How do YOU create value for buyers?

Sellers are always being schooled on how to properly qualify by doing their homework up front, asking good questions, identifying and visiting the executive decision-maker, assuring there is budget, and a compelling event. Great. That makes you unique... just like everybody else.

Do you stand WITH your logo or in FRONT of it? Let's face it, if the logo on your business card is a prominent Fortune company, you can pretty much make an appointment and get in to a senior executive. (Assuming of course that your company hasn't blackened an eye there in the past!).

What if your logo isn't so recognizable? I once represented a start-up whose named sounded like an ice cream custard provider. Boy did I get some reactions! OUCH! How do you build value when you cannot rely on the logo? Answer: You build value in yourself.

Salespeople tend to forget or ignore the fact that there are many individuals who charge $350/hour for their advice. Consulting companies come to mind. How many of your customers would pay you $350/hour for your advice if they were asked? How many of you have been asked (after the sale was made) to become part of the day-to-day ongoing advisory council?

If we have heard anything this year we know that Web 2.0 buyers are dependent on social interactions more so than sales calls to make buying inquiries/decisions. Is anyone talking about you in social forums? As the number of face-to-face calls goes down (buyers are granting fewer meetings); the importance of creating value for the buyer once granted, has never been more critical.

Taking the time to build value for yourself and standing in FRONT of the logo will create differentiation beyond any sales process training espoused by so many sales managers today. Don't get me wrong, you need sales process to be able to forecast with confidence and effectively manage time and resources. However, there is more you can do to build your personal brand. How are you going to build yours so that the buyer would be willing to pay for YOU if asked?

Ask the person in the mirror.

Evangelize, Elevate and Eliminate... REALLY?

A read the following recently from a sales trainer on a social web site: "B2B sales organizations around the world are reporting extended sales cycles, declining win rates, and a growing number of apparently promising opportunities ending in "no decision". They see their prospect's budgets shrinking, more players involved in the decision making process, and increasingly risk-averse buying behavior. Could it be time to re-architect the B2B sales and marketing process?"

The author goes on to postulate: "... to be successful in this new world, B2B vendors - and particularly those who are offering innovative solutions or seeking to create new markets - are going to have to do three things particularly well: First, they will need to evangelize a better future for the markets and prospects they address, and to articulate a clear and compelling vision of the role that their organization intends to play in helping them achieve it. Next, they will have to elevate the prospect's need for their solution. Useful or important needs might help to get a vendor considered or evaluated, but only urgent needs will get them bought. Finally, they must systematically eliminate the common barriers to buying by taking pains to identify how and why their prospects choose to buy, and what they need to do to remove the roadblocks that might stand in their way."

Really? I mean REALLY? Is this a NEW idea?

Don't we all know that the cost of changing MUST be less than the cost of not changing?

Please share your insights as to HOW you are going about aligning what you sell with the priorities of the prospect/customer, how you are establishing success criteria so that the buyer knows how to measure success for the initiative and how you define what is required of Organizational, Operational, and Infrastructure executives to improve the odds of success.