Add value by solving problems

If you have ever attended one of my sales seminars, you have heard me discuss ways for salespeople to add value. I continue to promote added value because it is only by adding value to our normal services that we are able to escape from the “your price is too high” headaches of selling.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I like hot coffee and donuts on a cold winter morning as much as the next guy, but you’ll have to admit that this “added value” solves pretty small problems that even a novice salesperson could fix.

While I fully realize that this is excellent customer service that can be effective at endearing you to your customers, prospects and subs, it can’t touch the added value that’s offered by some of the most highly innovative salespeople. The following story is an example of how one salesperson helped a prospect solve a BIG problem.

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I once worked with a salesperson (I’ll call him Randy) who had been making sales calls on a relatively large prospect for over a year and was making no progress. Yes, he had showered this prospect with every freebie his company had to offer, but had yet to receive his first order.

Then one day the salesperson decided to ask one of my favorite open-ended questions: “Mr. Prospect, what are your most pressing business problems, you know, the little nitpicking things that keep you awake at night?”

The prospect thought for a minute and shared with Randy a grand opportunity to add value. He said, “My gross margin is getting killed by XYZ Construction. It seems like every time I get a home buyer to the closing table, I have to end up cutting the price to get a signature.”

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“Why is that?” Randy asked.

“If I have heard it once, I have heard it a dozen times from prospects who are shopping around, you know, visiting models in every subdivision they pass by. When they tour my models and then visit my competitor’s models, they say that his houses are just about the same as mine, but cost a good $2,000 to $3,000 less.”

“How accurate are your prospects’ claims?”

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“I have no idea. I’ve never visited my competitor’s models; I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that. We know each other; I would be embarrassed.”

“Well, let me ask you: would it be of benefit to you if I did the comparison shopping and shared the results with you?”

“Of course it would. I would give my right arm to get my hands on that kind of information.”

“Well, give me a few days and let me see what I can do. This is the kind of service I can offer that I consider to be the most valuable; anyone can deliver wood.”

A few days later, Randy came back to see his prospect with a list of features his prospect’s homes contained that the competitor’s homes did not.

“Armed with this list,” Randy said, “you’ll have plenty of ammunition when a buyer says that your homes are pretty much the same as your competitor’s.”

Two weeks later, Randy followed up with the prospect: “How is your gross margin tracking since you have been using the features list?”

“Like a charm,” the prospect answered. “You have done for me what I should have done for myself. I want to say thank you by giving you the material on Lot 78. We need the framing delivered next Thursday morning no later than 7:00 AM. Here’s the material list.”

How BIG are the problems you can solve for your customers and prospects? Keep telling yourself: Solving problems builds value. If you’ll take to heart this lesson from Randy, I believe you’ll find that there’s a lot more to selling than handing out carpenter’s pencils.

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