“You need to put in value” I’m sure you heard that many times before, but what do people mean by value-based selling? I’ve been told to put in value many times, and while I somewhat understood what they meant, it sounded like something any supposed sales guru would say to you in one of their paid lessons. It has become one of those things that people just say to seem knowledgeable in selling. Let’s discuss what you can do to bring value when initiating a sales pitch or follow-up.
How to bring value when reaching out
Do you reach out to clients just to follow up? Or actually give time to consider how to improve your client’s day or solve a problem they might be selling? Before you send out that email, think carefully about the value that email brings to your client. Does it help them in any way at all? If not, you should probably scrap that email and start over. Don’t contact your clients without bringing something beneficial to them. It can be as simple as an update on progress, a new feature, or even stats on how your service is helping them. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself before reaching out to clients:
- Is this going to help my clients in any way?
- Can I add anything that will give more value to my clients?
- Am I just reaching out for the sake of reaching out?
Five keys to value-based selling
Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with a straightforward sales approach, but we’ve found that putting clients first and approaching them in a way that assists them is far more effective. When approaching a client in this method, think of yourself as a concierge, reaching out to clients to help them achieve their goals and improve their lives. To do these, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Be Knowledgeable – You need to know your clients and the services you can provide them. This requires a lot of effort, as you create a tailor-made pitch every time. This will reward you with a higher conversion rate.
- Be a Guide to your clients – Throughout the sales process, from beginning to end, guide your client and help them choose the right product and services that would truly benefit them—informing and showing how your products provide value and how they could help them.
- Don’t pitch too soon – You want to be helping your clients, actually providing them with valuable information and services. Giving your pitch too early might undermine your efforts.
- Be personable – You’re talking to a person, so small talk goes a long way. Create a friendship between you and your clients, get to know them, and this will help you help them.
- Add value every time you interact – As stated in the example above, you need to consider the value you bring every time you communicate with your clients.
Value-based selling isn’t just one approach
Since the beginning of sales, it has always been a question of ‘what do people need?’ and there have been many case studies of Value-Based selling. What you read above is just one example of the basics of VBS. If you want to know more about bringing more value to your clients, contact us now.
