I often see sales reps roll over to prospect and customer demands. They are quick to give in to lower prices, cave on additional features, acquiesce to terms and conditions etc. It’s unfortunate and I see it all the time.

Why do so many reps fold like a house of cards? — They don’t know their value.  It’s that simple.

When a rep knows the value of their product or service, they know what type of leverage they have. It’s easy to forget customers buy from us because they need us. How badly they need us depends on how big a problem we solve and how well we solve the problem.

Customers or prospects don’t invest in our product or service unless they have a need to. Knowing what a prospect or customer get’s from our product or service and the value it has in their environment dictates leverage.  Deliver on a huge opportunity or solve a huge problem in a way no one else can and you have leverage. Don’t solve a big problem, don’t deliver on a great opportunity and you can kiss leverage goodbye.

To stop being a wimp and caving to customer and prospects demands know and quantify your value.  Highlight to your customers what they get from going with you, why not having you is a greater loss than the few dollars they are trying negotiate out of the deal.

Here is some interesting insight to put things in perspective. According to a study by BayGroup International, 75% of sales reps believe that procurement has more power while at the same time 75% of procurement officers believe sales reps have more power.  Why do you think procurement officers feel sales reps have more power?  Because they know the value of your product or service and are concerned about the impact of not getting or worse losing it. Procurement officers are just as scared about NOT getting what you sell as you are of them NOT buying what you sell.

Move the conversation to value.

Telling your clients what they get from you is a start, but it’s not enough. The client or prospect has to believe it too. They have to have a clear understanding of the value you and your organization’s products and services bring to the table and their impact. They have to know why they make the investment in your company and how they quantify it. It’s here where the best sales people win.

The best sales people quantify their value every day and through out the sales process.  They make sure customers know exactly what it is. Killer sales reps make sure their value is front and center at all times. They continually demonstrate it and quantify it, never letting the customer or prospect lose site of why they are buying from them and why.

As sales people, when we know the value we bring to our clients we don’t cave. We don’t acquiesce, we don’t give in. We leverage our confidence in our value to hold our ground. When our clients know the value we bring, when they understand what they are getting is far greater than the price increase they are asking for or for the additional contract terms they are requesting, they don’t push so hard.

Value is leverage, it’s the only real leverage sales people have. So, why don’t we use it more often?

Get comfortable with your value. Remind your customers everyday what they get from investing in your company’s products and services and continually demonstrate that value on a regular basis.

Without value, it’s a long slog, one that never ends well.