Value Selling: What Is Good for the Buyer Is Good for the Seller
For nearly 16 years now, one of my favorite aspects of Mereo is getting to know many of the firm’s clients. I am honored to now count a growing number of them life-long relationships too. There are highs — births, graduations, weddings, vacation memories — and there are lows — we celebrated the life of one amazing client this month who bravely battled ALS (RIP Chris).
When we catch-up on the phone or meet in-person, we ask about each other’s lives and children. We rib each other about the state of our favorite basketball and football teams (fortunately mine have been winners for the most part the last decade-plus). And in addition to remaining on top of what matters most in their personal lives, my team and I are able to keep a pulse on what matters the most in their professional lives too. We want to see the people we have come to care about succeed. The interesting thing is that our clients get invested in seeing us succeed too. In an amazing way it is reciprocal. And that blows me away.
I could not sustain my career if it were not for this authentic approach. These relationships matter and are the fabric of Mereo and my personal life.
The same can and should be true for B2B selling organizations. Mutual value-exchange — where both buyer and seller benefit — leads to sustainable revenue performance for both parties. More than that, value selling builds deeper buyer-seller relationships that keep individuals committed and motivated in their positions. They are both in it for each other to win! It is a partnership.
The sales-focused version of this is called value selling. At Mereo we go beyond a sales-only focus and call this organization-wide approach Seek to Serve, Not to Sell?. The benefits from this abound for sustainable revenue performance — but here are my top five that drive me. I hope they inspire you as well!
1) VALUE SELLING ENCOURAGES RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING
Sales can often be mistaken as a career for pushy people focused on making money . Yet value-based selling erases that stereotype 100%. To be effective in the value selling framework, your salespeople will approach new prospects and long-term buyers from a place of trust and relationship-building.
In a recent @LinkedIn survey , 58% of B2B buyers ranked “trustworthy” as one of the most important traits a salesperson can possess. Yet only 23% of buyers believe sellers put them first and only 36% trust what salespeople say about a solution. Ouch!
Leading salespeople take the time to ask questions and to listen to buyers. And, if lucky and if pragmatic, they will get to know buyer contacts and decision makers on a deeper, more genuine level. These kinds of engagements allow for more-interesting and more-meaningful conversations because buyers will come to trust that your salespeople truly are looking-out for them and their best interests (as they should be). They rid the relationship of doubt and apprehension to open the path toward sharing innovative ideas for both parties’ benefits. Buyers can ultimately amount to if not outright then something akin to friends we worry about when struggling and cheer for when they succeed.
2) VALUE SELLING HINGES ON STORYTELLING ?
Selling should not be a hassle of product features and product pushing. Rather, value-based selling offers a chance to connect and inspire positive change through storytelling.
In selling, your salespeople’s stories will be guided by a differentiated value proposition. This tool builds a compelling foundation for the story through a pain, solution, gain, proof framework that is catered to your specific buyer audiences.
A private equity firm Mereo supports surveyed the CEOs, heads of sales and heads of marketing across their portfolio companies about the top challenges they are battling in their go-to-market efforts. They discovered their portfolio companies struggled most with value proposition and value selling skills (tied for first at 52% of respondents). In a session with the leaders, it was clear these two are inextricably linked and often have downstream impacts in Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) and Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) through time to revenue positive for new hire onboarding, pricing power, competitive win-rates and more.?
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3) VALUE SELLING NURTURES THE HIGHEST-SKILLED SALESPEOPLE
Memorizing product features takes little time and quite little skill. Pitching and pushing a product can be repeated time and again, no matter who the buyer is or what their specific situation and needs are. These methods do not uncover buyer pains and speak to how they might be resolved with a product or service. They might be easy to do, but they offer small return — especially in the long-run.
Value selling offers greater long-term rewards for both buyer and seller. This selling posture presents a unique challenge because your salespeople’s approach should change with each new prospect and buyer. Not only that, their approach should cater specifically to a new prospect or buyer. There exists no script to memorize but rather there needs to be deep skillsets at play to be successful. This is easier to conceptualize than to put into practice. That is why Gartner research found B2B buyers rated their last purchase as very complex or difficult.?
Sales leadership needs to put in more time training and equipping their salespeople with the right skills and tools to exchange real value with buyers. They need to keep an eye on sales performance in practice with tools like conversation intelligence . Then, your leaders need to remind and reinforce what matters the most through a healthy culture of accountability with a governance backstop.
4) VALUE SELLING UNIFIES DEPARTMENTS AND TEAMS
Value selling is not just a salesperson’s approach. This method impacts the decisions and actions of your entire organization. What products or services will the solution management team research, pursue and develop — and are they basing these on real problems your target buyers face? How can marketing create tools to support salespeople’s boots-on-the-ground value selling, while also keeping content focused on buyers and their needs first and foremost ? How do customer success teams treat buyers when they have questions or experience issues, and how does the account manager continue to serve buyers even after the initial deal is sealed, including up-selling or cross-selling a solution that offers even greater value?
Value selling brings your entire organization together with an honorable mission. It helps build an interconnected organization and meaningful culture that motivates people to give it their all and to keep coming back day after day.
Aligning teams from different departments, geographies, levels and more can be a challenge, though.
5) VALUE SELLING INSTILLS IN YOUR SALESPEOPLE A GREATER PURPOSE
The Baylor Bears men’s basketball coach, Scott Drew, has led his team in a number of winning seasons over the past two decades. But he and his team are not successful because they are obsessed with how many baskets they can make or how many games they can win. They are successful because he instills in them a focus and foundation of JOY.
As guard Jared Butler says in the?Baylor Magazine Spring 2021 Issue , “A culture of JOY is Jesus, Others and then Yourself. It’s a hierarchy of the way of thinking. For me, it’s the fact that I get to be here with this group of guys. It’s joy; it’s fun.”
Like sports culture, the selling world gets bogged down in me-focused goals and short-term-win thinking. “We need to land that deal now.” “We need to sell our solution and meet this quota.” “We need to win, win, win.”
Yet, at the heart of selling pumps a buyer with a problem and the lifeblood of a seller who is dedicated to helping them overcome that problem to reach a goal. When you help your salespeople realize a deeper purpose, they in turn put in more heart, more time, more commitment to serve your buyers. And when you help your buyers win, you in turn win too.
Co-Founder at CloseFactor
10 个月Great insight that value selling is good for the seller. One challenge to get there is the tremendous account research work required to make this happen. That's why CloseFactor leverages AI to generate the value pyramid for AEs automatically: www.closefactor.com/pyramid
Great insights Jay. Have always appreciated your messaging and "seek to serve" approach to client relationships and working with sales teams.
Strategic Sales Leader who GETS Marketing | Growing Revenue | Executive Member @ Pavilion
1 年This resonates so much with me, Jay. Thanks for posting
Advisor to companies seeking to improve results across all routes to market.
1 年Nicely done Jay - seems like I write this old sales adage about every six months that crystallizes this topic: if you're worried about making your number, focus on helping your prospects (or clients) make their numbers and you'll never miss yours. If you're worried about losing to your competition, focus on helping your clients beat their competition and you'll never have any.