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.
A well-designed value calculator gives buyers an easy way to analyze your solution’s impact on their bottom line and get meaningful answers to their questions. One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the results are defensible and believable enough for users to engage with your sales team.
The concept of the buyer’s journey seems to have lost some of its appeal. Some B2B pundits now contend that the journey is a convoluted route with many twists, turns and dead-ends instead of a neat, linear process. How can sellers nurture sales if they’re not sure where buyers are in their process?
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.
Has your organization built its marketing and sales programs around selling your product? Well, here’s a news flash. B2B customers don’t buy features and functions; they buy solutions to their problems. So not only should you be selling your solution, you should also be “selling money.”
I recently wrote a blog post for Amphora Consulting titled, “XaaS: Should You Jump on the XaaS Bandwagon?” In it, I contend that the following seven conditions must be true before deciding that switching to a subscription-based model is the best answer for your business.
I recently read a couple of articles about marketing during a downturn. Both urged businesses to resist the natural temptation to cut marketing during this, or any, crisis. They got me thinking about what marketing should be doing to prepare the business for the eventuality that things recover.
Few people like to talk about money during the sales process. Eventually, though, buyers will ask, “How much does it cost?” If the price is more than nominal, they probably need budget approval. How well can your sales team shift the conversation from finding and solving customer problems to money?
Successful business leaders make it a point to know how their business performs compared to peers and similar businesses. They strategically use this benchmarking information to strengthen all aspects of their business. And they understand its importance in improving competitive advantage.
