My guest appearance on The Sales Conversation Podcast explored How to Sell Complex Solutions to Multiple Buyers using value selling. I shared practical strategies and tactics to advance your value selling approach with host, Bruce Scheer, founder of Sales Conversation, and together, we took a meaningful look at how to improve sales performance with value selling.
The vast majority of buyers evaluate technology solutions based on the criteria of “better, cheaper, faster.” This approach seeks technology that can improve some aspect of their business at a lower cost. While this is important, it’s often incomplete.
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with saying, “There is nothing permanent except change.” This adage is certainly true centuries later, especially with regard to technology and its impact on today’s sales and marketing organizations.
I recently spoke with Mike Serulneck, an accomplished Value Engineer who has successfully developed and managed Business Value Engineering and sales proposal teams at Tier 1 technology companies. During our conversation, Mike shared his experience using value selling methodologies to sell technology solutions, as well as his perspective on how value selling has changed over the last decade.
Value selling? Aristotle? The link between one of the greatest thinkers of the Western world and value-based sales processes is stronger than you would think!
Your ability to help B2B buyers understand the value you provide can make or break the sale. In some cases, as with our client IQS, that means communicating the ways in which the prospect or customer is losing money so that the buyer understands the potential of the solution.
Purpose-built value selling tools are designed to simplify sales enablement and build trust between your organization and its prospects and customers. The most valuable tools can provide strategic insights into how your customers do business, and help them understand the risk and cost of continuing “business as usual.” Value selling tools can also accelerate the sales process and help you close more business with greater confidence. So why don’t more organizations use them?
Data breaches are among the greatest threats to the value of an organization’s brand, especially when they expose customer and prospect data. This inevitably creates a negative public perception and damages an organization’s reputation. These increasingly common occurrences have affected industries from healthcare and public utilities to retail establishments, restaurants, and digital service providers.
A solid business case is essential for conveying the value of your solution through its obvious and more subtle advantages. When properly prepared, a business case informs and challenges customers to consider new perspectives, and gives you an opportunity to seal the deal with speed and confidence.
When it comes to deploying value selling tools that successfully increase sales, there are three metrics that must be addressed: timeliness, effectiveness, and cost. Any project manager knows that when it comes to timeliness, effectiveness, and cost, you can only control two of the three.
