DV Week Part 1-Drive Your Margins
We are spending the week on the most fundamental aspect of successful selling - Differentiating Value (DV).
There is an old saying in sales, "Price is what you pay, value is what you get." Keep this in mind when you are formulating your DV. People revert to price because it is the easiest metric to use when comparing like solutions. If I can't truly differentiate between them, I'll just buy the lower priced solution. You can't blame the prospect in this instance - they made the correct decision.
But shame on the salesperson.
A buying decision should never boil down to price. If it does, the salesperson has failed to accomplish two mission-critical tasks:
- Differentiate their solution from all of the others
- Translate that differentiation into the prospect's world
Number 1: Prospects, especially those in procurement, will spend great energy to remove your DV. Their goal is to get your solution entered into a spreadsheet tracking prices. Unless you are successfully running the lowest-priced solution, you are done if you end up here.
Value = margin, just ask Apple. They don't sell nearly as many cell phones as Samsung (315 million units for Samsung vs. ~215 million units for Apple). Yet, most everyone has heard of Apple becoming the first $1 trillion company. Value = margin.
The salesperson's first priority is to establish their DV. Differentiating their solution from all the other competing solutions provides the ability to qualify for fit. Your solution will not be a fit for every prospect. Testing for "fit" using your DV is crucial for qualifying whether you have a viable prospect or not.
Number 2: Prospects will not translate your differentiating value into their world. How does your DV show up in their world? What pain does it fix? Whose life will be easier with your solution? What is that DV worth (beyond money to time, resources, reliability, etc.)?
DV is what you do that is unique or better than your competition. It exists in the prospect's world. It is not features and benefits. It is not quality, service or support.
DV is what the prospect will lose if they decide not to do business with you. This fact is the keystone to building your DV into the prospect's world.
You have to answer these questions to approach translating your DV to the prospect's world:
- What value do you bring to your prospect's world?
- What do they lose if they do business elsewhere?
- How does your absence show up in their world (what, when, where, etc.)?
- Who is most affected by your absence?
When you can articulate your answers to these questions, you will have defined your DV. We have further questions and techniques to refine DV. If you could use some assistance with your DV, please contact us today.