Value-added Selling?

Value-added Selling?

Copyright © 2005 Dave Kahle

The DaCo Corporation http://www.davekahle.com/vstransforming.htm







"Value-added." That word is used so much it has become a cliché

in business circles. There may not be a business in the world

that doesn't claim to be a "value-added" seller.



The problem is that once a word or phrase becomes a cliché, it

often loses it's original meaning. This is true with "value- added." What exactly does that mean?



Ask six business principles what it means when they say that they

are a "value-added" seller, and you'll likely hear six different

explanations. One claims that they fulfill orders quickly, and

that short waiting period is "of value" to their customers.

Others claim that their experienced people bring value to their

customers. Their customers do business with them because of the

quality of their people. Others claim some unique technical

expertise, others their sophisticated IT systems, some the breath

of their inventory, still others reflect on the brand name

products they handle.



I'm always a bit skeptical of this. Almost every business I work

with claims to have better people, better service, and more

technical expertise than all their competitors. What is puzzling

to me is that their competitors say the same thing. Someone has

an inaccurate perception.



The definitions grow even more obtuse when you ask salespeople

what they mean by "value added." Some will claim that their

customers demand a regular visit by the salesperson. Their

routine presence, therefore, is valuable to the customer. Others,

like their bosses, claim expertise as valuable. Many point to the

long term relationship as the factor that brings the most value

to the customer. On and on it goes.



The truth that we often overlook is this: Value is defined by the

customer, not the supplier. It doesn't matter what you think your

value is, it only matters what your customer believes it to be.

And customers don't always think alike, so that the operating

definition of value-added varies from customer to customer.



As our economy has grown more complex and competitive, the

demands of the customer and their subsequent definitions of value

have grown more varied. What was more or less universally valued

a few years ago, is not anymore. For example, local inventory may

have been universally valued in the 1990s, but today some

customers would rather buy direct and absorb a longer shipping

time. Experienced people may have been valuable to everyone a few

years ago, but some customers today would rather gather their

information off the internet and pay lower prices. Technical

expertise may have been universally valuable a few years ago, but

some customers today would rather reduce their purchasing costs

through an integrated supply contract administered by the home

office 500 miles away.



It's not that some of the things you have built into your

business as value-added are no longer important, it is that some

of then are no longer viewed, by significant numbers of your

customers, as worth paying more for. They may be necessary, but

they are not sufficient.



If you are going to be a true value-added seller in the 21st

century marketplace, you must be flexible and capable enough to

offer different things to different customers, responding to the

individual customer's definition of what is valuable to him or

her.



That means that you must have some way of ascertaining what is

valuable to each of your customers, and then some processes in

place that allows you to package, present and implement those

aspects of your offer that appeal to the customer's individual

definition.



The primary means of doing that is a highly trained sales force

that is adept at the strategies and tactics that result in a

deeper and broader understanding of what the customer really

wants, what the customer really values, and what the customer

will really pay for.



Unfortunately, much of the business world of is populated with

technically-oriented salespeople who view their job as providing

technical solutions to technical problems. While that certainly

is a significant part of the job, and an excellent foundation for

value-added selling, it is not sufficient. Others see themselves

as face-to-face customer service people, visiting the customers

on a regular, route basis in order to pick up orders and take

care of details. Still others have evolved into comfort zones:

working with the same customers, on the same product lines, in

the same ways.



More and more, value is determined by deeper and broader issues

than just those addressed by these limited perspectives. How the

solution fits into the customer's business systems, the

philosophy of the customer relative to its vendors, the strategic

plans of the customer, the potential integration of

customer/vendor IT systems, etc. - all these and more are just as

likely to be the issues that the customer values.



If salespeople are going to adequately uncover these deeper

issues, they'll need to excel at certain sales behaviors that go

above and beyond just the ability to solve a technical problem,

or show up regularly.



What must they excel at?



Specifically, value-added salespeople will need to enhance their

ability to create positive business relationships with anyone and

everyone. They'll need to relate to a variety of positions and

job titles, like CEO, CFO, Vice President, as well as production

supervisor or engineer Additionally, they'll need to expand their

abilities to deal positively with a wide variety of personality

styles. The sales person who remains in the comfort zone of

production supervisors, purchasing agents and maintenance

supervisors will severely limit his/her value.



Not only will effective salespeople need to create positive

business relationships with everyone, they also will need to fine

tune their skills in asking questions, listening constructively

and ferreting out the deeper needs of those customers.



Those salespeople who can understand what each customer considers

to be valuable to them, and then can bring creative solutions to

those customers, will be the valuable value-added sellers.



What is encouraging about this is that each of these value-added

selling skills is a learnable behavior. No one is born with the

ability to ask penetrating questions, create positive

relationships, listen constructively, or develop creative

proposal and solutions.



These behaviors of the most effective value-added salespeople can

each be learned. Once a minimum level of expertise is attained,

sales people can continually improve on these behaviors of the

rest of their selling career.



This is a great opportunity for the business who is intent on

maintaining and expanding their position as a value-added seller.

Those who develop systems that encourage the key sales behaviors,

who train their sales people in those behaviors, and who

stimulate them to continuously improve their implementation will

be those who rise to the top as value-added sellers.







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About Dave Kahle, The Growth Coach®:

Dave Kahle is a consultant and trainer who helps his clients

increase their sales and improve their sales productivity. His

latest book for sales managers is Transforming Your Sales Force

for the 21st Century (http://www.davekahle.com/vstransforming.htm

). You can also sign up for his sales ezine called "Thinking

About Sales" at http://www.davekahle.com/vsmailinglist.htm . You

can reach Dave personally at 800-331-1287 or by emailing him at

mailto:info@davekahle.com.