The New Power Base Selling: Master The Politics, Create Unexpected Value and Higher Margins, and Outsmart the Competition

Expanding the Sales Value Chain

We have talked about mapping a solution into the priorities that exist at multiple levels within a customer’s organization. Now, let’s build on that and do so within the context of the Holden Four Stage Model that we presented in Chapter 2.

Figure 8.2 shows that there are really four stages or types of value that constitute the full Sales Value Chain. They center on:

Figure 8.2: Four Types of Value

1. Product being sold, often expressed in terms of features and benefits.

2. Business value, expressed in terms of value and total cost of ownership (TCO), based on linking or mapping into the priorities at multiple customer levels, as we have discussed.

3. Political value, generally expressed in terms of leveraging the Power Base Principle and advancing an individual’s Personal Motivator.

4. Cultural value, which is often referred to in terms of accepted business norms or behavior within an organization. This impacts how you generate value. If someone produces value in an unacceptable manner, other members of the organization, particularly Foxes, will likely discount the value.

What value do customers expect, and what is unexpected? Why does this matter? To answer these questions, we look at this dimension of value in more depth.