaviors and predictable negotiation tactics, Peter joins us on the show to share his unique perspective on what truly sets top performers apart: positioning yourself as the authority even before a negotiation begins. 

In this eye-opening episode, you'll hear Peter outline the distinct roles of strategy and tactics, reveal his powerful "quantification" approach for reframing the sales conversation, and demonstrate how inviting your buyer into the process can flip the entire negotiation dynamic in your favor.

With stories, humor, and actionable advice, this episode is packed with insights that could transform your sales game!

Outline of This Episode

• [00:00] Practical, no-nonsense sales strategies for effective results.
• [03:54] Being the authority puts you in a very strong negotiating position.
• [06:22] Using humor to move the relationship forward.
• [09:47] How to quantify your customer.
• [13:59] Leverage your customer's imagination for effective selling.
  

Strategy vs. Tactics: Knowing What Comes First

Tactics are what you do at the end, in the heat of the negotiation. Strategy is what you do before the negotiation starts, in Peter’s experience.

This sets the stage for a critical realization—well before conversation starts or prices are exchanged, the groundwork for negotiation success is laid.

Strategy is about positioning, credibility, and how the other side perceives you as you enter the negotiation. Tactics, in contrast, are the maneuvers and phrasing used in the moment.

The most successful negotiators invest early in strategic positioning, dramatically influencing their leverage once tactical discussions begin.

Average, Expert, or Authority?

Peter identifies three levels of professional perception: average, expert, and authority. Most salespeople operate at the “average” level, where they are easily compared on price and routinely undercut by competitors.

Moving up the value chain, “experts” are those with proven knowledge, but even they are not immune to comparison.

The gold standard, according to Peter, is becoming an “authority”—the definitive reference point whose insights reshape perspectives. “The experts need somebody to go to when they get stuck. The all-seeing eye. That person is called the authority”.

Authorities command higher pricing not by accident, but because industry recognition, conference presence, and demonstrated originality remove them from price-based comparisons.

When negotiating, authorities are rarely pressured to justify value; they become the benchmark others aspire to.

Confidence, Charm, and the Power of No

Peter’s unique approach blends humor and boldness. Faced with a client pressing for lower pricing, he famously produced a competitor’s business card and offered it as an alternative, positioning himself as above price haggling. 

This approach works, he emphasizes, only because of the deep groundwork laid over the years—authority, trust, and a portfolio of results.  Confidence in your value, combined with social intelligence, diffuses price objections and reframes negotiations around value.

Quantification in Sales

Moving beyond qualifying questions, quantification walks the client through the tangible, mathematical impact that a product or service could have on their business. By leading the customer to calculate and imagine the results—dollars added, profits multiplied—the discussion pivots from cost to potential gain.

What’s remarkable is how this approach shifts the negotiation dynamic. Instead of the salesperson battling for budget, the customer is internally motivated to find extra funds, sell the solution upward, and justify the value to themselves and others.

Value dwarfs cost, and the negotiation shifts to, “How can we make this happen?”

The Transformational Impact of Value-Based Negotiation

What Peter demonstrates is both simple and profound: negotiation success starts far before any price is discussed.

By positioning yourself as an authority and leading the client to quantify what’s really at stake, you turn negotiations from adversarial price haggling to value creation partnerships. 

Connect with Peter Turley

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