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.
The buyer's journey has evolved from a linear, predictable process to a complex expedition with twists, turns, and multiple decision points. Unfettered access to information puts the buyer in charge but something important is missing: a clear perspective of a product's value to the business.
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 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.
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?
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?
Most security standards require a “regular review” of policies, which many companies do with an annual cadence. What could be more ho-hum and boring? But US and international regulations have changed over the last year, and that pace of change is likely to continue for at least a couple of years.
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.
Societal upheaval over the past year has profoundly changed the buyer’s journey. Beyond mandates and restrictions, buyer behavior has been influenced by declining levels of trust in government, institutions, and other people. The result is that buyers have become less trusting and more firmly rooted in their beliefs.
