Value Drivers: Behind the wheel of your sale -
It is painfully obvious to sales professionals when their pitch is engaging the customer, and when it is falling flat. To create meaningful conversation around your products and services, be aware of your customer’s “value drivers.” Value drivers are what the customer considers to be most important; those important concerns direct the aspects of a sale that will speak to the customer’s needs, and which will seem trivial and beside-the-point.
Imagine that you are working for a paint brand with several brick and mortar stores in a geographical region. You get a wide variety of customers, and they all have different reasons for wanting to purchase your paint:
- Performance - A chemist has been a loyal customer ever since you shared data from a stress test of your paint’s superior durability in hurricane conditions.
- Financial - A thrifty young couple flips houses for a living and was sold on your brand’s loyalty discount program that saves them more money with each bulk purchase.
- Service - You know that by asking local independent hardware stores to carry your paint, you have increased your customer base by allowing them to shorten the drive to buy your product.
- Image - A local interior designer has decided to advertise her exclusive use of your paint brand because it is formulated to be more eco-friendly, and this brand recognition enhances her business’
- Relationship - Finally, a contractor has relied on the expertise of your sales personnel to advise him on projects for over seven years.
This approach to selling VALUE applies whether your are selling paint, or a multi-million dollar solution.
To sell effectively, you must be able to quickly identify the value drivers being expressed by your customers in conversation, and then highlight the features and benefits of your products and services that speak to that value!
Think about it.