Know the Customer's Expected Value Proposition
Posted by David Bennett Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:18:00 GMT
The Power of KNOW: It’s All About the Value Proposition
Yes, you CAN win any listing or sale … or at least get out of the unwinnable ones before you’ve invested too much selling time!
In a sense selling is so simple. Any customer who is even considering a purchase of a product or service has a value proposition in their mind, i.e., more than "need", a vision of the results they will gain from making a purchase. You sell successfully when you meet or exceed the customer’s expected value proposition. You fail when you come up short (your value proposition doesn’t align with or meet the customer’s) or the competition creates a better value proposition.
The key to offering a compelling value proposition is in knowing the customer’s expected value proposition, not just their stated needs. Too often as sales reps we ask a few need-type questions then take our value propositions (list of product benefits?) and pitch them to the customer, looking for a fit. We do it because it’s easy, quick, and doesn’t require us to do a lot of "knowing", i.e., exploring to find the customer’s expected value proposition.