Tom Petty said it best, “the waiting is the hardest part.”
Nothing wounds a salesperson like a hot prospect going dark. There are so many variables as to why it happens. Some can be controlled. Unfortunately some can’t.
Losing is part of sales. A great salesman owns his loss. He learns from it.
Looking back on deals I’ve lost that hurt the most, it’s when I’ve gone off process and rushed a pitch without fully understanding the business impact of my solution.
One of the sharpest guys I know says, “If the buyer is stuck on price, you didn’t do your job selling the value.”
Regardless of the business you’re in, it’s imperative your sales team can define and quantify the value your solution brings. Before the pitch. Buyers are going to rush you for an estimate. It’s what they do.
In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s not enough to make general statements like, “Our solution increases revenue or decreases cost or improves employee experience.”
You need to take it one step further.
Great salespeople sell differently. They have conversations based in numbers. Great salespeople quantify value.
Here are the top-5 benefits of quantifying value in your sales process:
1. Evolve ‘Order Takers’ into ‘Consultants’
Possessing business acumen and quantifying value is one of the many ways successful salespeople create value and remain relevant in the age of the customer.
Quantifying value demonstrates critical thinking and builds credibility with prospects faster. Prove that your firm is a partner, not another vendor.
2. Empower Authentic Conversations About Price
Quantifying value gives context to pricing. If a solution costs $100 but saves a buyer $1,000, price is irrelevant. Price becomes a phantom objection when put in the perspective of compelling ROI.
Conversely, if a solution costs $100 but only saves a client $101, it becomes easy for a salesperson to qualify out the opportunity and let the buyer know there isn’t a mutual fit.
3. Increase Your Ability to Close Deals in a Recession
Smart deals with lucrative ROI are recession proof. Enough said.
4. Expand Your Reach Within a Buyer’s Organization
B2B buying isn’t done by one individual. Purchasing is decentralized, and salespeople must build consensus among a group of stakeholders.
Asking the right questions to validate assumptions in an ROI model will open doors to conversations throughout the buyer’s organization and potentially improve your firm’s access to power.
5. Ensure UX Success
If your organization builds custom solutions, both user needs and business needs must be taken into account to drive engagement and business value. And these needs must be defined before design begins.
Quantifying the value of a desired solution gives your UX team the context and metrics they need to be successful.
Valeria Spirovski explains further in Pixar’s 22 Rules Of Storytelling Adapted for UX:
“The questions of ‘how do we deliver this benefit?’ or ‘what value proposition will engage users?’ or ‘what does the experience look like?’ are fundamental and need to be explored first since the answers will have a huge impact on the design. If your design isn’t based on the answers to those questions, it’s very likely that it may not succeed in delivering business benefit or enticing users to use it — no matter how beautiful or usable.”
Want to learn more about quantifying value? Email jay@mozmanconsulting.com and I’ll share how I quantified the value of Silicon Valley media darling, Slack.
