We are coming upon the end of a month, the end of a quarter, and in some camps the end of the fiscal year.  That means it is open season for sales discounts in many companies.

So the question I have is this.  Do sales discounts really work?  Aren't we just messing with the timing of sales across every year - bunching up deals so that they fall at the end of those magic discount cycles?  And setting up the next two periods for a vast dry cycle, only to be reversed by another round of discounts?  How do you break the cycle?  Don't customers get tired of the constant pricing games?

I have to admit that I have been involved in my share of discounting approaches over the years (and often looked for a new spin on an old offer).  It is the way most of us have learned to do business and in fact most of the re-selling community expects a certain number of discounts.  In most cases, customers and distributors can predict when they will occur and have learned to hold sales to wait for a better deal. 

Am I the only one who gets sick of the constant specials and sales offered at many retail establishments? Doesn't it just make you wonder how much the prices were marked up before they were reduced by 50% ?  Haven't many of us become no better than Used Car salesmen willing to fool around with pricing in order to close a deal?  What if we all went the way of Saturn, setting a base price and then sticking to it. 

Is this short-sighted discount mentality a function of  corporate ownership which drives us to meet the short term expectations of the trading public?  Aren't our investors better off if we eliminate discounts, and sell our products based on the value of the solution? 

And what about the service industry?  You don't see many accountants offering summer sales in which they reduce their hourly rates to drive more business.  

Note:  this article was 30% larger than my original article at no additional charge.

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