3 Simple Steps for Building Value!
Doyle Slayton | Sep 30, 2009 | Comments 15
We hear it all the time, “You have have to build value.” Ok… I get that… but how?
Most people think that building value is dependent upon statements the sales person makes. Strategic word tracks and value based concepts are important coming from the seller, but what if we could get these value building ideas coming from the buyer?
Here are 3 Simple Steps for Building Value!
1. Uncovering Needs: The first step to building value comes by understanding what your prospect wants and needs. I normally focus on three main areas.
Current Process – Tell me how your currently handle…
Frustrations – What are the biggest challenges with the current process?
Wish List – If you could make it better… How do you want it to work moving forward?
Take your time going through each of these areas. Probe deeper with comments and questions like, “Tell me more about…”, “What happens after you…”, “How does that affect…” Get as much information as possible to carry into the next step… solutions.
2. Matching Solutions: This is where product knowledge really comes in handy. The more you know and understand about the way your product/service offering works, the more effective you will be in providing targeted solutions that match your prospect’s needs. I’ve put together a quick list of three creative techniques for recommending solutions.
Quick Fix – Some of your prospects issues will be easy to overcome. Share your solution as simply and efficiently as possible. “We can do it this way… and that will help you overcome (state their issue)”.
Preference – Buyers like to have options. You might say, “There are a couple of options here.” Explain (Option 1) and (Option 2). Then ask them, “Which option sounds better to you?”
These become mini-buying decisions. It’s a powerful way to engage the prospect and move them forward through the decision making process!
Success Story – When you get the opportunity to share a success story… jump on it! There’s nothing better than sharing a story that specifically relates to the prospects current situation. Build your stories around three main points. Explain the situation, share how you effectively provided a solution, and close with the details that made it a success!
3. Probe for Value: This step is an immediate “piggy back” off the Matching Solutions step. It is the core technique for having the prospect create their own value statements. Here’s the key. As soon as you provide the solution, you immediately follow-up with a question. I’ll share examples for each with the “Probe for Value” question in bold. Notice there are three examples below. They are in the same order outlined in Step 2.
Once you provide the “Quick Fix” recommendation, you immediately ask, “What do you think about doing it that way?”
The prospect will either like it or they won’t. If they like it, they will share their “value based” reasons for why they think it will work. If they don’t like it, you will uncover a hidden objection. You are in perfect position to work with the prospect to find a different solution!
Let’s look at another example. You’ve given the prospect options and they’ve stated their preference. You instantly probe for value with, “What do you like most about that option?”
Again, the prospect shares reasons why they prefer that option, and you have them verbalizing the specifics of what they value most!
In the final example, you have shared a success story. Follow up that story with, “Have you ever been involved in that type of situation?” The prospect will respond with a story of their own or share how impressed they are with the story.
There you have it… 3 Simple Steps for Building Value! The strongest value based statements come from the buyer… not the seller.
How do you do it… What techniques can you share for building value?
Hands down the best article I have read in 15 years of sales. We think so much alike. You put it into perfect process. Impressive is an understatement.
Thanks Doyle, that was a very informative article and a good explaination of the simple and yet highly effective process value building for your customers.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Regards
Brilliant – although one knows the steps the article just jolts the memory and if we can get down to grassroots once again following the simple steps described the results will speak for themselves.
Really the person being sold builds value, not you. But how do you get in front of a captive audience in the first place (www.vorsight.com)? Another one I like to ask is, “How would you describe our service/product/solution?” This is a great indicator of how they will sell you internally after you leave.
This is just the type of information that is right on target. Many salespeople are told what to do but not how to do it. Value is the most important part of selling. If you have no confidence in what you’re selling, you cannot do it well. Thanks Doyle!
Doyle you continue to deliver with your great content. Just another reminder that the sale is made in the begining of the process; when you are uncovering needs, poking holes in current processes and matching solutions; not when you actually close the deal. Thanks!
This is a very helpful article and timely, heading to a health fair today and will implement. Thank you!
Great, practical advice,
How do I create Value?
Well you nailed it in your comment about the best information comes from the buyer…but that assumes you are listening and not trying to “overcome objections” like they taught us in the 1980”s.
The quickest way to create value for the client, because that is what it’s about now and in the future is to truly understand the problem as you stated, and quantify the impact of that problem. Once you do so, then all further discussions along the buying process will be connected to that thread.
That is how you create what I call “sales Velocity”.
Sales Velocity is not about “more sales” but it’s about sales acceleration, with direction that also creates momentum. I discuss this in my blog post: http://tiny.cc/ofLKO .
Great Job, keep up the great work!
Mark Allen Roberts
http://www.outbsolutions.com
Read and apply. Read and internalize. Read and make a resolute change in attitude
This dovetails nicely with how APICS teaches the quality-value relationship. A CPIM should appreciate a meeting on these terms.
Steve has a great point about questioning how the solution will be “sold” internally. Following on that point, finding out the obstacles to implementing the solution can give you valuable information (and opportunity) to help your contact get internal buy-in.
BTW…don’t forget to share this info. with your marketing dept. so those strategic word tracks actually resonate with the audience and convey value.
Good one Doyle!
Well crafted, very succinct yet valuable piece of info.
Thank You and look forward for more similar posts.
Doyle,
Excellent piece. I’d like to recommend a book that piggybacks on your article. It’s called “A Seat at the Table” by Marc Miller. Marc is the author of another book called “Selling is Dead” and owns a consulting firm here in the Cleveland area called Sogistics.
There are quite a few key points in “A Seat at the Table” that makes this book genius. Among them are Miller’s teachings on how to be viewed as a caring consultant and not just a seller, how he teaches sellers to add value to a prospect’s current strategy instead of using tactical selling to sell something the prospect may not even need, and his line of questioning with the acronym FOCAS (Fact, Objective, Concern, Anchor, and Solution questions) that helps you identify pains and connect them to the prospect’s strategies and your solutions. A case study includes a look at how Proctor & Gamble became more than just a seller to Wal-Mart and was offered a seat at their executive board meetings to offer real value in regards to other key strategic objectives.
Nice post Doyle, this is how we work here. We see a sales opportunity discussion as an opening to start a conversation focused on developing a working relationship with the prospect toward the common goal of determining how we can help them better serve “their” customers. You covered this perfectly.
Kent Bond
http://www.crmsoftwarefreetrial.com
Great sales blog article I stumbled upon.
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