Sell on value, not price

“Thank you very much. It was a REALLY good presentation, and several of our customers have given us positive feedback.”– Lene Eva Christensen, Plant health

Salespeople often want to talk to me about pricing. Value and price are NOT the same things, but salespeople often allow their customers to think of them as the same thing. When the price is the only thing the customer is focused upon, we as salespeople lose.  I will even add that the client loses, too. 

As the coronavirus crisis creates unprecedented uncertainty, it’s crucial that companies find out how to protect and increase revenues and strengthen the strategic relationships with customers.

As a business, it’s your job to come up with ways to demonstrate value to consumers – despite what circumstances the world is in.

Many companies see it as a challenge to negotiate a reasonable price for their products and services. But why this focus on price? Is it because you haven’t demonstrated the value of your products and services well enough? The value could be “safety” who knows? Find out what triggers your customers.

In the years to come, more and more organizations will have to improve their ability to sell on value rather than price. However, most organizations still have a lot to learn when it comes to value-based selling.

These days, many companies adjust expectations upward and reinvest in sales, service, front staff, and marketing. Many companies have put their marketing and sales apparatus in motion again. It is positive, but at the same time, it is dangerous and not thought through.

The customers expect a changed behavior from the companies and that this change in behavior is reflected in the renewed marketing of their products and services. Neither B2B nor B2C customers want more company presentations or ads and campaigns on TV, radio, and newspapers. In fact, they want less.

They want to see more value in the messages from the companies, more targeted content, and fewer yet better offers. The newer generations, young people (below 18) and children, expect few or no ads at all on their TV in 5 years. They expect more interactivity and influence in what they watch and listen to. This is a challenge for our traditional channels, which include customer meetings, radio, magazines, newspapers, and TV. Many companies got into major issues because they misread the situation we are all in.

It is demanding to meet the increasing need for individualization, and companies are forced to develop their competences in areas such as product development, sales, and marketing because nowadays marketing must be quiet, indirect, and preferably via good deeds, recommendations, networks, ambassadors, and the Internet.

Instead of traditional marketing, many companies—small- and medium-sized ones in particular—should concentrate their efforts on grassroots marketing, such as targeted word of mouth, the Internet, social media, and networking, as ways to develop and grow their business. Grassroots marketing is about building a loyal group of ambassadors who use and recommend the company’s products by expressing their satisfaction with the products. The advantage is that the marketing budget is reduced to the bare minimum. The disadvantage is that it takes a long time and a lot of energy to build, but it has a powerful effect when carried out successfully. We have seen the trend with the so-called antipreneurs who, since 2008, have convinced many people that sales happen via relationships.

Traditional sales and marketing, where the focus is on selling, is out. Now it is all about satisfied customers! In order to get the full effect of a “nonmarketing strategy,” the company must do 3 things:

  • It must have the courage to abandon the traditional approach with salespeople and a sales and marketing department.
  • It must train everybody in the organization on how to build a strong and authentic personal brand that will help them establish trusting and lasting relationships.
  • It must train everybody in the organization on how to map, nurture, and expand professional relationships and networks. It must believe that all customers know somewhere between 250 and 800 people they will recommend your products to if they are satisfied.

If you are successful, your company might be the next big company that people blog about, speak positively of, and don’t warn others about—there are companies that promise one thing in their marketing, while their customers experience something quite different in their interaction with them.

With offices and factories shut or running slower, leading to many delivery cancellations and delays; employees and customers forced to work from home; resources at a premium; and travel becoming nearly impossible, companies have many challenges to tackle right away.

Sales leaders, especially in B2B markets, will determine if companies can turn this crisis into an opportunity. They must take four steps to lead sales, and their companies, through these turbulent times. How should you respond? l

  • Respond and reflect, pivot and build relationships
  • Regain momentum
  • Set your team up for success and be ready to when the crisis ends

When you focus on the company’s approach and attitude toward customers and sales channels, you can optimize resources and financial profit. Satisfied customers will recommend their suppliers to others. Value-based sales are about creating value for the customer and implementing solutions that eliminate the customers’ worries. Initiate a dialogue about how your company can move beyond pricing and become better at highlighting the value that you create for the customer via your brand, products, and services. Want to build a successful partnership? read this article as inspiration.

Get some stage inspiration.

Booking

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Further reading

Sack the salesman!

Blog by Soulaima Gourani
The consumers have changed how they consume, from whom they want to buy, thus the way WE have to go about selling have to change as well. Read this blog to learn how to create loyal fans and build strong relationships with your customers so that they will not replace you with a competitor.
Read here

Testimonials

“Thank you for yet another fantastic day together with you. We have received a lot of good feedback regarding the event—because of the good and inspiring start that you provided. I am sure that you will hear from many of the participants again!”
Jeannette Skjoldager
Education manager, Bech-Bruun

“Thank you very much. It was a REALLY good presentation, and several of our customers have given us positive feedback.”
Lene Eva Christensen
Plant health

“It was SO refreshing. Thank you for the presentation. Many of the employees have already downloaded everything they could find on your website. Cool, right?”
Ditte M Wullf
HR director, CODAN

“Thank you for an inspiring, full-of-energy, good-points, and wonderful humoristic lecture this evening.”
Connie Østergaard
Owner, Gl. Brydegaard, Fyn

“It was SO refreshing. Tak for præsentationen. Mange har allerede downloawded alt hvad de kunne fra din www. Cool ikk?”
Ditte M Wullf
HR Director, CODAN

“Thank you very much . . . You are awesome. People were captivated and fell in love with you. Imagine that you are driving 180 km/h and the windscreen falls out—that’s how they felt afterwards, and like they said, ”“Wow, what a woman”.”
Jesper Vangsgaard
Director, Vangsgaard

“Soulaima was absolutely fantastic, and she inspires people to go home and do the right thing: to realize the potential that a company has in the form of our customer relationships and our ability to handle these, and that is what CRM is all about and why she is such a relevant speaker.”
Iben Thorell
Product Marketing Manager – Dynamics CRM, Microsoft

“We had a really good day—once again—incredibly impressed by your presentation! It really gave the meeting a push and was also used frequently in the subsequent group work. So yes, we are very satisfied.”
Dorte Søgaard
Secretary to the management, DONG Energy

“It was a superb presentation that you gave at the Show in Middelfart. You gave me a lot of good ideas and inspiration. You really know how to step on it! Well done!”
Casper Dreymann
Managing director, Focus Telemarketing ApS

Dear Soulaima. Thank you for an excellent presentation! I am going through the written feedback from the day of the lecture, and I can see that what made the biggest impression on my coworkers (40 engineers) was you! Here are some of the words said about you and your presentation:

  • Magnificent speaker
  • Power
  • Someone whose message you will remember
  • A breath of fresh air with good points
  • Woman (written by a female coworker)
  • Speed-talker-power-girl
  • Interesting and relevant
  • It is (apparently) possible to speak fast, AND loud and clear
  • Very interesting reflections
  • A good choice

I hope that is enough! It is a lot of praise, but I am sure that you can handle it. Thank you for the effort!”
Lars Hein
CEO, IPU (DTU)

“Thank you very much for a fantastically inspiring and motivating lecture about selling on value, not price. The participant’s feedback has been very positive. Super!”
Anne Birthe Rasmussen
Director, the Show

“We are more than satisfied; you were super inspiring.”
Hans Vestergaard
Colliers Hans Vestergaard A/S

“Thank you for a good and interesting afternoon. Positive feedback from my staff. What we got out of it was as expected.”
Jacob Linding
Regional director, ISS Facility Services A/S

“Thank you for a really good lecture yesterday in Assens. I was on a high when I came home, and my partner regretted that she hadn’t had time to join me for a lecture that could make one that high. You are the best speaker that we ever had at Assens business club.”
Sune Leisner
Assens business club

“Once again, you did a really good job. Inspired by you, I wrote a mission statement for Nykredit yesterday.”
Rasmus Philipsen Mølgaard
Customer manager, Nykredit

“We would also like to say thank you for your very inspiring presentation. We have received a lot of positive feedback from our employees, who think that they got something to take home and use on a daily basis.”
Erling Fløe Kristensen
Area director retail customers, Jyske Bank

“Rarely have I seen such great feedback. There is no doubt that your course has given the organization a boost of positive energy.”
Thomas Krogh
Market director, Aon Danmark