The salesperson or company with the strongest value proposition will earn the inside track to a prospect’s business. With that being said, here are four ways to make your value proposition stronger:
- Understand how the value of each product links to a prospect’s business. There’s no doubt there are several benefits that accompany each product, but the ability to determine which benefits will help a prospect the most and translate those benefits in a way the prospect can appreciate makes a big difference.
- Calculate the impact the absence of a product has. Many salespeople deal with price cutters by demonstrating potential ROI, savings, discounts, etc. But what might have more impact is showing the cost of not implementing your solution. How much more money will a prospect spend by not using your product?
- Try to measure the impact of your solution compared to your competitors’. Competitive pricing is only a click away these days. Assuming a prospect knows your competitors’ prices, it might be helpful to pinpoint the values you offer that price cutters can’t.
- Look at sales in terms of profit, as opposed to gross revenue. Many times in order to get a deal done, certain concessions need to be made. But the more concessions that are offered, the less profitable each sale is. It helps to look for concessions that won’t tip too deeply into your companies’ profits.
Adapted from: “Slow down, Sell Faster,” by Kevin Davis, president of Top-Line Leadership, Inc., a leading sales training company.
