“If your solution is used infrequently by only a few people, you may need to look for other benefits or consider discounting to push the deal forward.” – Ian Campbell in today’s Tip 1635
Is your product used frequently or infrequently?
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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. Your prospect wants to justify their decision by generating a business case, and you’re wondering if the return on investment is going to be positive, or you just got a new lead and you’re wondering if it’s going to be easy to show value or if this is going to be a tough sale.
Well, there’s a very easy way to tell if a project will generate a good ROI. Breadth and repeatability are the two factors that drive ROI. Touch a lot of people a lot of times, and you’re likely to deliver a high ROI for your customer. Touch a few people a few times, and that ROI might not be there. Let’s look at breadth and repeatability. When thinking about how your prospect intends to use your product, first consider how many people will the product touch, the breadth. The more people that use your solution, the greater the potential ROI.
Accounting software, for example, may be used on a daily basis, but your prospect may only have one accountant. Increasing the productivity of that one accountant won’t have the same impact as increasing the productivity for a dozen sales reps with a new CRM solution. It’s not that your accounting solution won’t deliver a positive ROI. It’s just that the potential ROI is less than for a CRM solution impacting a larger sales team.
Now, let’s consider repeatability. A computer for a new employee will be used every day, while software that streamlines the onboarding process for that same employee will be used only one time when that employee is hired.
Is your product used frequently or infrequently?
The more often your solution is used, the higher the potential ROI. Breadth and repeatability are the factors that drive value. Keep in mind it’s not your solution, but how your prospect intends to use your solution. A CRM solution can generate a fantastic ROI for a large company with hundreds of sales reps while not being worth the cost for a small company with only two sales reps.
When you start any deal, quickly assess breadth and repeatability. The more people who use your solution and the more often it’s used, the greater the chance of a high ROI. If your solution is used infrequently by only a few people, you may need to look for other benefits or consider discounting to push the deal forward. 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/1635. Once you’ve been over there, be sure to come right back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!