A great way to uncover the value in what you are selling, whether it is software, hardware, services, or integration…is to perform a simple exercise. Simply start at the bottom of the chart and list all your features that “Increase Revenue” or Lower Costs”. A feature is the reason why a product does what it does; such asenhanced web access, faster CPU performance, more accurate predictive ability…
Moving up the scale, list your benefits for either “Increasing Revenue” or “Lowering Costs”. Your benefits are what the feature delivers in actual practice; such as lowered time in billing, broader audience appeal, lower turnover, increased client access.Lastly, the Delivered Value is the hard derived benefit to the business, such as lowered operating costs, increased sales, increased profit margins, etc. When you deliver the value, the Sr. executive prospect will respond to help make the sale happen.
It is only after we have the identified the critical business issue, its underlying problems or pains, what is the needed solutions, the value (both business and personal) of solving these issues, and who has the authority to act, that we are in a position to move forward and close the deal.
Value is directly linked to resolving our client’s business issues(free “gifts of Knowledge”), not by solving individual problems or projects. These issue also include them wanting to receive:
- A promotion
- A bonus
- Increased credibility
- Being perceived as “a good guy”, pioneer, making a difference, etc.
Anything short of revealing the connection between value and the business issue means that we are expecting our prospects to make this link without us. And how likely is it that our prospects are motivated to finish the job for us? Connecting value appropriately is often the missing and most important ingredient in a successful sales cycle.
What do you do next? Send us an email and we’ll arrange for you to speak with Ed to chat about how these learnings can help build more sales just for your business.