10 Ways to Know If Your Firm Is Pulling Their Value Behind Them in This Recession

In today's economy as more sales people compete on fewer deals, management prospects hear the following pitches from vendors:

We have the best product.

My firm's customer service team is the best.

Our pricing is the most competitive.

Our staffing team is the most qualified.

We are number one in our market.

Now, more than ever before you must change your sales strategy!

As management prospects hear this corporate rhetoric day after day, they just stop believing the pitches sales and marketing people tell them and instead look for solid validation.

More often than not, most sales teams "pull" their sales value behind them during the sales cycle by presenting these descriptions as facts which are not up for validation.

This method of "pulling value from behind" is an ineffective marketing and sales process and positions vendors on the same level as their peers who are perceived to be business commodities.

"Value" is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "relative worth, utility, or importance".

Many sales teams utilize standard methods of vendor communication by talking about their firm's value and how great they are. This generalist approach places salespeople in a defensive position with prospects about why they should buy from them.

Rather than have your salespeople pull their value behind them, companies need to have their value out in front before the sales cycle begins to make it easier to sell.

Most marketing programs use a passive communication model of "here it is, this is what we do". This process over the long haul just wastes money and valuable selling time.

How much time during an average sales cycle does your sales team spend prospecting, educating new prospects on why your product or service is different, and managing competitive issues?

Too much!

To sell more, you need to use "experiential marketing" techniques to help the sales team get inbound qualified leads where the prospects see your business value BEFORE the sales team tries to sell them.

If a prospect "experientially" experiences your business value before the sales team talks with them, the result is competitors are eliminated, the sales cycle is shortened, and a profitable gross margin is maintained.

WHY?

When a prospect approaches your firm after having experienced your business value prior to the first sale, your sales team can then spend most of their time personalizing how they will help the prospect use your product or service as a business tool, instead of spending a disproportionate amount of time in the sales cycle cold calling,

So, should you advertise more?

No.

Advertising is a passive medium and does not educate prospects on your value. It is a means to express why "you think" you have value. Prospects must confirm you have value based on their own internal metrics which cannot be done through ads in magazine, TV or direct mail.

In fact, most advertising is focused on projecting what the advertiser wants the prospect to "see". But at the end of the day, the prospect does not care about anything except their personal business needs.

So how do you create a "value forward" approach to your sales?

Instead of talking about how great you are, show prospects your product or service value by giving them business content for FREE up-front which will induce them into a sales action step to call you.

Marketing tools like webinars, teleseminars, newsletters and workshops are the key to communicating your value first to generate qualified leads. These marketing devices allow your prospects to learn about your value through their own filtering and judgment process and if done correctly, they will call you and say "I am interested."

Take the following Value Forward Test to see if you pull your value behind you.

Value Forward Test

 
•  When explaining your sales value proposition to prospects, do you sound like everyone else?
• When you present your offering to your prospects, do they expect you to drop your price to match your competitors?
• Do prospects see you as a peer and and provider rather than a vendor and a predator?
• When you explain your product or service, can the prospect visualize the difference between your company and your competitors?
• Every time you meet or chat with a new prospect, do they say they have not heard about your company?
• Are most of your qualified leads generated from cold calling?
• Does your marketing generate at least 3 qualified leads per salesperson each month?
• Has your sales cycle timeline increased by at least 25% during the last two years?
• When you meet with a management prospect, do you have a lot of competitors?
• Does your marketing budget allocate more money for brochures and trade shows than engagement devices like newsletters, webinars and teleseminars?  

Correct Answers:

So, stop saying how great you are and start proving it before the sales cycle begins . . . and you will sell a lot more.

By Paul R. DiModica - CEO, Value Forward Network

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The market has changed. Has your strategy?

This is a tough market. New customers are not spending money, the stock market is down, and your existing clients are holding back. So what should you do?

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If you want to succeed in this recession . . . it is up to you. Yes, this is a tough market, but do you want to be a thriving business in 2010, or a dead business in 2009? To succeed, you need to stop letting the recession manage your business and start managing your business around it. Call us now for a FREE one hour assessment of your business: 972-727-6880.

Hunt Now or Be Eaten Later!

 
Rick Erling
President  The CxO Group, LLC and Publisher of The CxO News
www.thecxogroup.com
info@thecxogroup.com
(972) 727-6880