There are a number of reasons large, global enterprises stand up value selling initiatives – it’s not just about ROI. Sales is harder than it’s ever been. Today’s buyers only spend 5% of their time with your seller, and are already 70% through their buying research when they start talking to reps. Coupled with longer sales cycles, increased scrutiny from departments like finance, and less time with buyers, financial justification and C-Suite approval are no longer a nice to have, but a must have. This is highlighted in data where we found high-performing organizations are 38% more likely to use business assessments than low-performers, and the Rain Group found that 66% of buyers say making a clear ROI case highly influences their purchasing decisions.
Many of our customers turn to value selling for one or more of these reasons:
- Differentiation in Competitive Markets: In competitive markets where products and services are similar, the company needs to stand out by showcasing a unique value proposition that sets them apart from competitors.
- Complex Solutions: If the company offers complex solutions that require a deep understanding of the customer’s needs and the ability to tailor the solution to those needs, value selling can effectively communicate the value of the solution and guide the customer through the decision-making process.
- Higher Price Points: When products or services have a higher price point, customers need to understand the return on investment (ROI) and the long-term value they will receive. Value selling helps articulate and justify this value to potential buyers.
- Frequent New Product Launches: When introducing new products or services to the market, value selling can educate potential customers about the value these innovations bring and how they address specific pain points.
- Long Sales Cycles: In industries with lengthy sales cycles, value selling can maintain ongoing engagement with prospects and customers, continuously reinforcing the value proposition and addressing any evolving needs.
- Demonstrating ROI: At the end of the day – especially today – customers still need to justify their purchases to stakeholders within their own organizations. Value selling helps provide the necessary data and analysis to demonstrate the potential ROI of the company’s offerings.
Once effectively implemented there are many benefits to value selling at scale:
- Higher Profit Margins and Fewer Discounts: When you lead with value rather than capabilities and price, you can often justify higher prices for your products or services. Customers are often willing to pay more for something they know will provide clear and tangible benefits.
- Improved C-Suite Meetings: Today’s sales go through the CFO and other C-level approvals. Business case development within value selling arms sales with the proper strategy and justification needed have a productive c-level conversation.
- Create Multi-Threaded Conversations: Organizations are upping their game to buy the most value at the least price. There are committee buying groups and little to no access to c-suite. Introducing Business Value Assessments allow the sales person to seek and interview many buyers to create multi threaded conversations.
- Effective Problem Solving: Value selling requires a deep understanding of the customer’s pain points and challenges. This allows your sellers to offer solutions that directly address their problems, to provide real value, and foster high levels of confidence in their purchase decision.
- Increased Sales Efficiency: Combat objections, speeding the sales cycle, and leading to higher close rates and shorter sales cycles, ultimately driving increased revenue and productivity.
- Reduced Churn: When customers perceive that they receive significant value, they are less likely to switch to a competitor. This can help reduce customer churn and increase customer lifetime value.
- Adaptability to Changing Markets: Value selling is adaptable because it’s based on understanding and addressing current customer needs. This means you can adjust your approach as the market evolves.
All of this takes form in a business case or value assessment. With business cases as the top ranked confidence booster among buyers, value selling has become a no-brainer for modern Revenue and Enablement leaders.
These benefits drive efficient growth, but can’t be realized if the value selling methodology and tools don’t get used. Sales managers have to be held accountable for coaching their reps to lead with value. While reps with effective coaching are 63% more likely to be top performers, only 42% of sellers say their sales managers are held accountable for coaching.
That’s why I’m so excited about our new value selling experience.
For the first time ever, revenue leaders have a single place to execute everything they need to make their value selling initiative a success.
The new value selling experience has all the essentials to scale value selling programs:
- Rep-facing portals for enabling your entire value selling initiative: Train teams how to use value tools, and provide enablement collateral and best practices for success.
- Value tools where all of your business case templates exist: Host unlimited business case templates for all use cases in a single portal for easy adoption.
- Content workspace for all the supportive content and case studies: Control and store all content that can be embedded directly in your value tools.
- Analytics to illustrate what is working and what is not: Understand the effectiveness of your business cases with engagement analytics and value tool performance insights.
All where the value tools and business cases live.
Here’s how it works:
- Reps log into an intuitive and engaging portal, specific to their role/team.
- They see a new value tool you’ve published.
- They see all available training and enablement content on how to use the new value tool, including video walkthroughs.
- They consume all of this enablement content and are prepared to use the value tool effectively.
- They open the value tool and fill it out with their customer.
- They get a templatized, visually appealing business case output report.
- They share the business case with their customer.
- The customer circulates the business case within their organization.
- The rep sees all engagement analytics on the business case.
With Mediafly, revenue leaders enable business case development at scale, in a single experience:
- Control the most meaningful piece of content you have – business cases
- Understand the effectiveness of your business cases
- See who is using which business cases, when, at what win rate
- Boost rep effectiveness – especially your middle players – using value selling methodology
- Eliminate one-off tools that never get used
- Quantify the ROI of your wholistic value selling initiative
Mediafly’s new value selling experience is available now. See how you can speed deal cycles and boost win rate with value selling.
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