The biggest gap between sellers and buyers is a shared understanding of a solution’s value. This gap leads to long sales cycles or worse, deals that just fade away. Overcoming this chasm can be accomplished using value selling tools, which function as a Rosetta Stone to unlock insights for both sides.
I recently met with the marketing manager at a new ROI Selling client. While reviewing a draft of their new value selling tool, the manager commented, “Customers don’t think about it that way and they would never say that. That’s our internal language about our product.” Oops. How did that happen?
Wonder why your buyers and sales teams aren’t using your value selling tools? Chances are they’re built around a product-centric value proposition and creating unwanted complexity, despite your best intentions. Here are two strategies for fine tuning your value selling tools and increasing adoption.
In B2B buying decisions and consumer purchases, humans do not always make optimal or even rational economic decisions, as predicted by Rational Choice Theory. If this is true, why do we continue to preach value-based selling? The fascinating and evolving study of Behavioral Economics may hold the answers.
Why would a company abandon its existing value selling tools after investing in their development? The answer is often simple: the tools are too complex and the sales team won’t use them. To better understand how to deploy more effective value selling tools, it is first important to understand how and why they are too complex.
An effective business case conveys your solution’s value and impact as they relate to the specific needs of your buyer. Although different levels of approval are often needed, a business case should be tailored to include the messaging and metrics most important to the decision maker.
A key stop for many on the buyer’s journey is understanding the value of an offering. Does your marketing or sales organization know which buyers would benefit from knowing your solution’s value? If they do know, how well do they communicate your value proposition to those buyers?
With value selling tools, sellers can develop a more persuasive business case with insights into customer problems. And buyers can justify investing in a solution whose value is expressed in dollars and cents. In our experience, successful value selling tools adhere to ten core principles.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going... working harder and focused on meeting their challenges. The tough ones in our business are those who can convince cautious customers to buy in an exceptionally challenging economic environment.
What’s your sales strategy for 2021? The global pandemic has wreaked havoc in every business sector and will likely dominate the economy going into next year. And the upcoming presidential election is sure to add more uncertainty. What better time to build a sales strategy that delivers business value?
