Value-added Selling : How to Sell More Profitably, Confidently, and Professionally by Competing on Value, Not Price

In a marketplace too often focused on price, Value-Added Selling provides sales professionals with a market-proven approach for selling customers on the inherent value of a product. Based on a value-selling model proven to work across industries and product lines, this step-by-step book explains how to define value in the client's terms, orient a pitch to fit the client's needs, and close the deal. It gives sales pros the tools and confidence they need to­­now and forever­­deemphasize price in the selling equation. Copyright......Page 3 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 9 Introduction......Page 11 PART I Value-Added Selling Philosophy......Page 15 The Three Styles of Competitors......Page 17 Organizational Excellence......Page 20 What Is Value?......Page 27 What Is Value Added?......Page 30 What Is Value-Added Selling?......Page 31 Value-Added Salespeople......Page 32 What Buyers Really Want......Page 39 Are You Cutting Your Prices or Are You Cutting Your Throat?......Page 41 Fun Facts Regarding Price......Page 45 Why Don’t Salespeople Sell Value Added?......Page 46 What Is the Value-Added Selling Process?......Page 49 Strategic Overview......Page 51 CHAPTER 4 Identify Your Value Added......Page 55 There Are No Commodities in Value-Added Selling!......Page 56 What Is Value Added?......Page 57 How to Determine Your Company’s Value Added......Page 58 How to Use the VIP List......Page 60 PART II Value-Added Selling Strategies......Page 63 CHAPTER 5 Value-Added Target Account Selection......Page 65 Developing Market Savvy......Page 66 Targeting Accounts......Page 68 Penetrate the Decision Process Early......Page 73 Penetrate the Account Deep......Page 74 Penetrate the Account at the Highest Levels......Page 75 Levels I-II-III Decision Makers......Page 76 CHAPTER 7 Customer-izing......Page 81 Organizational Needs......Page 82 Personal Issues......Page 84 Buyer Pressure Points......Page 85 CHAPTER 8 Positioning......Page 89 How Do Buyers Perceive Your Solution?......Page 90 Personal Positioning......Page 91 Your Definable and Defendable Differences......Page 95 Create Barriers......Page 98 Tips for Selling Your Differences......Page 100 Personalize Your Message......Page 105 Maximize Your Perceived Value......Page 108 Demonstrate Performance Value......Page 111 CHAPTER 11 Serving......Page 115 Process Support......Page 116 People Support......Page 117 CHAPTER 12 Relationship Building......Page 119 Principles of Relationship Building......Page 120 Personal Issues......Page 121 Business Relationship Ideas......Page 122 CHAPT ER 13 Tinkering......Page 125 Barrier Analysis......Page 126 Build a Better Mousetrap......Page 128 Make It Easier to Do Business with Your Company......Page 129 CHAPTER 14 Value Reinforcement......Page 131 Documentation......Page 132 Value Reminding......Page 133 Value Audit......Page 134 CHAPTER 15 Leveraging......Page 137 Vertical Account Penetration......Page 138 Horizontal Account Penetration......Page 139 Capturing Spin-Off Business......Page 140 PART III Value-Added Selling Tactics......Page 143 CHAPTER 16 PreCall Planning......Page 145 How to Prepare for Your Sales Call......Page 146 CHAPTER 17 Opening the Sales Call......Page 151 How to Open......Page 152 Guidelines for Socializing......Page 153 Comments to Avoid......Page 154 CHAPTER 18 The Needs Analysis Stage......Page 157 What Is the Needs Analysis?......Page 158 Mechanics of Questioning......Page 160 Strategic Questioning Areas......Page 166 Tips for Questioning......Page 172 Active Listening......Page 173 CHAPTER 19 The Presentation Stage......Page 179 Rules of the Presentation Stage......Page 180 Sell All Three Dimensions of Value......Page 181 Sell to Your Buyer’s Style......Page 183 Engage Your Buyer......Page 184 Use Proof Sources......Page 186 CHAPTER 20 The Commitment Stage (AKA Closing)......Page 189 When to Ask for the Order......Page 190 How to Gain Commitment......Page 192 The Value-Added Selling Format......Page 198 Tips for Handling Objections......Page 199 Three-Step Communications Model......Page 201 Price Objections......Page 205 Postcall Review......Page 211 Reilly’s Rules for Follow-Up......Page 213 PART IV Value-Added Selling—Special Topics......Page 217 What Is Hi-Level Value-Added SellingTM?......Page 219 Facts About HLDMs......Page 220 Calling on High-Level Decision Makers......Page 223 Technology Will Do What?......Page 225 The Pros and Cons of Technology......Page 226 Technology and Value-Added Selling......Page 228 Why Write and Send Sales Letters?......Page 231 Organizing Your Thoughts......Page 232 Writing Tips......Page 234 Editing......Page 237 Persuasion Letters......Page 238 Sample Sales Letters......Page 240 CHAPTER 26 Value-Added Time Management......Page 255 How Salespeople Use Time......Page 256 Time Management Myths and Realities......Page 258 Time Management Attitudes......Page 262 Becoming More Effective......Page 265 Becoming More Efficient......Page 268 Planning......Page 269 Opportunities Management......Page 271 CHAPTER 27 Final Thoughts......Page 275 Preparation......Page 277 Strategic Prescriptions......Page 278 Tactical Prescriptions......Page 279 And Finally......Page 281 Index......Page 283 Your customers have come a long way since Value-Added Selling was published twenty-five years ago. More knowledgeable, proactive, and price conscious, they regularly scour the Internet for low prices and have come to expect much more for each dollar they spend.Now, Tom Reilly has updated his sales classic to address a marketplace where slashing deals has become the standard response to buyers' addictions to bargain-basement prices. Used to great success for more than two decades and through every type of economy, Reilly's pioneering value-added sales method operates according to two simple rules: Add value, not cost; sell value, not price. It's theonly way to protect your profit margins with today's customers.Value-Added Selling provides the strategies and tactics you need to not only close more sales but to improve repeat business by understanding buyers' needs from their perspective—and defining "value" accordingly. Reilly then helps you:Build a master plan that clearly directs your selling effortsCreate sales tools that help you communicate your valueDevelop and execute effective value-added sales callsConnect with and sell to decision makers at the highest levelsIncrease customer retention by continuously creating new valueThere's nothing stopping you from joining the armies of salespeople who choose to compete on price. You can always lower your price and land a few sales. But at what cost? If you want to sell more products or services, more profitably, to more people, you must resist this temptation and begin focusing on value.Use Value-Added Selling to consistently deliver meaningful value to your customers, compete at a higher level than your competition, and protect your profits in any kind of economy. Customers today are more knowledgeable, have a wider array of alternatives, and demand more from their suppliers than ever before. Yet in study after study, customers confirm that overall value -- more than price alone -- is the main factor in their purchase decisions. Value-Added Selling shows you how to think as your customers think and successfully present them with meaningful nonprice reasons for choosing your product or service over your competitors'. The top sales professionals in any industry do much more than just sell products; they prescribe and provide compelling solutions. Value-Added Selling gives you the tools you need to join the sales elite, building significant value on the front end to diminish the importance of price on the back end. It explains how to build solid, personal relationships; position and differentiate your product from its competition; create, reinforce, and leverage value; honestly and firmly address every type of objection; and more. When you build your strategy around overcoming price resistance, more often than not you actually create price resistance. Knock price out of the picture! Value-Added Selling shows you how to quickly discover what each customer wants and needs and then provides you with a proactive course of action for meeting those wants and needs, dramatically improving your customer relationships and your bottom-line success. Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I. Value-added Selling Philosophy -- 1. The Value-added Organization -- 2. Value-added Selling -- 3. The Value-added Selling Process -- 4. Identify Your Value Added -- Part Ii. Value-added Selling Strategies -- 5. Value-added Target Account Selection -- 6. Target Penetration -- 7. Customer-izing -- 8. Positioning -- 9. Differentiating -- 10. Presenting -- 11. Serving -- 12. Relationship Building -- 13. Tinkering -- 14. Value Reinforcement -- 15. Leveraging -- Part Iii. Value-added Selling Tactics -- 16. Precall Planning -- 17. Opening The Sales Call -- 18. The Needs Analysis Stage -- 19. The Presentation Stage -- 20. The Commitment Stage (aka Closing) -- 21. Handling Objections -- 22. Postcall Activities -- Part Iv. Value-added Selling -- Special Topics -- 23. Hi-level Value-added Selling -- 24. Technology: Friend Or Foe? -- 25. Sales Letters -- 26. Value-added Time Management -- 27. Final Thoughts -- Index. Tom Reilly. Rev. Ed. Of: Value-added Selling Techniques. C1989. Includes Index.