Which Came First, Value Or Price

Value is the driver of price.  If someone is marketing you a product you have no need or want for, they have to drop their price until the point you start to value that product, if they're marketing you a product you really want or end, that price can be much higher.

Good products command higher prices because people value them more.  Sure, this can be down to the quality of the parts, or, and more likely, due to the value of the whole.

What does this say if you discount your price about what you think about your value? 

What does this say about your service?

Bake The Cake With Love

Most of us have experienced the absolute joy of a home made cake made by a parent or grand parent. Most of us have also helped them make them as some point.   They taste just that much better than a store point commercial cake don’t they?

In sales, that cake is your proposal/package to your client. So, why is this analogy important to think about?

So, if the cake is the end output of sales – the offer. The ingredients are the various components that make up that offer – the products, services, pricing, value proposition etc.   The recipe is the process you used to get there – the journey – and how much of the various components are added and used within the proposal to get to the end position.   The person baking the cake is the expert – they’re making the decisions on what to use & when.

And now is where we deviate. Your parent or grandparent bakes this cake with love and emotion. They bake this cake knowing you like the cake a little denser, with more chocolate chips. They WANT you to enjoy it, it means so much to them as they will usually get much pleasure from your feedback. They have a recipe – but choose to use it or adapt it.   Also, it’s even better when you, as the consumer, have participated in the baking process.

Now the commercial cake is made with the intention of it tasting good – but completely remotely to you, as the consumer, and your tastes and preferences. Guesses are made. A recipe is often followed precisely to ensure consistency and control costs. Ingredients are selected against a compromise of costs and quality.

Which would you rather eat? Isn’t the picture above already making you hungry?

Next time you’re selling to a client consider the following – ‘I am baking this cake with love?’ Think about:  Why am I selling to the client? What reaction do I want from them (focus on the emotion)?

The reaction question is important – the cake made for you was made because your parent or grandparent WANTS you to enjoy it. They know you’ll eat it (ie: the sale will conclude) – but this isn’t enough, they want you to LOVE the cake. In sales terms, this means your client can accept your proposal, but it doesn’t mean they LOVE it. A signature or commitment isn’t an emotion.

The great things that happen in selling aren’t often because we have great products or great pricing. They happen because we do them for great reasons.

Focus On The Water…

There’s an old sales story which basically goes:

Two shoe salesmen were sent to a corner of the world to see if there was a market for their product.  The first salesman reported back, “This is a terrible business opportunity, no-one wears shoes.”  The second salesman reported back, “This is a fantastic business opportunity, no-one wears shoes.”

Yes, it is probably an urban legend. However, in sales terms it is a demonstration of the ‘glass half empty’ ethos. Do you focus on the problem or the solution is essentially the question.

It can get deeper than that – depending on the situation you’re in, your focus can alter. A sales area where you’re confident may see you leaning more often, if not all the time, towards solutions. Yet, an area where your skills aren’t as sharp, or experience not as deep may see you more often focusing on the problems.

The end goal is to understand in what situations you err towards focusing on the problem – this quickly highlights the areas where you could develop. Often it’s easier for those around us to tell us this – not that we usually like this. Sales Managers and Leaders can usually see ‘problem orientated’ thinking quite easily, but the challenge is identifying the skill gap that’s causing it.

It can be as simple as not having the skills to deal with it. For example, the first shoe sales person above may have only ever sold to people replacing shoes. He has no strategy for those that have never worn them.
It could be they’ve tried before and it didn’t work. Again, the first shoes sales person may have tried to sell someone shoes who doesn’t wear them and failed and assumes it will happen again.

Next time you find yourself or your sales team making negatively biased statements around what can’t be done….ask yourself (or them) it is because you’re focusing on what’s not in the glass, rather than the water that’s is.

But I’m Not A Sales Person

Not every one in a sales organisation is explicitly charged with selling. They may not hold the role of ‘Business Development Manager’, ‘Client Manager’ etc. They may not have responsible for managing clients, championing a product or closing deals with clients.

However, one thing is true in largely every ‘for profit’ organisation – it would stop existing if the revenue line in the Profit and Loss Statement was zero.

Whilst only some in an organisation are clearly measured on sales – as a whole, most organisations’ purpose for being is revenue. How then can anyone within it suggest they aren’t responsible for sales?

Whether this is supporting those who are selling, adminstration, logistics or being directly responsible for sales – EVERYONE in an organisation is a ‘sales responsible’. Everything they do is focused on the revenue line as, without it, there isn’t a business to work for. For example – even if your role is managing costs, these costs only exist because there’s a client willing to buy your product/services.

The sole responsibility for sales doesn’t sit exclusively on the sales teams/departments shoulders – it is carried by all within the business. Everyone should be looking for opportunities to grow the top line, all the time.

Everyone should be challenging the business to sell more and do so more efficiently.

Everyone has the ability to improve a businesses top line.

Every conversation within the business should be focused on those that generate that revenue – the client.

Challenge anyone in an organisation that says ‘But I’m Not a Sales Person’

Put People First…

Raise ‘sales’ in a workplace and you’ll instantly alienate some of the audience. Many have either had poor sales experiences or, worse, no experience but listen to those that don’t like it.

The interesting thing is, much like this blog, there is a plethora of material around to make you that great sales person. Scripts, processes, courses, features and benefit analysis and the list continues unendingly.

The very term ‘sales process’ puts procedure ahead of people. This clutters sales with steps,  a procedure and deprioritises the single most important thing – people. Teaching your staff to sell should be a people rather than process skill.

What good sales people actually do – is what they don’t do. They don’t listen to this noise. They don’t labour themselves with a rigid process or script. They don’t think what they do. They don’t over think how they do it.

What they do is have a very strong grasp on is why they sell. People.  Helping them improve their situation.   They understand that behind every process is a person. Benefits are only meaningful to people. A script only works if a person is prepared to listen.

There is a book I would encourage every sales person, in fact everyone, read. It was written many years ago. It is a brilliant handbook for sales – yet isn’t a sales handbook. Why? It discusses people. It just so happens – when you address the people part of selling, the balance actually takes care of itself and you don’t need to worry about it.

The book is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People. Why am I recommending this? Because no matter how hard I try – I just can’t write a more compelling piece on the importance of people.  It is also so important to me, it should be to you as well.

A good sales person will read this book and, if they don’t already , will understand why they’re good. Someone who is less skilled at sales will have an epiphany.

In order to become success at selling – focus on one thing. People. Declutter the rest of your process. Focus on your client. Help them and you will, ultimately help yourself.

If you’re truly interested in more about this – please let me know. It just so happens I know the perfect person to talk to about it.

But I’m Not A Sales Person

Not every one in a sales organisation is explicitly charged with selling. They may not hold the role of ‘Business Development Manager’, ‘Client Manager’ etc.

They may not have responsible for managing clients, championing a product or closing deals with clients.

However, one thing is true in largely every ‘for profit’ organisation – it would stop existing if the revenue line in the Profit and Loss Statement was zero.

Whilst only some in an organisation are clearly measured on sales – as a whole, most organisations’ purpose for being is revenue. How then can anyone within it suggest they aren’t responsible for sales?

Whether this is supporting those who are selling, adminstration, logistics or being directly responsible for sales – EVERYONE in an organisation is a ‘sales responsible’. Everything they do is focused on the revenue line as, without it, there isn’t a business to work for. For example – even if your role is managing costs, these costs only exist because there’s a client willing to buy your product/services.

The sole responsibility for sales doesn’t sit exclusively on the sales teams/departments shoulders – it is carried by all within the business. Everyone should be looking for opportunities to grow the top line, all the time.

Everyone should be challenging the business to sell more and do so more efficiently.

Everyone has the ability to improve a businesses top line.

Every conversation within the business should be focused on those that generate that revenue – the client.

Challenge anyone in an organisation that says ‘But I’m Not a Sales Person’