The MOST Overused Term in Business Today
This is the fifth in a series of seven articles outlining the need for NEW RULES in your selling efforts. In this article, we’ll look at the Dynamic of Value.
Anyone else get annoyed when a company drones on and on about their “value”? You’ve heard all the iterations of this: Value Add. Value Proposition. Value Statement.
Usually it means something like this, “We bring value – and if we talk enough about how much value we bring, then it’s likely you’ll begin to believe it.”
Well, that’s not good enough today.
I’ll share a new way to look at “value” so you can change the rules of the selling game. As I’ve done in each article in this series (click here to read the other articles), my sole aim is to help you change the entire dynamic of the buyer/seller process.
If you do it right, you’ll be the prize that others will seek. Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, it’s possible, if you read this series and begin to ACT.
Value
Let’s first re-define value: value (n.) – a customer’s perception of their desired outcome of you either solving a problem, or helping them achieve a possibility.
Since repetition is the #1 Law of Learning I repeat: You bring value to another human ONLY to the extent you are a) solving a problem for them, or, b) helping them achieve some type of vision or result they are committed to.
I could probably end it there. But, that’s not my nature.
The Elements of Value
Element 1: The Avoidance of a Problem
This is the idea that your customers have problems. That’s likely why you’re there. But these problem are rarely conscious and usually exist beneath the surface – far beyond where most sales people dare go.
But, if you’re to change the rules of the game, then you must get skilled at finding the problem that the customer doesn’t even know they have. That’s where the true value is (and the real money for you). In order to do that, you must stop selling.
The instant you move into sales mode you’re dead in the water. The customer feels it – and will retreat. It’ll leave you with the conclusion, “Well, I guess they weren’t a prospect.”
Wrong.
It was because you didn’t create the atmosphere for truth to be exchanged. If the atmosphere isn’t safe, then they will continue to keep their walls up. When you don’t hear the true problem, you have nothing to work with. Sale over.
Element 2: The Pursuit of Possibility
Just like you must be on a mission for pain, you must also determine what the possibility is for them if they were to solve those problems. We used to call it “selling to vision.” I still like that idea, but rarely do I see it done.
It involves helping the customer to see the end result and once they see it, they’ll be more emotionally attached to achieving it. Questions like; “If you were to solve this problem, what do you see as the end result?”
If you’re calling on groups, this actually gets easier. With just a marker and whiteboard you can guide them on a journey to their vision.
Often, you’ll want to know the vision for the entire organization. Once you know it, you can place your solution inside the vision accordingly.
For example, if you’re selling capital equipment to dentists, you must know their end game. Where they’re going, what they hope to accomplish in their practice (not just with your equipment) and how they see their practice life in five years.
Then you can ask what their vision is for your equipment. Do they see it as a necessary part of the practice vision? Or not?
Action
If you can begin to think about the two elements as you are ‘in process’ with people, the game will change. You will position yourself as a much higher requirement on their part. They will need you – worse than you will need them. And you become IN DEMAND.
By The Way….
Is it time for you to reinvent yourself as a sales professional? Are you tired of the same old sales process that leads you down a rabbit hole? Changing the dynamic will set you free, and you operate better when you’re FREE. While not everyone is ready for this change, by the mere fact you’ve read this series, you might be. If you think you are, click the button below to take a look around.
