Selling Economic Value

Selling Economic Value is a two-day program that is all about demonstrating in quantifiable terms how your solution can address the business results desired by your customers. How? To sell economic value, your sales team must make a clear connection between the benefits of your solution and the measurable business outcomes that matter to your customers.

During Day 1 participants develop the awareness, understanding and knowledge of the best practices for selling economic value.  During Day 2 they integrate and apply those ideas in a real-world sales simulation replicating your marketplace.

Why is it Important?

Customers don’t buy; they invest.  And they invest in those things which bring them the maximum economic value. In today’s marketplace it is difficult to sell economic value, and hence grow the business, simply by “talking about your products or services.” Your sales force must develop an in-depth understanding of the business outcomes desired by their customers and relate your solution to those outcomes in a compelling fashion. Plus they must have a shared vision of the risks your customers perceive are associated with making a decision in your favor.

Economic Value = (Solution Impact – Risk) – Price.  Sales teams must understand the business outcomes desired by their customers and relate your solution to those outcomes in a compelling fashion … plus they must have a shared vision of the risks their customers perceive are associated with making a decision to go with you. 

This is a conceptual framework for improving the capacity of your sales team to sell economic value.  Sales teams must do a better job quantifying the business outcomes desired by their customers and the customers’ perceived risks. And, they must more skillfully handle the issue of price both in terms of cost justifying your solution and in negotiating the final deal.

Day 1 of the program explores this conceptual model and the skills associated with each of these factors to achieve success.

What does the Sales Simulation look like?

Day 2 is all about applying the concepts introduced the prior day to your sales challenges through a Sales Simulation. The Sales Simulation focuses on the type of sales opportunity your sales leadership determines is high priority. So, how is it designed?  First, working with Sales Momentum, you determine the nature of the sales opportunity the teams will be pursuing.  The crafting process begins by identifying the type of organization on which you want the sales teams to make calls. Then you define key choice parameters that will apply to the customer, such as: the competitors and their position in the organization, common objections, issues to be negotiated, and the individuals within the simulated organization on whom the sales teams must make sales calls.

When Day 2 is conducted the class is divided into sales teams of four to five participants.  Each team plans an initial strategy for capturing business in the simulated organization. Then the teams have the opportunity to make a series of sales calls on a variety of buyers. Time elapses between calls so the teams must modify their strategy as they go through the sales cycle. The program wrap up is a “lessons learned” session that helps the participants transfer the major learning points to the real world.