Why You Need Value Based Selling NOW!

It’s a sad fact that today’s average B2B sales person is still far more comfortable talking about their products than they are discussing business issues or customers’ problems. However the average B2B buyer regards a sales person’s relevant business knowledge and the understanding of his business problem as being far more valuable than their ability to regurgitate product features, functions and benefits.

This terrible mismatch has profound consequences - on average 87% of the revenues in complex B2B sales environments are being generated by just 13% of the sales population. So what these best-in-class sales organizations do differently ?

Very simply put they have mastered the technique to systematically create unique value to their customers through the disciplined application of value-based selling across their entire sales and marketing organisation. And the results can be seen in top line revenue growth that far exceeds market averages.

Value based selling is delivering value to a customer rather than just selling a product / service to them.  However, as some early definitions suggested – it’s not just about maximising the value of your solution to the customer. In fact focusing on your value too early in the development of a sales opportunity can actually compromise your chances of success. Because if there is no problem, there can be no solution.

Therefore, before the value of your solution is in any way relevant to yourpotential customer, they must first - hopefully with your help - recognise the value of solving the problem the first place, and acknowledge the cost of inaction and the urgent need for change. Otherwise, the most likely outcome is that they will simply decide to stick with the status quo.

Value-based selling requires in-depth understanding of how the customer uses the product and the contribution the product makes to his business operations. It also requires that service sales personnel understand cost behaviour and their customer’s P&L structure. They need easy-to-use tools to help demonstrate and quantify the financial contribution and service value to senior customer management.

It, therefore, demonstrates how this contractually assured service can make a significant contribution toward increasing customer productivity, profit, and in some instances, capacity. Rather than resorting to price reductions to avert contract cancellations, the sales force actually can sell premium products /service at a higher price.

To sum it up : The Value Based Sales  equips the sales force with the skill to identify each customer’s problem areas and then offer a unique solution to that problem with their respective products.

 To build sufficient VBS capability, a framework of sales effectiveness drivers must be evaluated and addressed.

 Value Based Sales Workshop Objectives:

• Improve average order values
• Increase the take of ‘Wallet Share’
• Move further up the value chain away from 'commodity hell'
• Improve your reputation as a value adding salesperson
• Analyse their personal performance, and through increased self-awareness reduce weaknesses and maximise strengths in their sales approach
• Build their confidence in presenting value rather than costs
• Develop business relationships which ensure customers want to do more business with them
• Review difficult sales situations and construct more effective sales presentations / pitch
• Develop greater opportunities for closing more business
• Increase job satisfaction and improve customer service scores through professional and effective needs alignment.

Write to us at contact@thesmartideas.in to schedule a meeting.

Is Branding relevant in a B2B scenario?

Let’s start with the Basics:

There are 5 key attributes in B2B Branding:

A. Intangible Attributes-
1. Trust
2. Relationship

B. Tangible Attributes
3. Price
4. Product
5. Logistics

Prices fluctuate, products rust and supply chains merge –
The only thing that keeps a Brand in the mind of the customer is the relationship that it enjoys with the Brand and whether it can trust it for using it in its most complex applications


B2B Brands:

In a B2B scenario, marketing strategies and the need to build a B2B brand cannot be achieved through advertisement. It depends on the price-sensitivity of primary and secondary customers:

¡ When both buy mainly on price factors, work on reducing their cost but not your price.
¡ when both buy mainly on non-price factors, competitive advantage depends on building relationships throughout the value chain, emphasizing service, product enhancements and the contributions of your processes and systems to customers' business success.
¡ When the primary buyer responds to value-added and other non-price appeals, but the secondary customer is a price buyer, your job is to provide the systems and product enhancements that help the primary customer cut its price to secondary customers.
¡ When the primary buyer is price-driven, but the secondary customer seeks value enhancements and other non-price reasons to buy, promote cost-justifiable product enhancements that improve the primary buyer's value-added appeal to the secondary buyer

Therefore, Creating Value for the customer is the Key to success



Creating Value

— Understand the value-chain and the effect of your product on the value-chain
— Create the next best alternative
— Make it important to all the stakeholders in the organization
— Innovate continuously
— Work with the customers to reduce their cost of manufacturing
— Be a solution provider and not just a product / service seller; work as a Consultant
— Upgrade your customer to the next technology by yourself
— Touch your customers’ emotion! – Be there whenever they need you!!!

Last but not the least

In a B2B market, the sales person is an extension of the Brand. So, take care of
i. Your looks
ii.Your clothing
iii. Your etiquette
iv. And most importantly, the customers’ cultural background

Therefore,

1. Empathize with the customers’ problem and be their ‘Good Friday’
2. And, remember the success of a B2B product is only achieved when not only the customer is successful – but, everyone down the value chain is successful.


Consider yourself successful when

1. The end-user demands your product to be part of the final product at her hand, e.g. Intel
2. Your Brand has become synonymous to the generic product category, e.g. Xerox