How to Build a Value Selling Framework

Value selling has become an increasingly popular approach in sales. Rather than promoting product features it focuses on understanding customers’ needs and showing how your solution delivers value. Building an effective value selling framework takes work – you need to research your customers refine your process, and constantly adapt as you learn. Follow these steps to create a value-focused sales strategy that wins more deals

Understand Your Target Customers

The first step in value selling is gaining crystal clear insight into your ideal customer profile. Ask yourself:

• Who are the titles and roles you typically sell to?
• What are their pain points and challenges?
• How does your product uniquely alleviate those issues?
• What business outcomes do they aim to achieve?

Really delve in to understand your core demographic on a deeper level A generic one-size-fits-all approach won’t cut it for value selling, You need to tailor your process for each customer segment you target

Spend time researching through data, customer conversations, and browsing communities your buyers engage in. The more you can empathize with their reality, the better you can position your solution as the missing puzzle piece they need.

Identify Common Pain Points

With a clear picture of your target customers, make a list of the problems they routinely face. These will form the basis for crafting value propositions later on.

For example, some common customer pain points could include:

• Losing sales because the buying process is too complex
• Wasting time on manual tasks that could be automated
• Paying too much for inferior solutions
• Difficulty accessing data and insights
• Falling behind competitors who are more innovative

Really reflect on the frustrations your customers experience in their day-to-day work. Understanding these viscerally will make your messaging resonate.

Map Benefits to Solutions

For each key problem identified, map how your product delivers concrete benefits that alleviate that pain point. The goal is to showcase how your solution positively impacts the customer.

For instance, if a customer issue is declining conversion rates, your benefit might be:

• Increased conversion by 25% on average through our optimized checkout experience

Avoid vague, generic promises. Quantify benefits with real metrics from customer research or past case studies. This builds credibility and value.

Research the Competition

Doing diligent competitive research gives you an advantage in value selling conversations. Learn what alternatives your customer is comparing you against. Where do they fall short? How are you uniquely positioned to add more value?

Analyze competitors’ websites, content, and product demo videos to identify weaknesses in their offerings such as:

• Outdated technology that lacks key features
• More expensive or complex implementation
• Poor customer service and lack of support
• Lower ROI and results for customers

Being able to intelligently contrast your solution against the competition is powerful when communicating value.

Observe Customer Interactions

Pay close attention when customer-facing team members demo your product or take discovery calls. Listen to the language prospects use to describe their challenges and desired outcomes. What questions do they ask? Where do they seem hesitant or unconvinced?

These insights will help refine how you frame value propositions. Learn from your colleagues’ conversations and take note of what resonates versus what falls flat. Continuously adapt your value narrative based on these learnings.

Demonstrate Genuine Interest

Value selling depends on a consultative approach focused on the customer. Rather than reciting scripted pitches, have natural conversations where you explore their goals and constraints. Ask thoughtful questions and intently listen to understand their reality.

Displaying authentic interest builds trust and rapport. Customers are more receptive to your solution when they feel you truly care about their business needs beyond just making a sale.

Educate, Don’t Sell

Avoid aggressively pushing your product and touting capabilities. Instead, view your role as an advisor guiding customers and providing insights. Offer new perspective on how they could achieve objectives by sharing relevant best practices, industry research, and use cases.

For instance, provide tips to improve their sales process based on what has worked for other clients. This constructive approach focused on value helps build relationships.

Personalize Your Approach

A cookie-cutter sales strategy won’t cut it. Tailor your conversations to each prospect’s unique situation. Apply the research conducted earlier to connect on issues relevant to them specifically.

Use the individual’s name, company, and role throughout your discussion. Reference details they’ve shared to show you have listened and make the interaction more meaningful. Customized interactions demonstrate the value you can provide.

Summarize Value Throughout Discussions

Reinforce the value you deliver through each stage of the sales process. Summarize periodically how your solution drives specific outcomes they care about.

For example: “As we discussed earlier, this feature will directly help your sales team close 20% more enterprise deals this quarter by simplifying the contracting process.”

Reminding customers of the concrete value your product provides in light of their goals keeps conversations focused in the right direction.

Adjust Your Process Based on Results

Regularly analyze your win/loss ratio. Review both successful and unsuccessful deals to identify patterns in what is resonating with customers vs. where messaging could be improved.

For example, you may find centering value propositions around cost savings does not sway customers as much as highlighting improved productivity. Use these insights to refine your value selling approach. A/B test different language and frameworks to determine what works.

Sell Value During Product Demos

Product demos represent a prime opportunity to showcase value. Avoid simply going through features and functions. Actively demonstrate how your solution can achieve the customer’s goals.

Tailor the demo experience based on their pains and desired outcomes. For example, highlight automation capabilities that will save them 15 hours per week in manual processes. Provide specific, relevant context around their business needs.

Quantify Value Through ROI Studies

Back up your claims of driving value with measurable ROI. For example, develop in-depth case studies demonstrating a 20% increase in lead conversion from a customer that previously struggled with few pipeline opportunities.

Or conduct a study across multiple customers validating they achieve 10-15% higher revenue annually after adopting your solution. Fact-based statistics substantially boost the perception of value provided.

Highlight Successful Customer Outcomes

Social proof is powerful when positioning value. Use specific examples of customers that obtained remarkable results using your product or service. For instance:

• Helped customer ABC improve response times by 40%
• Client XYZ saw a 7x increase in online sales after our optimization
• Reduced churn by 50% for Acme Co. through our retention tools

These real-world examples and success stories make the benefits more tangible and concrete. Your product is merely a means to these outcomes.

Emphasize Long-Term Partnership

Rather than being transactional, emphasize you are kicking off a long-term partnership by working together. Outline future capabilities in your product roadmap that will continually provide more value over time.

Discuss ways you can proactively alert them to new features and innovations that may further their goals. Position your solution as an evolving platform to drive outcomes well into the future.

Shifting to a value selling mindset takes work. You need to deeply research your customers, refine your process, demonstrate genuine care for their issues, and quantify the impact your product has on their business.

While this approach requires more effort than simple feature selling, the payoff in terms of closing deals and expanding accounts is immense. By following the steps outlined here to build a value selling framework tailored to your customers, you will be well positioned for sales success.