I can hear it now: “Buyers are treating us as a commodity”…“It’s all about price, price and more price”…“We don’t have anything unique to offer.” This can all be prevented.
The modern buyer is better equipped than ever to drive salespeople toward commoditization. Prices have become increasingly transparent, comparisons are easily available and today’s technical differentiator is tomorrow’s “me, too.”
Most buyers don’t really care about your company or your product. However, what they do care about is if you can help solve their problems and bring measurable value to their business. Unfortunately, too many reps start off conversations by using outdated, old-school tactics such as talking about themselves, their company, their product or their features. How’s this working? I bet it’s not.
Break Out of the Commodity Box
Commoditization happens when the buyer does extensive research on prospective suppliers, then narrows down the field to the top three or four, thus treating you all as commodities as you get whacked with the price hammer.
In a 2016 study conducted by Hubspot, they found that sales representatives are acknowledging the shift in buyer behavior.
“57% of salespeople agree that buyers are less dependent on sales during the buying process compared to a few years ago.”
Don’t allow this to happen to you. Inspire the buyer to make a decision in your favor based on new insights and new ideas raised within your sales messaging.
Enhance the level of your conversations to break out of the commodity box.
Three Value-Based Sales Conversions
Sales reps need to think about offering real value to buyers by solving pressing business problems in every conversation. True differentiation in today’s complex business world shouldn’t be limited to having the best solution; value needs to be created by each individual sales rep themselves. Successful salespeople consistently add quantifiable value by educating buyers about their business, market trends and business drivers as they become seen as trusted advisors.
Consider Your Buyer’s Perspective
The art of creating added value starts with the ability to see your business through the eyes of the buyer.
Consider what’s important to them and how your product or service will benefit them. What problem does it solve, how will it help them overcome obstacles to do their job better? Shift your focus to providing educational content. Provide examples and stories of how you helped others. Start focusing on your buyers’ needs and start helping.
Conduct a thorough analysis of their buying behaviors, which can lend insight into what is most important to them. This is the one thing that matters. A helpful tip: Buying behaviors can be uncovered by conversing with your current clients as well as some of their clients.
Consider Business Value
Sales reps must discover what business problems are troubling buyers and then offer them sound advice. A true sales professional is always helpful. Instead of pushing buyers to buy, they offer advice and best practices within their area of expertise. By showing how valuable their knowledge can be for their business, buyers soon start to trust sales reps as a resource they can turn to.
Sales reps should zero in on a specific business challenge the buyer faces, one that they can address and solve. You must be able to demonstrate you understand their issues and prove other companies successfully overcame similar situations thanks to your expertise.
Enhance your business acumen to drive valuable conversations by thinking like the buyer. Here are a few tips…
- Look at the “big picture” within their organization. Uncover key business drivers and how this relates to producing profitable growth by helping them do their job better.
- Work together with the buyer to communicate your ideas to other employees, managers and most importantly, the executives making the decision.
Consider Being Curious About the Buyer
Do not fall into the trap of assumption. Do not assume you know exactly what the buyer values in a solution and how they measure success. Become an expert questioner by layering your questions as you uncover and understand what “quality” or “risk removal” means to them as you put some quantifiable numbers around it.
Curious salespeople are always looking for opportunities to learn about the buyer, their markets, industries, products and what is important to them.
For sales reps to become more successful, they must become obsessed with being curious. Your sales growth is going to come from helping the buyer grow their businesses. The only way to effectively do that is to constantly be curious. Never be afraid to ask why they are doing business a certain way. Get nosy, pry a little, ask great questions and win big.
To Conclude
A value-added, buyer-centric conversation focuses on:
- The challenges the buyer faces
- The pain points these challenges present to them
- How much, in quantifiable numbers, remaining in a status quo mindset will cost them and their company
Allow me to leave you all with this…
If you don’t know the value you bring to your current clients then how can you engage in a meaningful value-based conversation with a prospective buyer?
