- Adding Value
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Most people like you and me want to feel as if they add value when they’re involved in something … personally and professionally. I don’t know about you, but when I feel like I don’t add value or others think I don’t enhance or improve a project or event or sales conversation, it bothers me immensely.
So, when it comes to sales, how can you and I add value when we’re retailing? Good question. I think we add value by making the sale about the potential customer and not about us or product features or what we think of the product. It needs to be about the target … the customer! It’s about asking questions, listening to the customer, and being compassionate – this is how a salesperson adds value to a sales conversation. If we focus the conversation on great gizmos of the gadget we’re selling rather than how the bells and whistles of the gadget meet the needs (whether they be essential or entertainment/pleasure needs or convenience/taste needs), we aren’t addressing the value proposition in the customer’s mind -- and we’re wasting time and money. Why would anyone want to hear about a product or product features that are irrelevant to their particular needs and lifestyle? BORRRRRRRRRRRRRRR-ing!
What’s a value proposition? I checked Wikpedia for the definition of customer value proposition
and found this:
In the field of marketing, a customer value proposition consists of the sum total of benefits which a vendor promises that a customer will receive in return for the customer's associated payment (or other value-transfer).
In simple words: value proposition = what the customer gets for what the customer pays.
Note the word benefits--this is everything from the performance to delivery to customer service. Yes, customer service. You (meaning you as an IBO) add value by listening, acknowledging/responding, building trust, addressing customer needs, following up, staying in touch, developing a lasting relationship, and addressing additional customer needs as things comes up through talk and time. (Always look for cross-sell opps!)
Have you ever had a salesperson tell you every specification of a product but not what’s in it for you? Like why do I care about a feature if I don’t know what that particular feature can do for me or to make my life easier or better? Why should I pay more for the deluxe model -- because it is has a better name? because it’s cool to own the deluxe version rather than the basic model? What’s the emotional pull/connection for the customer? Status? Family values? Fun? Control over health? To look beautiful? To look younger? To be the best you can be? These are all emotional reasons people buy--and if you can figure out what emotions may drive the customer’s decision to buy, you can make a sale … and you can solve a need, even if it’s purely an emotional need.
Do you add value to a customer sale as an IBO?
Would love to have you share some stories of your sales adventures or suggestions on what others can do to add value to customer sales.
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About Susan Julien-Willson
I enjoy attending writing/marketing/advertising seminars and conferences for the inspiration and motivation they provide and I also love participating in a monthly writing group and a book club. On weekends, I am frequently found in the poetry/fiction/business/music sections of Schuler Books, my fave local bookstore, or reading magazines and sipping coffee in their café. You can also look for me on weekends at my family cottage in the summer or movie theaters or the mall in the winter. Evenings and weekends, you might spot me out walking when the weather is warm and sunny, or at the Alticor fitness center a few times a week. I love clothes and jewelry as an expression of my personal style. Because I tend to spend most of my time working, working out, or writing poetry, I don?t do the extent of volunteer work I?d like to, but I have a long list of favorite charities I support, including Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Easter Seals, American Cancer Society, Hospice of Michigan, Gilda's Club, and Habitat for Humanity.