The Power of Value Selling

Introduction: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Selling value is more important today than it was even 16 years ago when I published my first book, ValueSelling: Driving Sales Up One Conversation at a Time. While quite a bit about selling is still as true today as it was in 2006, a significant transformation has also occurred.

Value is how people decide what to buy. It is the foundation for justifying the expenditure, the essence of how people answer the question, Is it worth it?

The most intriguing thing about value is that it's personal. Each of us makes buying decisions, based on our point of view and opinion of what is significant and relevant. Two people can make the same decision on what is valuable and have two completely different explanations regarding how they came to that conclusion.

Let's get this out of the way first: Selling value is not the same as understanding your value proposition. Of course, having a value proposition is important if your business is going to thrive. Your value proposition is your broad promise to the marketplace of where you can have a positive impact on their business. It's typically on a macro level: We save you time and money. Selling value is taking that generic promise and quantifying it for a specific organization and individual: How much time we will save you. How much money we can save you. Do you, the buyer, believe and agree that savings is attainable? With these pieces in place, a sales professional can then ...