“the business of knowing your customer’s business - the key to selling value”
TRANSCRIPT
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Webinar
Julie Thomas Shimon Abouzaglo
Today’s Webinar:The business of knowing your customer’s business
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Who We Are & What We Do
The Value Selling & Realization (VSR™) Council is non-profit organization made up of forward-thinking Sales and Corporate executives that operates with a central mission:
Maximize value from investments in IT-enabled change by establishing and promoting value management awareness and understanding, standards, practices, and tools that enable technology vendors and enterprise corporate executives to collaborate in developing and executing a “roadmap to value”.
The Value Selling & Realization (VSR™) Council
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3This document contains proprietary information of ValueSelling Associates. Its receipt or possession does not convey any rights to reproduce or disclose its contents or to manufacture, use, or sell anything it may describe. Reproduction, disclosure, or use without specific written authorization of ValueSelling Associates is strictly forbidden.
Julie Thomas | President and CEOValueSelling Associates, Inc.
The business ofknowing your customer’s business.
The key to selling value.
A sales industry thought leader, Julie Thomas, President and CEO of ValueSelling Associates, is a business consultant, coach, facilitator, speaker, and author of ValueSelling: Driving Sales Up One Conversation at a Time. She has led ValueSelling Associates to become an award-winning, industry leader in competency- and process-based training that measurably improves sales performance in B2B sales organizations around the world.
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Today’s topicsWhy business acumen is important
How to engage in a business conversation
What is the relationship between business issues and justifying the sale
How to be a better business professional
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BusinessAcumen
KeennessQuicknessGood JudgmentQuick Decisions
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BusinessLiteracy
Knowledge andUnderstanding ofFinancialAccountingMarketingOperations
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The relationship:
Knowledge Relevance
Credibility
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Create business literacy with these steps
Investigate Predict Prepare
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The ValueSelling Framework®
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Investigate
Local information
– Business Journals
Industry information– Associations– Trade Press– Lists
Company Information– Financial statements– Executive Messages– Analyst Reports
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Investigate
Research about them and the company/agency
Look for trends in key financial metrics
How does this company describe, manage, and measure their business health?Compan
y/agency website
Earnings report (if public)
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Predict
Business Issues
Business Goals
Business Objectives
Business Strategies
Business Initiatives
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ProblemCombination of people, process, and technology challenges
Business IssueWhat customers need to address and resolve to achieve business objectives
Value created by resolving business issues
Business Objective
What customer needs to accomplish to maintain or grow their business
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Has a direct business impact
Will align to a business objective
May need to be discovered
Has a cost and a corresponding value
Buyer’s perspective may vary depending on their level within an organization
Characteristics of a Business Issue
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Prepare
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Questions to uncover Business Issues
What’s your #1 priority or challenge?
What stands in the way of contributing to your company’s objective?
What’s most important concern that you need to address?
What customers need to address or resolve to achieve business objectives
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When the answer is a problem…and not a business issue
Ask “why?”“Why change?”“Why look for a solution?”“Why is this a priority now?”
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Executive dialogue question typesDesigned to surface customer’s view of current conditions.
Aimed at getting prospect to momentarily experience the consequences of not having your product or service.
Verifies shared understanding and confirms what we heard customer say.
Raises issues that didn’t surface on their own. Used to differentiate and create need for your products and services.
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ValueThe only thing that matters is customer's perception of the value of being able to resolve their business issues; always a combination of tangible and intangible components
SolutionCapabilities any vendor needs to supply to enable customer to properly address their business issues
Value is created by solving business issues
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Justifying the sale
Tangible Business Value: Measurable or quantifiable positive impact on the business issue.
Value
Benefit
Cost
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What can you do today?• Commit to staying current and relevant!
• Learn your buyer’s industry
• Strengthen your financial literacy
• Gather specific company knowledge
Online Course
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Summary• We must become business professionals first,
sales professionals second
• Business executives expect peer-level value-added relationships
• Investigate, predict, prepare – all three steps are key to execution!
• Invest the time and effort to stay current and relevant to your customers and prospects
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At the end of today’s webinarDownload a copy of today’s presentation from our website: Go to www.valueselling.comGo to Resources > Webinars
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Questions?
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