Keep Your Value Visible

What you hear throughout value selling training is that you need to keep your value visible.  At LSA Global, we call it MVV – Make your Value Visible.

Value selling may be challenging to practice effectively, but it makes good, common business sense. It is not rocket science to understand how much more powerful it is than more traditional or transactional selling. Persuading your customer of the value your solution brings to them in terms of real business results is far more effective than a generic list of your service’s benefits. Ergo, if value selling is the way to go, keep your value in front of the customer each time you interact in order to enhance the relationship and their commitment to you. 

One of the early ways to provide value and ensure that you are truly in sync as business partners is to provide a summary of each meeting. This will be helpful to you both as you move forward with the agreement to work together and it keeps you in front of the sales process. This is just where you want to be…at the helm, steering toward the agreed-upon and mutually beneficial goal.

Here are some value selling tips on how to prepare a summary that works in your best interest and theirs:

1. Make sure that the summary is not just a copy of your action steps toward your goal of a deal.
Remember that the customer needs to feel that helping them and their business is your primary focus. So each milestone should be articulated in the customer’s language in a way that aligns with their business strategy and unique organizational culture. They want to see how each step brings them closer to the solution you have agreed upon. They, too, should have milestones to reach. To secure their acceptance of what you understood to be the plan, ask them for their input and, if there are no corrections or additions, for their sign-off.

2. Check regularly on progress and make changes as necessary.
The summary will provide an ongoing checklist of action items, deadlines and results. Not only does this keep both you and your customer on track, it also prevents misunderstandings. Another real benefit is that it keeps the ultimate goal in front of the customer so your solution does not get lost in the day-to-day implementation. 

The value of your plan to solve their problem and your unique approach can be reiterated and tweaked as you move forward…a good way to reinforce your value and secure the deal.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training

Value Selling In Two Distinct Phases

Your value selling training taught you a lot about clearly distinguishing your offering from the competition in terms of compelling value rather than price and benefits. The approach is a sound one but too many sales folks do not begin at the beginning. They do not first define the value of the client’s problem or goal.  Instead, they launch too quickly into selling the value of their solution.

If your customer does not understand the downside of doing nothing, they are unlikely to make a decision to buy. That is why we recommend that you think of presenting value to your clients in two distinct phases.

1. First you need to work with your customer to fully identify and define the problem. 
Before they can be persuaded to buy, they will have to understand the extent of their business problem and the consequences of not addressing it.

Try to attach some numbers to inaction. What would the costs to the business be if they let the problem continue? What, for instance, will be the result of continuing to promote ill-prepared and ineffective managers? Likely disaffected and disengaged employees and progressively higher turnover and decreased performance. Figure out just what this might cost the organization and how valuable it is compared to other initiatives.

2. Next you can propose the value of your solution. 
The customer has been primed to recognize that the problem needs fixing. It is your challenge to effectively illustrate how your solution can address their unique problem in a way that makes sense for their unique strategy and organizational culture. Now you can paint a clear and compelling picture of the ideal situation…managers who know how to motivate and lead their teams to higher performance, employees who are engaged and committed to the organization’s values and goals, lower turnover and greater productivity. What will it take? That is where you apply your creativity and knowledge of the customer’s specific needs and situation to craft and propose your specific solution and capabilities.

Help your customer along the path from recognizing to defining their business problem and what would happen if they maintain the status quo. Then coach them to understand how you can help and why your solution is better than the alternatives. That is true value selling from start to finish.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training

Four Essential Rules for Sales Management Success

Sales managers usually earn the job because they have excelled at selling, closing deals and helping their customers to succeed. But the critical skills required to effectively lead and manage a sales team are quite different from those of an individual sales contributor. Make sure you have shifted your thinking from connecting only with customers to connecting and guiding your team so that they, too, learn how to sell well.  Your success is now dependent upon the success of others.

Hang on to what you learned in value selling training because it will help you in your new position. However, rather than simply figuring out what your customers want and need,  sort out what critical few value selling skills your reps need to succeed; and instead of guiding customers toward a solution, coach your reps toward more effective value-added selling, relationship building and problem solving.  

Here are four sales management rules to follow:

1. Clearly define performance standards and expose where people stand.
Don’t leave your performance expectations vague or unclear. Every team member should know exactly what is expected of them and they should understand that they will be held accountable for their performance. Recognize and reward exceptional performance; have consequences for substandard performance. Ignored, poor performers will infect high performers and team goals will suffer.

2. Encourage sales reps to solve problems on their own.
Too many sales managers take over before the “teachable moment.” Give your reps the space to try to figure out solutions to the problems they encounter so they learn what works and what doesn’t. And give them the opportunity to handle customer conversations. They may not handle the discussion as you would but they need the practice and feedback. Afterwards you can debrief together to think about what they could have done differently. Until you give reps the chance to reflect and learn, they won’t!

3. Become an effective performance coach.
The better you develop your sales team, the more effective they will be at helping their clients to succeed and meeting their sales targets. Work alongside your sales reps; be a thoughtful observer of behavior; know how to give constructive performance feedback in a way that is specific and timely; follow up to see that the desired sales skills are actually applied; and hold your reps accountable for the sales behaviors you deem critical to success.

4. Keep your eye on the overall business direction and sales strategies.
It is all too easy to get bogged down in the tactics of sales management, administration and forecasting. Don’t neglect to spend some focused time each week on reviewing and aligning with the big picture. You should have an overall sales plan for success that directly aligns with the overall business strategy. Discipline yourself to have a clear target market, a meaningful differentiation, a proven sales methodology, and a powerful sales culture to achieve your objectives. Continuously do what it takes to ensure that all the moves you make propel you in the right direction.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training

How to Use Value Selling to Overcome the Problem of Multiple Buyers

Have you as a salesperson ever felt overwhelmed by the number of buyers you need to contend with before a buying decision is reached? You are not alone. It turns out that there are an increasing number of stakeholders involved when customers consider a major or complex purchase. In fact, it is estimated that the average number of stakeholders consulted on a business-to-business buying decision is now up to 5.4. And often their agendas, perspectives and goals are conflicting. You can certainly get the feeling that you are a powerless pawn facing an army of players who have multiple moves and priorities. 

Let’s get you off that chessboard and re-write the rules. We will look to the lessons learned in value selling training to help guide your diverse stakeholders toward a decision that makes sense for them and their organization as a whole.

First, what can happen if you don’t change the game? With buyers who have differing levels of interest, knowledge, and priorities around what you are proposing, they are apt to reach a point of no decision. They haven’t agreed on a business goal for the purchase so they show their confusion and uncertainty by avoiding a decision altogether or making a poor decision driven by either a single, rather irrelevant factor or by playing it too safe. Neither you nor the customer wins.

So what influence can you wield to help bring these diverse buyers together so they can make a value-added decision that benefits you both?

1. Commonality.
If you want to align their interests, you need to start with a common language. Use words that are understandable to all and work together to identify a common and mutually beneficial goal. If they are considering purchase of a new software system, for instance, make sure that each stakeholder knows what value there will be for their individual teams. You need to get beyond price considerations to paint the picture of improved business outcomes for all concerned.

2. Input.
Give all stakeholders a voice. Make sure that your discussions include everyone at the table. Each should understand how the others will be impacted by the decision and ensure that there will be support for the changes.

3. Biases.  
Acknowledge stakeholder biases and help to overcome them. For example, sales folks may balk at a new software system because there will be an initial loss of productivity as they struggle with the learning curve and lose customer face time. Counter this with the value of time they will save with the new system’s improvements around customer contact data and reporting capabilities.

Bringing customer factions together takes skill. Consider each stakeholder’s interest and come up with the value each will derive from implementing your solution.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training

Selling Value? How to Keep the Top Sales Performers on Your Team

You have two problems. Your sales team turnover rate is high and your resources are depleted due to your recent investment in value selling training. It was an investment you thought might stem the tide of top salespeople leaving the team. But you are now forced to admit that even the best sales training is of little help if your good people are heading elsewhere. Your first task is to figure out why you are losing good sales reps and then you need to find ways to keep the good ones aboard. 

The major flight risks are those top sales reps who deliver consistently above quota with satisfied clients. They are the ones the competition wants to hire away and these are the reps you need to retain. 

Here are five ways you can maintain the “greener pasture” in your organization so your A-players are not tempted by what’s over the fence:

1. Make sure your compensation package is at least as good as the competition. 
2. Make it worth their while to reach ever higher in terms of whatever incentives suit them (i.e., flex hours, additional vacation days, more money, promotions or bonus trips). Design reward and recognition plans for each individual that encourage higher performance and describe a meaningful upside and career path.
3. Involve top performers in strategic planning so they feel they have a voice and a stake in the company’s future. 
4. Let poor performers go. They only de-motivate the A-players and take up space.
5. Look at your own performance as sales manager. Is your sales territory plan as equitable as possible? Do you manage effectively and tune into what the team needs to succeed?  Are you setting your team up for success?

Retain your top sales folks and then re-visit the value selling training. Now your investment will pay off.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training

New Sales Hire Selection Criteria Debate – Experience Level

The next hire you make for your sales team will be a critical one. This new person needs to be productive, fit in the culture, and stay. You need the performance boost and you can’t afford to invest in another “B” or “C” player. 

This time you plan to involve the whole sales and marketing team in the hiring decision. But the debate on selection criteria continues…should the new hire be experienced or relatively inexperienced? For the sales team that has been indoctrinated in value selling training, the question is relevant. In which hire is there greater value? 

We are told there’s a trade-off. Each sales team will have to decide what would suit them best. In general:

• An experienced salesperson should be more productive faster.  But their hiring costs and expectations will be greater.  
• An inexperienced sales rep will likely fit into the existing culture more easily but take longer to contribute.  They will also need more training, coaching and support from their sales manager. 
• The advantage of experience is that they will be able to add value to clients more quickly, but they may be more difficult to manage and could resist the way you want your team to sell and position the company if it is different than their previously successful sales practices. 
• A plus on the side of inexperience is that they are usually more malleable, hungrier and more eager to learn.  Additionally, if they don’t stay with the company, the cost of losing them will be less.

The bottom line? You pay for experience in dollars but experience typically pays for itself. For the non-experienced, you have to invest more onboarding, development and management time, but they often return that investment in greater loyalty and faster adaptation to the value selling methodologies and unique high performing sales culture that you are trying to create. Which is best for you?

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training

4 Steps to Improved Sales Team Performance

For a sales team to consistently perform at its peak, you need a clear sales strategy, an aligned and high performing sales culture and a team of high performers to execute your plans.

Most often, high performing salespeople are focused, effective at building strong and value-added relationships,  business savvy, motivated to excel, and able to consistently follow value selling training best practices through the entire buying cycle.  To perform at your peak, you want the best of the best.

Here’s how to go about building a select team of top talent salespeople.

1. Know what sales skills matter most in your business.Evaluate the skills of your high performers to determine what it takes to win.  Then create a profile of the ideal salesperson. Those are the behaviors and competencies you want to build in your current team and use to select new salespeople. Be objective. Are there current reps who are underperforming and not willing or able to change? If so, they need to move on.
   
2. Know what sales scenarios matter most. Once you know the high performance sales skills required to win, identify the 5-10 sales scenarios and situations where those skills matter most in terms of revenue, margin, win-rate, deal size, etc. These are the areas to hire to train to, coach to and reward to.
   
3. Recognize the importance and effectiveness of an ongoing coaching plan.After you make sure they have been taught how to give performance feedback in a constructive way, pair your experienced high performers with your lower performers. Send them out into the field together. Onsite course corrections from skilled coaches can effectively change behavior and promote a culture of continuous learning.
   
4. Check in with your customers.Don’t neglect this most important source of information. Find out what your customers think of your sales reps. What would they change if they could? If your customers truly come first, shouldn’t you consider their perspective above all else?

New Whitepaper - Making Sales Management Matter: Best Practices for a Competitive Advantage

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training/