Value is vague and varies…

Earlier this month I wrote about prospects pressuring us to compete on price in order to win their business.  Price-based negotiation was also a question posted on LinkedIn.  “Subject Matter Experts” were invited to weigh in.  (Other Schmoes like me, too. HaHa!) 

In my recent post, I told the story about how my Dad delt with Christmas tree sellers “back in the day”.  In that piece I mentioned the difficulty those tree sellers faced.  They wanted to sell my Dad the value of their best trees.  The problem was, he was shopping on price – even worse, the price he was shopping for was “free”! 

Selling value vs. competing on price comes with many challenges.  Three I cited were: 

• Value is vague
• Value varies by person
• Value is very hard to legitimately quantify 

My comments stimulated several opinions and questions (about negotiation not Christmas trees).  Permit me to address a few of those questions today. 

First, let’s establish a little context.  (BTW - You’ve heard me say before that in the modern marketplace, context is a killer application; especially when it comes to negotiations and selling value vs. price.  The first salesperson to clarify the prospect’s context almost always wins the business.  But I digress…) 

Let’s start with context about our prospects’ money:

You see, I believe we have all been taught since childhood that whatever something “costs” it’s in our best interests to seek a lower cost.  As we saw in Victor Antonio's video, it’s easy for salespeople to be trapped by the gravitational pull of cost becoming the main context of negotiating.  It’s understandable.  I think you might agree that the #1 question, every prospect has at the very beginning of their buying cycle (aka our sales process) is, “How much does something like this cost?”  We ask that question ourselves when we shop, true? 

Now on the other side of the same coin is value.  I believe we have all been taught since adulthood that when we invest in something and that something meets or exceeds our expected return …  we invest more!  Unfortunately, gaining agreement from our prospects on value and return is just not as simple as Victor Antonio’s “Value Equation”.  

That’s because of my second point - value varies by person.  SellXL put it this way a few years ago:

Consequently, the term “value” may sound singular, but it’s really plural.  Each person on our prospect’s buying committee has their own version of value.  In the book The Challenger Customer © (a companion to the book The Challenger Sale ©) this reality and our selling path were expressed this way: 

What's the best strategy for selling to increasingly diverse buying groups?  Track them all down and win them all over. 

Brent Adamson 

Yep, “track them all down”; clarify the context of their value as it relates to our proposal; and then “win them all over”.  Not so simple, agreed? 

The final contextual concept for today is this.  It’s not our prospects’ first rodeo when receiving our value “pitch”.  My colleague Cameron Newell put it more bluntly: Prospects are “burn victims”.  No, not from fire; but from being exposed to years of hyped up sales and marketing messaging that looks something like this:

Have you used these sound bites?  Me too.  However, we need to stop because if we don’t our prospects will “fight fire with fire”.  Smell that?  That’s our deal burning.  Pass the aloe, please.  

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

March Madness and pretending

March Madness – a time for greatness on the college basketball court!  One of my favorite times of the year.  Where does greatness originate from anyway?  Can we leverage lessons learned from March Madness for our own success?  To take a closer look I always like to start at the beginning. 

How many people do you know who have achieved greatness and didn’t actually believe they were capable of being great?  I’m not talking about their outward-facing image (ranging from quiet modesty to over-the-top arrogance).  I’m talking about how they think of themselves inwardly.  Those that don’t have any self-doubt, reservations, or fear. 

Can we achieve greatness without believing - or at least pretending to believe – that we can and should be great?  Pretending to believe – there’s an idea.  Take this James S. Hewett basketball story: 

Former NBA center and coach Johnny Kerr said his biggest test as a coach came when he coached the then-expansion team the Chicago Bulls and his biggest player was 6'8" Erwin Mueller.

We had lost seven in a row and I decided to give a psychological pep talk before a game with the Celtics, Kerr said.  I told Bob Boozer to go out and pretend he was the best scorer in basketball.  I told Jerry Sloan to pretend he was the best defensive guard.  I told Guy Rodgers to pretend he could run an offense better than any other guard, and I told Erwin Mueller to pretend he was the best rebounding, shot-blocking, scoring center in the game.  We lost the game by 17. 

I was pacing around the locker room afterward trying to figure out what to say when Mueller walked up, put his arm around me, and said, “Don't worry about it Coach.  Just pretend we won."

James S. Hewett           

Jerry Sloan, one of the “Original Bulls”.  He may not have been “the best defensive guard” in the NBA.  But he ultimately achieved Hall of Fame greatness even if it took a career to do so. 

Jerry’s fame comes mostly from his coaching success with the Utah Jazz.  Consistency; team-play; fundamentals; toughness; his teams had these admirable qualities.  Oh, he had a few great players too, but they never had the best talent in the league.  Still he led his players to believe they could be great. 

Coaching in the sports world and leading in the business world have many parallels.  What makes great coaches and great business leaders?  Well, I may not be able to articulate a specific list of skills, characteristics, and attributes, but I know a great coach and a great-coached team when I see one.  And whether they are truly great, or just pretending to believe they are truly great, the leader makes a big difference on the ultimate outcome. 

Bum Phillips had coaching success with the then Houston Oilers of the NFL, even though his teams were never thought of as having the best talent in the league.  I have cited this ultimate tribute to Bum’s coaching greatness often: 

He can take his and beat yours; and then he can take yours and beat his.                            

Unknown Sage 

Today, the March Madness teams are hearing their coaches tell them to believe; that they have the magic; that theirs can beat yours in this year’s tournament.  I’m going to believe my 2024 will be a great year, too!  Even if I have to pretend to help me get started.  How about you? 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

My rock…

Next Tuesday is a big day on the Pokorn Ranch…

March 19th will mark our 51st wedding anniversary.  A significant number of days to be with one’s significant other, true?  In reality I’ve been with my high school sweetheart since 1970.  That makes it 54 years and continuing!  (Even more, we’ve actually known each other since the 7th grade.)  Do you believe in destiny?  It takes more than destiny:

We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny.  But what we put into it is ours.

Dag Hammarskjold

I know many of you are enjoying long-lasting relationships, too.  I think you’d agree that the number of years isn’t what’s important.   Mignon McLaughlin shares this secret:

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

I write about my wife frequently.  Her impact on my life is significant.  Like any couple, we have our good days and… well… those others.  Like many couples, we’ve had a few relationship-testing; foundation-rattling; we’re-not-going-to-make-it; kind of days. 

Over the years we can testify that “for better or worse” really does mean for better or for “worse”.  We’re reminded:

When you’re riding through hell… keep riding.

James P. Owen

Any meaningful journey is like that.  Even one of America’s most famous sweethearts offered her guidance on life’s journey:

Pain nourishes courage.  You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.

Mary Tyler Moore

After 51 years we have learned to enjoy life’s little moments.  “Date night” these days looks nothing like it once did.  Still, we enjoy our quiet time together and our life’s wonderful blessings; all driven by love.  In fact, 51 years ago this month the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 was “Love Train” by the O’Jays.  According to Wikipedia:  

The word 'train' comes from the Old French trahiner, from the Latin trahere meaning pull, or draw.

I have been a passenger on the love train that my wife has been pulling for 51 years!  I’ve tried to contribute a few little things each day to lighten her load a bit; you know; clear the tracks.  Rob Gilbert made a list:

How to have a Winning Day:

You have to listen 

more than you talk…

You have to smile 

more than you frown…

You have to be fascinated 

more than you're frustrated…

You have to believe in yourself 

more than you doubt yourself.

You have to work 

more than you whine.

You have to do 

more than you don't.

I have paid attention to my role and my boundaries, too:

Men ordering custom colors must first bring in a note from their wife. 

Guiry Paint Store

It’s OK; she writes the notes; I run the errands; we make a great team.  And on those occasional occasions where disagreement looms, I heed Harlan Miller’s advice:

Often the difference between a successful marriage and a mediocre one consists of leaving three or four things a day unsaid.

51 years and our love train is rolling strong.  No matter our future course; no matter the challenges we will face; the trials that will test us; our love train will continue.  We will be pulled along by my magnificent, significant other.  Regardless of whether the wind is at our back or blowing hard in our face, Etheridge Knight’s words guide us:

Love is a rock against the wind. 

Happy 51st Anniversary Dear!  You’re my rock and I love you.

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Cost vs. value…

What do Christmas trees, the memory of my Dad, and selling value vs. cost have in common?  (Really Gary?  Slow day?) 

Well, let’s pretend you’re the salesperson and I’m your prospect.  If you were selling me the value of your product/service, what value statements would you make?  Go ahead - take a moment - jot a few down.  We’ll come back to them. 

One of my favorite, childhood memories was my Dad taking me to “shop” for a Christmas tree.  His definition of “shopping” was to stop at Christmas tree vendors until he found one willing to give him one for free.  It would be a tree with broken limbs; cast aside; unsellable.  He’d also ask for miscellaneous branches laying about.  The vendors never asked why he wanted one for free.  Perhaps they were just happy to get rid of the scraps.  No value.  (My Mom would have been embarrassed!) 

Back home, using a drill and green string, my Dad would “rebuild” those broken, unsellable tree-parts into a work of beauty.  Ornaments and tinsel would hide the strings holding the whole thing together.  (My Mom was always uneasy when visitors got too close to our tree.) 

My Dad was a “Depression-Era Baby”; very cost-conscious.  No matter how hard the salesman tried to sell him the value of another, beautiful tree, my Dad would hold out.  The fact-of-the-matter was my Dad could afford a full-price tree.  His value lied elsewhere.   He searched by price because (A) he enjoyed the “hunt”; (B) he wanted to introduce me to business transactions; and (C) he took pride in the challenge of assembling a beautiful tree from various, discarded components. 

Fast-forward.  Today, I enjoy working with salespeople who face the selling challenge of cost vs value.  There are many reasons for this challenge.  Generally, I believe value is vague; varies by person; and very hard to quantify.  Consequently, prospects gravitate towards cost.  Cost is specific; objective; and doesn’t vary by person (without negotiating a big discount, of course). 

Salespeople inadvertently reinforce this gravitational pull.  Tools like “TCO” (Total Cost of Ownership) or “ROI” (Return on Investment) calculators make the situation worse.  Guess what these vendor-developed calculators draw the prospect’s attention to?  Two minutes from Victor Antonio:

Victor’s “The Value Equation” almost looks too good to be true, true?  And that’s the problem… this isn’t the prospect’s first rodeo.  The prospect knows exactly how to make the ROI look even better – reduce the denominator! 

Nowadays, we live in an era of affluence.  Nonetheless, no one wants to pay high prices – perhaps that’s why prospects pit salespeople against one another to earn their business.  Do you compete on price?  Your prospects hopes so: 

The Law of the Marketplace: 

If only one price can be obtained for any quotation, the price will be unreasonable. 

Unknown Sage 

Still, who doesn’t enjoy getting a deal? 

            It's not the cheaper things

that we want to possess

But expensive things

that cost a little less.                       

Rolf B. White 

Every time I see a prospect wanting an expensive thing for “a little less”, I smile.  I remember my Dad and our Christmas trees.  (I also know why my Mom never joined us.  She would have valued the full-price tree.) 

OK then, those value statements I asked you to jot down above...  it was actually a trick question.  In the real world, only your prospects can define their value.  The key question is, are you asking them? 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.