Jon Tolley from the Prime Group, and Bill Nicholson from BlueSky ETO graciously agreed to reprise their session from the Pageflex User Conference in today’s webinar on how to successfully sell solutions. It was another great webinar! It’s clear that their experiences – both good and bad – have given them valuable insights into successful selling. They provided lots of specific advice, backed up by real-life stories and examples.
Although Jon and Bill took slightly different approaches, and of course work for two different companies on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, it was remarkable to see how closely aligned they were in their thinking and in their business strategy.
With gratitude to them for their willingness to share, here are a few of the key points they made that resonated with me –
- If you give something away, it has no value. Define your value – as a company and in the solution you offer.
- Know who you are and spend time to define and position your company and your services, using all available marketing tools. None of us can be everything to everyone!
- It’s all about your customers and prospects. Talk to the right people and speak to them on their terms – not yours.
- Understand who they are and what challenges and pain they face, and be clear about how you can help them.
- Features do not equal benefits! How will your company and your solution specifically benefit a particular customer?
- Understand ROI in real, benefit-driven terms, including financial ROI. Be prepared to commit to this ROI with your customer. After all, that’s part of the value you offer.
- Understand your costs and then provide a “whole product” cost to your customer.
Although it’s by no means simple, if you follow the first five steps, you greatly improve the odds that you will get the business and begin a collaborative, long-term, and profitable relationship with your customer.
If you’d like to learn more about today’s webinar, just send us an email.
Thanks again to Jon and Bill!
