Now more than ever – Value is the only thing that matters!

With the first half of 2009 behind us, many of us are looking forward to the next six months and the possibilities it brings. Sales professionals are challenged in this economy. There is no question, that to win deals and new customers today, you must be very deliberate and have a proven process for discovery and prospect engagement.

One thing is for sure, the difficult economy has separated the sales professionals from the order takers. Order takers react and respond. They wait for the leads. They show up when needs are identified but don’t have the skill set to create need or differentiate solutions. They focus on price not value. They pitch and don’t converse. They will not survive.

Sales professionals are consultants. Focused on the customer, they know that the conversation is more important than the pitch. They listen with curiosity rather than are quiet and wait for a lull in the conversation in order to speak again. They have business conversations first with technical conversations following. Value is the focus; price is not the determinant for the business relationship.

Regardless of what you sell, people are still buying. While it is true, the population of qualified buyers may have shrunk – there is still a population out there. Buyers exist. It is our job to find them and to engage them.

What are people buying – products, services and solutions that add real value. What is value and how do we understand the customer’s perspective of it?

Value is relative worth, merit, or importance. In commerce, it is the perceived impact or worth of the purchase. There are a couple of key concepts to keep in mind when discussing value with your prospects.

1. The value of your solution is relative to the value of comparable alternatives. Today’s buyer is smart and savvy. They understand there is a vast array of alternatives to resolve their burning issues and problems. Sales professionals must develop the skill set to uncover incremental value that can be only attributed to their products, services, and companies
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2. Value always has both tangible and intangible aspects. However, in today’s business world, tangible value may trump intangible value. It is not only important to understand value, but to drive quantification of that value is critical so we can compare the relative value to the cost, justifying the purchase. Many sales people fall short of driving the quantification of value into the conversation. In addition, the customer has to believe and own the perceived value that will result from their purchase. Be careful to profess value that is unbelievable or could be construed as unachievable. It will do more harm than good in advancing the sale.



3. The personal value to the individuals that you are selling to is more critical than the business value. While this may seem counterintuitive to some sales professionals – the data and the science is clear. People make emotional decisions for logical reasons. Our brains are wired for self-preservation. Our rational thought processes do not and cannot take over. It is critical to succeed that sales people are deliberate in understanding what is valued by each and every individual in the sales process.



4. Value is customer specific. Every person and every company has different measurements and thresholds for how value is measured and what is relevant. World class sales representatives understand that and work to learn what everyone values and connect their solutions to that value. People will come to the same conclusions and make purchases often for very different reasons.

To understand how to sell more, first understand how and what your prospects are buying. Businesses are going concerns; critical purchases are being made and investments continue. Those investments are the ones that solve the real business problems facing the enterprise and the perceived impact, both personal and business, is higher than the cost or risk of making the purchase.

To get started, begin by engaging your prospects with specific questions to uncover value and how value is measured. Be prepared to differentiate and facilitate the conversation. Without a business conversation on why your solution is needed, the value discussion will be near impossible. Business value will be articulated in business terms. Your questioning process and conversational skills are critical to this conversation.