There is only one thing to deliver to buyer – value!
There is an interesting change that occurs in a person when they move from the buying role to the selling role and back.
As buyers, we are all about value. We want help to get the greatest value. We want to trust the seller. We want what we buy to solve our problems so the problems go way at a fee that compels removing the problem.
As sellers, we want tell a buyer what we have. We want the buyer to understand what it is we have exactly the way we understand it and we want the buyer to buy ASAP at a price that works for us. As sellers, we want the buyer to be easy to deal with and not to require a bunch of time consuming support.
This is of course a “little” over simplified but in general the seller really wants a transaction and the buyer wants value leading up to the transaction and lots more value after the transaction.
Even if you are in a situation like the driver whose car is out of gas and what they think they care about is gas they also need a can to carry the gas to the car and a credit card machine to pay for the gas and the car rental. The product or service is always important but so are a lot of other things. It is the combination of these viewed from the buyer’s frame of reference that determines the true value.
Our friend buying gas is not fussy about brand, or frequent buyer points or towels for washing the windows. The value is the combination of almost any kind of gas, any type of can that will pour into the car and the ability to take payment.
Here are 5 rules to help always deliver and get paid for the value.
- Buyer’s frame of reference – learn to do everything from the buyers from of reference. Speak from the buyer’s mind, ask questions to clarify the buyers needs and value required, never speak to, or call or email a customer or prospect unless you are sure they will be glad you called. When you speak, or write avoid first person. The most important person in your world is you and for the buyer it is them. Talk about them with sincere words that recognize how important they are.
- Buyer’s problem being solved – by focusing on the buyer, asking questions and then clarifying the answers you get to solidify the essence of the buyer problem to solve. Often buyers don’t really know what they are solving for. By helping them get clear about what problem they need to solve you have already added value for them and differentiated yourself from everyone else.
- Problems are always business and operational – once you are clear about the problem they need to solve you add immediate value when you review the problem for both business and technical / operational considerations. In a B2B world often one human deals with business and one or more with technical and operational. If you get to facilitate how both of these are part of your solution you become a member of their team by bringing business and operational together. Now they can’t live without you. Your competitors won’t understand why you are in for the long-term.
- Be specific about the roles of buyer and seller in solving the problem – paint a picture of the problem that everyone understands (immediately bringing more value). Now not only can the person or persons you are working with see there is a way to solve this problem, but they are seeing that through your eyes. In their mind, they need you to lay our more detail both to prove it can be done and to create the check list so everyone knows their job and is comfortable. You have become the thought leader – a position you can maintain for years.
- Give the buyer a preview of what things will be like with the problem solved and the steps to get there – the final step where the most value is realized is previewing the “Ideal Future State” for the buyer(s) in terms of the value (both business and operational / technical) that is in clear and simple enough terms they can share it with their boss, peers and anyone else required.
Value is almost never in your product or service alone (even if you think it is). Value comes from the buyer and their frame of reference. It is when you understand the buyer’s world so well that you can restate their current problem and compare the problem today to their “Ideal Future State” (with the problem solved) as a result of becoming partners.
Develop the discipline to do these 5 things and to continuously improve them month by month. You will not be good at this day one. But if you keep doing these things, measure outcomes and improve. Your world will be very different in a year.