When we pitch, sell or market our products and services, all too often we start telling people what it does and how it works. People just don't really care. They simply want to know what pain you solve and what value you will bring to their company.
We recently launched our service with a major global law firm. We had told their marketing team 3 or 4 times about our "cool" newsletter functionality that would allow them to create and send out newsletters in seconds. We thought they got it.
Then at a later meeting we mentioned the newsletter function again and they said "what Newsletter?". This struck a real cord. We had told them about this functionality over and over again but they simply did not take it in because it was just a piece of functionality.
So this time, instead of showing them how it worked, we showed them how a regular newsletter would put them front of mind of their most important clients and prospects and reinforce them as expert, trusted advisors on an ongoing basis. We showed them how other businesses just like them are doing just that and the impact and results that has brought.
All of a sudden, everything changed and it was full steam ahead - they saw the value.
So stop telling people what your product does and how it works. People simply don't give a fiddle about the functionality. Start showing them the value you will bring to their business and visualise it by showing the value, other companies just like them, have seen.
If you can do that then your all of a sudden your price becomes much less relevant. We'll touch on that next time in B2B Sales #toptips 3. I'm sure you are waiting with bated breath ...!
"Value" may be one of the most overused and misused terms in marketing and pricing today. "Value pricing" is too often misused as a synonym for low price or bundled price. The real essence of value revolves around the tradeoff between the benefits a customer receives from a product and the price he or she pays for it.
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/setting-value-not-price