What's Wrong with your Value Statement?

A feature article by fiskeman2000, Mar 31, 2008         

To create a value statement that blows your competition away, you need to turn your thinking upside down.

Here is a common scenario during a sales engagement; You are on the verge of the perfect value proposition for your client. You craft it and tweak it. You practice it and rehearse it to perfection. And when you go to deliver it - you completely miss the mark.

Why does this happen? Why do so many salespeople completely misfire on their value statement? The answer is not that complicated.

We often create our value statement while we are looking inward. In other words, we create our value statement based on our company and product features. This is obviously important, but you need to make sure you connect those features to what the customer is truly looking for.

Value is defined by our customers. It is defined by those who use and pay for the product. Value is not defined by those who design and sell it. In order to truly understand the nature of value from the customer perspective, you need to get inside of their head.

Value is difficult to quantify. Salespeople often talk about the "value add" their product provides. Value add is often associated with things like "expertise", "product speed" or "reliability" (to name a few). Most salespeople assume the customer interprets value the same way they do. This is a critical mistake.

You must understand all of the factors that your client takes into consideration while assessing value. You need to realize the relative importance they place on items you think add value. You will find your assumptions are not always right.

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The term "value" will be empty if you do not connect your value statement to their business challenges and objectives. An understanding of what your customer values is critical. It is the difference between success and failure during any sales engagement.

Think about the definition of value as it relates to your customers. How do they define it? How do they quantify value? What are the factors they take into consideration while assessing value?

You need to get these answers from your clients. When you do, you will be in a perfect position to craft that killer selling proposition. You will be ready to leave your competitors in the dust.

Thanks for reading.

Good selling.

Craig Fiske has achieved over $130 million in sales and has won numerous awards because of his easy approach to selling. To see how you can improve your cold call success, visit him at: http://www.better-sales-and-selling.com/thecustomerrelationship.html

Craig has been a senior sales executive with a Fortune 500 company for the last 12 years. He has driven profitable revenue well over 100 million dollars and has won numerous sales awards.. He has over-achieved his sales target 12 years running. Craig currently leads a sales teams through a variety of complex selling engagements. He continues to sell today and shares his knowledge on the sales industry at http://www.better-sales-and-selling.com

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