“If you keep the business case tight and focus your effort on the benefits that matter, you can create a credible business case that’s easy to understand and drive to a close.” – Ian Campbell in today’s Tip 1625
How many benefits does your product deliver?
Join the conversation below and learn more about Ian!
The Value Sale: How to Prove ROI and Win More Deals Book
Nucleus Research
The Value Sale
Ian Campbell on LinkedIn
Submit a Sales Tip
Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]
Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Ian Campbell. Ian is the CEO of Nucleus Research and author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book “The Value Sale.” He’s trained 1000’s of sales professionals on ROI analysis and teaches at Babson College and Florida International University. In his spare time races Ferrari’s in the Ferrari Challenge series. Here he is:
Ian Campbell: Hi, everyone. I’m Ian Campbell. Your product may do a lot of things, but from a sales point of view, there are never more than five benefits that drive a deal. Two are good and three are not so good. That’s it. If you’re talking about more than five benefits when you’re in the heat of a deal, you’re probably making a mistake. In the more than 1,500 ROI case studies we’ve published in Nucleus Research, there are very few deals that hinge on more than two benefits.
Think of a customer relationship management solution. Most organizations deploy this type of solution to make their sales team more productive. Can a CRM system do more? Well, absolutely. But that productivity benefit for the sales team is the number one benefit. Everything else is tiny compared to that. If you focus your energy on helping your prospect understand the value of their one big benefit, you’ll make building the business case a lot easier.
Now wait, you say, There are a lot of benefits to the product I sell. Shouldn’t I include them all? Well, you can, but more can sometimes be a lot less when it comes to closing a deal. And that’s the point. You’re not trying to build the perfect business case, you’re trying to close a deal. A credible business case built on one or two benefits the prospect believes is a lot stronger than a dubious business case built on a pile of benefits. A higher ROI isn’t necessarily a better ROI.
Let’s go back to that CRM solution. If it can generate enough productivity benefit to justify a purchase, why confuse the message with a bunch of other benefits, some of which not everyone will believe. Without one benefit alone, you can justify the purchase and close the deal. Do that.
Think about your last few deals. How many benefits really drove the decision? If you keep the business case tight and focus your effort on the benefits that matter, you can create a credible business case that’s easy to understand and drive to a close. And ultimately, closing the deal is what you’re trying to do. Thanks for listening.
Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Ian and check out his book “The Value Sale”, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1625. Once you’ve been over there, be sure to come right back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!