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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.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
Published November 25, 2002
39 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 26, 2017
Good work on sales, sets up the process very well and includes a long list of strategies and tactics to help be successful in the enterprise sales environment.
More of a collection of tools and techniques than a methodology, but some really good nuggets and concepts in there so a recommended read.
More of a collection of tools and techniques than a methodology, but some really good nuggets and concepts in there so a recommended read.
July 30, 2023
Right place. Right time. Right book.
With todays tight labor market, wage inflation and materials inflation, there is a tremendous amount of pressure intuitively to respond by discounting (cutting price). This book came to me at the right place (when I was experiencing such pressure), the right time (as I was looking at solutions and weighing them) and was the right book because it provided a useful, practical and hands-on approach to do as the title suggests: compete with value, not price.
It is divided into 3 segments. Part one is introduction to the core of value added philosophy and with supporting data to capture buy in. Part two described in strategic terms and details 11 strategies that the most statistically successful value-added sale people use. Part 3 explains the tactical side of value added selling—the how to plan, execute and evaluate the efforts. Part 4 is the heart of the book delivering tangible effective value added for sales efforts. It is theoretical, strategic and practical. It is systematized yet flexible within guardrails.
Its primary audience is salespeople and sales managers who sell physical products or services to physical products that other companies can use to enhance their bottom line profitability.
And therefore out of the 11 strategies only 6 or so translate well to B2C and one-off transactions in the service sector which I am. Nevertheless it is very very very good.
A suggestion is to add a segment that looks at
-B2C
-Inside sales
-Entirely prospect based
-No cold calls
-No repeat customers
-Of non quantitative entirely qualitative services industries
With todays tight labor market, wage inflation and materials inflation, there is a tremendous amount of pressure intuitively to respond by discounting (cutting price). This book came to me at the right place (when I was experiencing such pressure), the right time (as I was looking at solutions and weighing them) and was the right book because it provided a useful, practical and hands-on approach to do as the title suggests: compete with value, not price.
It is divided into 3 segments. Part one is introduction to the core of value added philosophy and with supporting data to capture buy in. Part two described in strategic terms and details 11 strategies that the most statistically successful value-added sale people use. Part 3 explains the tactical side of value added selling—the how to plan, execute and evaluate the efforts. Part 4 is the heart of the book delivering tangible effective value added for sales efforts. It is theoretical, strategic and practical. It is systematized yet flexible within guardrails.
Its primary audience is salespeople and sales managers who sell physical products or services to physical products that other companies can use to enhance their bottom line profitability.
And therefore out of the 11 strategies only 6 or so translate well to B2C and one-off transactions in the service sector which I am. Nevertheless it is very very very good.
A suggestion is to add a segment that looks at
-B2C
-Inside sales
-Entirely prospect based
-No cold calls
-No repeat customers
-Of non quantitative entirely qualitative services industries
September 20, 2019
I think the best learning way is from the experience, especially from the experience of the top achievers, and the author of this book sort of do that. He wrote the book based on intensive research of wide range of salesmen, and identify what do the top sales achievers do to achieve their goal. Every salesmen do hustle, but what makes the result different from one to another? It is value added selling. The author segments the book into 4 structures; philosophy, strategy, tactics, and learning case, that help to guide the reader when they take tangible action. I like the book for learning, if only the author can be deeper in giving more example.
December 22, 2024
This is a very relevant book for real world sales learning. I picked up a lot of nuggets throughout. This is a book that you probably have to read several times to continue to absorb and practice with.
December 14, 2019
Really enjoyed this book on Value added sales. It was full of ideas to keep innovating your skills and had many great data references on buyers.
August 18, 2017
Practical guide to the reader about selling the true value of your product or service to your clients.
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November 14, 2018"A Value-Added Organization is in the business of creating value for everyone with whom it is connected. Everyone gains: buyers, sellers, stockholders, employees, environment, partners, and the community" (7).
"Value is bigger than price. Value is an outcome, result, or return on investment" (17).
"Perceived value describes the look and feel of things. It is largely sensory: how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, and tastes" (17).
"Performance value describes the outcome of your solution. It is what the product, service, or company does for the buyer. While perceived value fuels expectations, performance value affects buyer satisfaction" (17).
"Price + Cost + Utility + Impact = Value. Price is the acquisition number--the initial, up-front payment. Cost is the total cost of ownership, usage, and disposal of something--sometimes called TCO (total cost of ownership). Utility is what the solution does. Impact is the effect of the solution on the customer's business. The combination of these four variables is the value of your solution" (18).
"To sell value added successfully and profitably, you must enlarge your definition of value. Price is what buyers pay: value is what they receive. You must educate buyers that the value of something is more than its price or cost: it includes the long-term impact value of what you sell--what it does for the buyer" (34).
"The power of discernment is knowing which business to pursue and which business to avoid. You must invest your selling time as if it were money, because it is" (108).
"The three rules for account penetration are to get in there early, deep, and high. Penetrate your accounts early to help buyers understand their needs and write specs, deep to create pull for your ideas, and high to generate funding for your solution" (119).
"Always take the high ground. Avoid negative selling--bad-mouthing the competition. It's possible, and even desirable, to discuss your unique advantages that happen to be weaknesses for the competition" (148).
"Change the package with the price. If you decide to change the price, you must change the package that you deliver for that price. Otherwise, you are telling the buyer that you were not serious about the price to begin with and were only testing the waters" (373).
"Value is bigger than price. Value is an outcome, result, or return on investment" (17).
"Perceived value describes the look and feel of things. It is largely sensory: how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, and tastes" (17).
"Performance value describes the outcome of your solution. It is what the product, service, or company does for the buyer. While perceived value fuels expectations, performance value affects buyer satisfaction" (17).
"Price + Cost + Utility + Impact = Value. Price is the acquisition number--the initial, up-front payment. Cost is the total cost of ownership, usage, and disposal of something--sometimes called TCO (total cost of ownership). Utility is what the solution does. Impact is the effect of the solution on the customer's business. The combination of these four variables is the value of your solution" (18).
"To sell value added successfully and profitably, you must enlarge your definition of value. Price is what buyers pay: value is what they receive. You must educate buyers that the value of something is more than its price or cost: it includes the long-term impact value of what you sell--what it does for the buyer" (34).
"The power of discernment is knowing which business to pursue and which business to avoid. You must invest your selling time as if it were money, because it is" (108).
"The three rules for account penetration are to get in there early, deep, and high. Penetrate your accounts early to help buyers understand their needs and write specs, deep to create pull for your ideas, and high to generate funding for your solution" (119).
"Always take the high ground. Avoid negative selling--bad-mouthing the competition. It's possible, and even desirable, to discuss your unique advantages that happen to be weaknesses for the competition" (148).
"Change the package with the price. If you decide to change the price, you must change the package that you deliver for that price. Otherwise, you are telling the buyer that you were not serious about the price to begin with and were only testing the waters" (373).
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews