Creating Value for Customers is similar to pursuing a girlfriend?

Imagine, a guy tells a lady of his love why he needs her. What would he say?

"I can't live without you, babe!" - Huge mistake.

 Are you adding value to your customer?

How about this? 

         Free Life time Service, I provide.

"Won't you need a reliable person provide for family? You love children. You love trust and warmth in family. I can fulfill that. I offer that for FREE in your lifetime." (goose pimples, here - haha)

 - BETTER proposal? You are trying to add value to your customer - or future wife.

 

 

How are you creating value for your customers?

Are you really creating value for your customers, or merely claiming to?  Its not about YOU but the customer.

You can’t add value to the customer until you truly understand your customer

As Barry Farber says in State of the Art Selling, “You cannot relate to a man in business without understanding his business.  A man in the oil business wants you to understand the oil business, and what a drilling rig is, and what upstream and downstream means, and what crude and refined is, and what’s OPEC and domestic, and who his competitors are, and his recent history – has it been good or bad and why.  Too many salespeople don’t know anything about business, let alone the client’s business.”

EXAMPLE: If you want to sell a car, ask if the prospective customer need or want one in the first place.

Does Sultan of Brunei need or want another Sports Car? Blue, maybe? 

 

Know Your Customers

The first step in becoming a true Value-Adder is to Know your Customers.  Remember, value is a perception, the customer’s perception. So don’t assume you already know what’s important to your customers, or how they define value.  

 

The Process of getting to know your customer

Step 1: Do the research

    

 Pic 02: Research on your prospective

Do the work. Start by doing some research on the market in general.  Look for industry studies, reports, and articles that provide insight into your customers, their competitors and what’s important to them.  This may take some time and effort, but you will find that the return far outweighs the effort. 

Step 2: Start a meaningful dialog

Most business professionals love to talk about their business. Unfortunately sellers fail at listening.  Worse, they fail to engage customers.

 
 Pic 03: Listen!

When you get them to talk about their business, their goals and their frustrations, you’ll find all the information you need to add actual value.  So, before your next meeting, vow not to talk about yourself, or your product or service.  Instead, ask some simple questions that will help you understand the customer’s business model, how his world is changing, what is working and not working, and where you can help.  That simple adjustment just might mean the difference between yes and no. 

Step 3: Ask the RIGHT questions

It’s unlikely that you could create value without asking the right questions.  You want to ask your customers the right questions to you can learn more about them and determine how you can best add value.

Pic 04: Questions to understand customers better.

Your Personal Value Add

Research suggests that a big part of the value equation is you, the salesperson.  You and I can sell the same product or service, and even work for the same company, but our solutions and ultimately our “value-add” will likely be very different.  Each of us brings to the table different competencies, attitudes and behaviors.

The Payoff
The payoff for becoming a true value-adder is real and substantial.  For starters it makes for an easier sale.  Customers look forward to your visit.  They already want to do business with you. They seek you out. 

 Yep, you got your lifetime customer- wife, I suppose. Add value!


Another payoff from value creation is that you rarely ever have to worry about price. That is, so long as you keep the focus on the customer’s definition of price.  Tom Reilly, author of Value Added Selling Techniques, said, “If you define value in customer terms, they pay for it with a higher selling price. Conversely, if you define value in your terms, you pay for it with a bigger discount.”


Disclaimer note: In social life, this is more than commercial transaction. The above is merely to illustrate how to add value to improve sales persuasion. In social circle and love, a Spanish proverb states, "Love is mad, if not, then it is not love."

Well, she marries you because she doesn't know why! Good on ya.

Comment anonymously below your thoughts on how to secure sales. 

To your Profitable Future, Today

Cheers.