You may have heard the term value-added selling if you’re a salesperson, but what is value-added selling and how can it help? We’ll answer those questions here.
What Is Value-Added Selling?
Value-added selling means looking for opportunities to improve your products and relationship with your customers. Ways you could do this include:
- Provide faster service
- Tell customers about the unique features of your products or services
- Improve your delivery techniques
- Provide relevant industry information
- Differentiate your products further from the competition
- Provide customers with solutions to their problems
The Value-Added Selling Process
1. Identify What Your Customers Value
First, you need to understand what they value. Customers view value differently; it usually falls into one of these categories:
- Transaction-centric: Customers don’t need to build relationships or receive information, they want the perfect solution at the best moment and for the lowest price.
- Relationship-centric: The buyer wants a bond with the seller. The salesperson needs to understand their needs.
- Informational: These customers are more interested in knowledge and have a lower desire for relationships. They know what they want and they demand information and education.
- Partnership: Here, customers need a lot of information and a close relationship with their sellers. Their ideal salesperson knows the company well and understands its requirements.
2. Keep Negotiations Away From Pricing
A value-add salesperson uses price objections to help their customers see the value in their products or services. They talk about value rather than price. They discover customer goals, evaluate associated costs, and determine how the product will help satisfy those goals.
Establishing value involves five steps:
- Demonstrate the product’s or service’s ability to boost customer revenue.
- Show your prospects how they can reduce costs.
- Find ways to avoid future costs for prospects.
- Show them how to redirect an existing cost to use existing resources better.
- Identify how your product or service can improve the image of prospects.
Benefits of Value-Added Sales
- It helps salespeople live with a stronger sense of purpose.
- It helps salespeople do more of what adds value and less of what does not.
- It simplifies pricing.
- It builds long-term relationships.
The Five Characteristics Customers Look for When Choosing Value-Added Sellers
According to a recent study, there are five characteristics customers value most in salespeople:
- Integrity: Most customers think integrity is the most important quality in a salesperson. They must trust their salesperson.
- Empathy: This is the ability to understand the customer’s perspective. Empathy can always save you from aggressive situations.
- Initiative: The habit of being proactive. It’s everything you do without being asked.
- Knowledge: Prospects want to talk to sales representatives who know what they do and their needs.
- Courage: It isn’t a lack of fear, it’s about managing it. Salespeople who add value to their customers demonstrate knowledge and sound judgment to control anxiety.