How does your team sell? Are you working in a crowded marketing space, trading clients back and forth with your competitors every renewal cycle for a couple dollars off the invoice? If your sales team is explaining features and selling on price point alone, you should consider the value selling methodology, a program focused on showing your customers the value they stand to gain from using your product or service.
It sounds simple enough, really, but the distinction between features and value can be a fine line. Any veteran sales rep should be able to quickly rattle off features and benefits of your product or service. What makes this toilet brush better than the one you currently use? The extended angle head (feature) allows you to more efficiently clean your toilet then other models (benefit). That is basic selling and marketing.
The question then becomes how you transition to the value selling methodology. The focus in this sales methodology is not necessarily on what makes your product or service better but what can you provide your client that nobody else can. Doing so shifts the conversation away from price points and towards return on investment for your clients.
Understand Your Customers Values
When you train your sales team on the value selling methodology you are giving them the tools to form stronger, longer-lasting relationships with their accounts. They become enabled to ask the questions that your clients really want to know about your product or service – what does it do for their business? When you learn what matters to your clients, and what facets of your business deliver value to theirs, you are better able to craft a program that clearly delivers a return they can see.
This isn’t always easy to execute. It requires in depth industry and customer knowledge, competitive analysis and an introspective look at the products and services, marketing and sales support you offer. If you have the data ready to load and analyze, this process can be as simple as understanding which data to review. If not, companies such as DecisionLink offer powerful tools to help you gain the knowledge you need.
Using resources that help you manage the data and implementation of the value selling methodology leaves you and your team free to focus on driving results through sales. By better understanding your customers and the value you can provide for their business, your sales team are able to more quickly form partnerships that deliver value to both parties and feel far less transactional. Can your competition beat that?
