Selling Value

Early in my career as a TSR for a major veterinary distributor, I asked my field rep if he would share with me how he became so successful in veterinary sales. Jim told me  "learn how to sell equipment well. If I can do that, I can sell anything." I set out to learn how to do just that.

Several years ago, the Equipment Sales Manager for the largest distributor in the veterinary market asked me the following question. "With other dealers selling your product line within the same market, how do we differentiate ourselves to close deals?" My answer was relatively simple, "Sell value." He asked me to elaborate.

In today's world, buying decisions are not always made exclusively on price, although admittedly, with today's economy, that is undoubtedly a factor. As our conversation progressed, I told the manager, first and foremost, it's about likeability. If your vet customer does not like the sales rep first, it will be rare that a deal will close regardless of pricing. Second, because of the expense, the vet needs to buy into "trust". The vet needs to trust your sales rep, your company, as well as the manufacturer that all three parties will deliver and stand behind the product(s) error free, on time, and the equipment will perform as desired.

But what about value? I suggested that his reps needed to go above and beyond expectations from the veterinarian. I suggested that we institute a rep training program that included information on how to receive an equipment shipment, how to do installation on animal housing and several other top product sellers, and how to trouble shoot common problems. I asked the manager if it was worth his reps "extra time" to help clients receive and install products if it meant closing more deals. His answer was "absolutely".

In addition, as the manufacturer, I added more value to our corporate relationship. After ferreting out some problems that existed in the business relationship, we streamlined the paperwork required in the order process. we partnered distributor field reps with our inside sales reps for more support, and when a distributor rep closed a deal, it was turned back to my inside rep to submit a PO request from the distributor purchasing department. This step alone significantly reduced the number of order errors that were occurring with the older order process.

What was the end result of this "Value" proposition? After implementing value selling training and some process corrections we saw a significant growth in confidence and in sales with the distributor. We took the relationship from $700K to approximately $1.2M in equipment sales within the first year. But there was more. By selling value, reps were closing deals at better margins. Individual annual gross sales were going up and so were their earnings. In addition, reps were able to sell more products because they gained more confidence from the vets on their ability to deliver and stand behind what they were selling. For some reps, this was the first time that they were selling more than just what was between the catalog cover. They were selling value.

Value Added Selling propositions can positively impact any sales organization. Although there are a number of resources available, I highly recommend the book, Value Added Selling by Tom Reilly.