“Value isn’t a step in the funnel, but a parallel three-stage message you bring to greater focus as you get closer to the close.” – Ian Campbell in today’s Tip 1615
How do you deliver and achieve value?
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The Value Sale: How to Prove ROI and Win More Deals Book
Nucleus Research
The Value Sale
Ian Campbell on LinkedIn
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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. We’ve all seen various versions of the sales funnel. Bring a lead into the top of the funnel and narrow that lead to an eventual sale. Depending on the situation, there can be a few or a lot of stages in that funnel.
So where does value and return on investment fit in that sales funnel? It doesn’t fit, yet it really does. ROI isn’t a step in the funnel, but a message throughout that funnel.
Let’s rethink the funnel for a second.
I want you to think about it now as having two sides. One side you already know. It’s the stages you use every day. We’ll call that the marketing side of the funnel.
The other side of the funnel we’ll call the value side. On that side, we’re going to create three stages. What are those three stages?
Well, stage 1. This is the top where we’re bringing a lead into the funnel. You know the marketing side, and it’s probably something like reach out and qualify the lead.
On the value side, we’re going to put show how you deliver value. As you bring a prospect in, show them all the different ways you deliver benefits for your customers. Paint that big picture and talk about all the things your product can do.
Stage 2. That funnel is narrowing and we’re getting more interest from the prospect. On the value side of the funnel, we put, show how others like them have achieved value. Here’s where you show your prospect how other organizations just like them have decided on your product and realized benefits.
Customer references and case studies go a long way to helping the prospect understand the benefits they can achieve from purchasing your product by seeing how others have already followed that very same path.
Stage 3. We’re getting to the close, and now is the time to show how they will achieve value. Make it personal. Identify the benefits they will receive. Help your prospect understand the potential ROI they can get from your product.
Now, this doesn’t need to be an ROI calculation. If you’ve taken your prospect through the first two stages, they already have a feeling for the benefits they are likely to achieve. Put a number behind these if you can, but simply identifying them can go a long way to helping your prospect champion internally for your solution.
That’s it. Three stages in the sales funnel that build a value message. Think of them as sitting on the other side of that sales funnel you already know. Show how you deliver value. Show how others like them have achieved value. Show how they will achieve value. Value isn’t a step in the funnel, but a parallel three-stage message you bring to greater focus as you get closer to the close. Thanks for listening.
Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Ian and to pick up your own copy of “The Value Sale,” click over to DailySales.Tips/1615. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!