I came across an interesting quote the other day: “Instead of trying to explain how valuable you are, demonstrate how you add value.” That sounds like a simple nuance, but it is at the heart of what we teach at The Center for Sales Strategy: Instead of preaching about why to buy your product or service, you should focus on how a prospect should use—and extract maximum value—from it.
So what is value? Who decides what is valuable? And what determines how valuable a valuable thing is? If you answered, “The Customer,” I like you: Your heart is in the right place.
But you’re wrong.
They Have Businesses to Run
You see, few customers simply spend their time holding court, listening to one pitch after another, and swinging their economic gavel based on whether they like one person, product, or pitch more than another. Most customers actually have a business to run… goals to hit, budgets to adhere to, problems to solve, and objectives to accomplish. These challenges form the criteria by which any idea will be judged as either inspiring or ignorable, and determine which solutions are simply “novel,” or truly buyable.
There is one thing your prospect wants more than your product, your service, or your ideas: They want results.
Anticipate the Outcomes
That is why, from the prospecting to the valid business reason, from the needs analysis to the design of a solution… anticipating the outcomes this prospect expects should help formulate every step you take. Before a solution is executed, you should review the prospect’s expectations yet again, making sure they are aligned with your own and realistically attainable. There is a tool to help you do this, of course, called the Results Checklist.
Focus on Solving Problems
To be sure, sellers who focus on why to buy can absolutely make some sales. But when you focus on how to use a product or service—with the goal of solving problems and helping the prospect meet or exceed their objectives—you stand a much better chance of making a customer. And in the process, you have promoted yourself from simply being an account manager… to the more highly regarded position of accountability manager.
Learn how to retain a client long-term by delivering the specific value they're seeking. Download the Results Checklist.
