A key element in any sales conversation is the ability to communicate value to potential clients, but salespeople often struggle to do so effectively. The result? Lost opportunities, decreased revenue, and frustrated sales teams.
Success in B2B sales lies in salespeople’s ability to create greater value in the sales conversation. By understanding their buyer’s needs and pain points, sales professionals can position their products or services as solutions that deliver significant benefits.
As an experienced sales leader, I am passionate about helping salespeople take their performance to the next level. In this blog, I will share insights and tips on creating greater value in sales conversations and exploring the latest trends and strategies for success. So whether you’re a seasoned sales veteran or just starting in the industry, I invite you to join me on this journey of discovery and growth.
Understanding customer pain points
When it comes to B2B sales, understanding your customer’s pain points is essential to success. Pain points are the problems, issues, or challenges that customers face, and we can broadly classify them into two categories.
The first types of pain points are the obvious ones – those that are easy to identify and acknowledge. Salespeople who only focus on these types of pain points are likely to be average performers. These salespeople ask generic questions, such as ‘What challenges are you facing?’ or ‘What problems do you need to solve?’ This approach doesn’t provide much value to the customer, as they likely have already identified these pain points themselves.
The second type are the less obvious ones. These are the pain points that the customer may not have considered or may not be aware of. These pain points are often rooted in the customer’s goals, objectives, and aspirations. By focusing on these pain points, salespeople can provide greater value to the customer and differentiate themselves from the competition.
To identify these less obvious pain points, salespeople need to deeply understand their customer’s business, industry, and challenges. They should ask targeted questions that prompt the customer to think beyond the obvious pain points and consider the broader context of their situation.
By facilitating the buyer’s journey and providing insights into the less obvious pain points, salespeople can position themselves as trusted advisors and create greater value in the sales conversation.
Creating value through information disparity in B2B Sales
Many sales B2B organisations employ a dated sales process that involves salespeople delivering a monologue about their company’s history, CEO, clientele, products, and services at the start of a meeting. However, this information is likely already available on the company website and fails to provide clients with new or valuable insights, projecting a transactional B2B approach.
To excel in sales, you must replace this legacy approach with a sales conversation that establishes yourself as an expert and delivers value to clients by offering unique information. The key to modern sales success is providing buyers with information they don’t already possess, creating an information disparity that positions you as a valuable asset during sales meetings.
Fact is, salespeople possess valuable insights that can help buyers make informed decisions, consider critical factors, and identify the necessary changes to achieve their desired strategic outcomes. This knowledge is acquired through numerous sales conversations with various buyers, allowing salespeople to gain extensive knowledge of the market, customer needs, and competitive landscape. By leveraging this knowledge, salespeople can offer clients unique perspectives and solutions that genuinely address their challenges and provide tangible value.
Effective strategies for creating value
Recognise the impact of external and internal forces on your client’s results
To create greater value for your buyers, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of the external and internal forces that impact their results. As a salesperson, it is essential to understand these forces and their impact on buyers without asking them. Educating your buyers about these factors can help them make informed decisions.
Highlight the negative consequences of maintaining the status quo
While some salespeople may not consider it their responsibility to compel change, a better salesperson helps buyers recognise the potential repercussions of sticking with the status quo. Sharing examples of how other companies have been affected by this can help buyers understand the need for change.
Ask insightful questions to educate decision-makers
Instead of simply gathering information, a skilled salesperson asks questions that help the buyer learn something new about themselves, their company, or the root cause of their poor results.
Challenge and update your client’s assumptions
Updating your client’s assumptions is also important, as clients often work from outdated or incorrect assumptions. By helping clients recognise the reality of their circumstances, you can provide valuable insights and help them make better decisions.
Identify and clarify your buyer’s mistakes
In addition, it is essential to identify and clarify your buyer’s mistakes. By identifying poor assumptions and mistakes, you can help buyers understand the impact they have on the business and make necessary changes.
Guide your buyers through the buyer journey
Facilitating the buyer’s journey is another valuable strategy. As a salesperson, you help prospects make decisions that lead to better results by guiding them through a set of conversations and commitments. Sharing your expertise with B2B buyers can help them make informed decisions for their business.
Share success stories and client experiences
Sharing success stories and client experiences is central to creating value. As a salesperson, you have valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t in your daily work. Sharing information about how other clients have found success and improved their results can set you apart from other salespeople and provide valuable information to clients.
Ultimately, creating greater value for buyers requires a deep understanding of their needs, building strong relationships, and providing them with information otherwise unavailable to them. By following these strategies, you can make the most of every sale and create long-term customer loyalty.
Five steps to creating greater value
Conduct prospecting research
To create greater value for your prospects, it’s important to conduct research to gain insights into their industry, unique challenges, and needs. This will help you better understand how your product or service can provide a solution to their pain points.
Develop personalised solutions
Based on the insights gathered from your research, develop a customised approach that addresses the specific needs of each prospect. You should design your approach to create greater value and help your prospects achieve their goals.
Prioritise relationship building
Focus on building strong relationships with your prospects by providing guidance, advice, and recommendations that help them improve their results. You must avoid a purely transactional approach and prioritise long-term partnerships that benefit both parties.
Implement an action plan
Once you’ve developed a personalised approach and established a strong relationship, it’s time to implement an action plan that aligns with your prospects’ needs and goals. This plan should outline clear next steps and timelines to ensure your prospects achieve the desired results.
Continuously improve
Evaluating your approach and making necessary adjustments continuously is essential to sustain and improve your value proposition. This approach will enable you to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Conclusion
Mastering the art of B2B sales requires salespeople to provide greater value in their sales conversations. This means taking the time to truly understand their customers’ pain points and providing unique insights to differentiate themselves from competitors. Salespeople must move away from the traditional sales pitch and focus on creating meaningful conversations that establish them as experts in their field.
Effective strategies for creating value include recognising the impact of internal and external factors on clients, highlighting the negative consequences of maintaining the status quo and asking insightful questions to educate decision-makers. It also involves challenging assumptions and clarifying any misconceptions, guiding buyers through the buyer journey, and sharing success stories and client experiences.
By following these strategies, salespeople can become trusted advisors to their clients and build long-lasting customer loyalty. The ultimate result is an increase in revenue and team satisfaction. However, this process requires a deep understanding of customer needs, continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt to new trends and strategies in the industry.
Providing greater value to customers requires a shift in mindset and approach, but it is a process that can reap significant rewards in the long term.
Elevate your sales performance today with Resonate’s bespoke sales solutions
Resonate can help optimise your business’ sales function through our sales expertise. We provide bespoke sales solutions tailored to our clients’ unique needs and challenges. Whether you’re looking to improve your sales process, identify new opportunities, or better understand your customers’ pain points, we can help. Contact us to discuss how we can work together to elevate your sales performance and achieve your business goals.
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