Sales tips. Checklist on how to keep the focus on “value” rather than just price

Price is important, but rarely is as decisive as you might expect.

More important than price is Value. While Price focuses on dollars spent, Value puts cost in the context of what is gained.

To make sales, show your prospects how they can get back $1.01 or more for each $1.00 spent.

To build the prospect’s awareness of Value, speak of price only in context, never by itself. Generally, that means working through a four-step process:

1. Review the specific needs you uncovered.

2. Review the specific ways in which your product will fill each of those needs.

3. Present price.

4. Immediately transition from price to the value of the solution you offer.

Additional methods of highlighting value over cost:

1. Restate costs in more meaningful units.

2. Restate cost in an alternative way that is more meaningful to this customer.

3. Refer to any “incidental payoffs” that add value.

4. Use the analogy of the telephone.

Still other sales tips for moving the discussion from cost or price to the broader issue of value

However, there will be times when the customer is determined to look not at overall value but rather at short-term cost. Even then, treat price in a positive rather than defensive way, such as,

1. Show how your product offers more value (that is, more cost-effectiveness) than does any competing product or approach.

2. Speak of price, but then transition to a comparison of price versus the cost of not having what you propose.