The art and science of discovery
Ann was not happy as she left the meeting with a long-term customer, or should I say, former customer.
“Ann, we have done business together for a long time,” her customer started, “but we have decided to go in a different direction this time.”
The customer went on to say how ABC Company, one of Ann’s biggest competitors, worked with them to integrate ABC Company’s solution into their own systems, resulting in faster inventory turns with fewer shipping errors. On top of that, ABC Company was able to demonstrate how this will increase margins and profit for the company.
ABC Company’s salesperson sold value — Ann didn’t.
How do you lose a longtime client to a competitor? By assuming their needs today are the same as they were when you first won the business — and that by virtue of the relationship, your client looks to you as the sole provider of these needs.
As businesses evolve, their needs change, and with this evolution comes new challenges and opportunities for your client’s business to grow. But sales professionals don’t always approach a sales conversation with thoughts beyond finding and solving immediate issues. This is where selling to value comes into play: It’s a distinct approach to selling that focuses on aligning your offer to the far-reaching business value it creates for your customer’s customers.
Discovery for selling to value
In a recent study of buying executives, 94 percent said they want salespeople to engage them in a business impact discussion — but they also said that only 19 percent of salespeople do so.
This gap between what buying executives want and what they get is driven by three critical elements:
1. The intention of the salesperson
2. The science of creating value
3. The art of asking the next question
The intention of the salesperson
While traditional selling may focus its intent on solving the customer’s problem, selling to value (S2V) encourages a different intent — advancing the customer’s business. The end point is not the “sale.” While you have a good opportunity to make a sale, S2V requires salespeople to expand their role and perspective beyond just finding and solving problems to truly wanting their customer’s business to flourish and grow.
The science of creating value
Selling to value is a discovery process focused on the customer as a business. Sales interactions need to move beyond the traditional product-centered discussion of problems and solutions to business-centered conversations exploring how the customer organization produces value for its own customers.
We have found that this conversation can be greatly enhanced by following a business needs identification approach that guides the exploration of how the customer organization creates value.
The company’s ability to produce value for its customers involves asking five major questions:
1. Market – In which market does the customer compete? Value creation is always best understood from the perspective of the market, customers and competitors.
2. Strategy – How does the customer’s strategy address the market and produce a competitive advantage?
3. Structure – How does the customer’s organizational structure support and align with the strategy? Structure and system investments express priorities — do you know what their priorities are?
4. People – There is a reason payroll is the single largest business expense. Does the organization have the right talent and engagement to drive the strategy forward?
5. Business metrics – How does the company measure and track value creation? Salespeople must become fluent in the way customers talk about and measure their own success.
The art of asking the next question
We frequently hear this from new salespeople: “I don’t know what happened. I went on a joint call with Sam (company’s top salesperson) and wrote down every question he asked. But when I tried using them, it didn’t work; the client ended the meeting early.”
So what happened? Sam understood the art of the next question; the new salesperson didn’t.
The S2V discovery process is much more than a list of questions. It is, first of all, a demonstration of the salesperson’s intense and compassionate curiosity about the customer and the ability to let customers lead the discovery process, not the salesperson.
Business professionals are excited to participate in a conversation about the issues that keep them up at night. They can become deeply engaged when they feel they are learning something new or exploring new possibilities for producing more value for their customers.
When a salesperson, in conversation with a customer, offers his or her full experience and expertise in service to the customer’s organization, and allows the discovery process to dig deeply into the concerns of the customer, something special happens. Important information is shared, cooperation and trust strengthen, and new possibilities are created and explored.
Practicing the art and science of discovery
Sales organizations need to incorporate an approach to selling that adapts to the way their customers want to make purchasing decisions. Customers increasingly expect selling organizations to use and sell to value. In the S2V approach, the salesperson brings a broader understanding of the customer’s business context into an exploration of the business impact of their decision.
This move from a problem-centered approach to a business-centered approach may seem easy, but it requires three things: a mindset change that places the customer’s business ahead of your own, new knowledge by exploring how the customer’s business runs, and new skills to follow the customer’s lead to the next question.
Michael Leimbach, Ph.D., is a globally recognized expert in sales training and development and the vice president of global research and development for Wilson Learning Worldwide.
David Yesford is senior vice president of Wilson Learning Worldwide. Over the years, he has held strategic roles in Wilson Learning Worldwide’s core content areas of sales and leadership, as well as e-learning and strategic consulting.
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