Selling Strategy

Any selling strategy, regardless of the approach (based on the situational and customer-centric definition or situational representation of value), tactic, or technique, should put customer value first.

Ingram et al. (2015) describe customer value as follows:

Customer value depends on the buyer’s situations, needs, and priorities, but essentially it can be defined as the customer’s perception of what they receive (e.g., products, services, information) in exchange for what they give up (e.g., time, effort, and money). (Chapter 2, p. 5)

So there could be a variety of selling situations, like a buyer that requires very little facilitation or one that requires constant contact and support. Regardless, the objective is to figure out what value is to that customer.

When explaining how salespeople can add to the value received by customers, Ingram et al. (2015) make the following statements:

Customer value is determined in part by product/service capabilities and the support given by the sales organization to the customer. In addition, salespeople’s expertise and behaviors can also be an important dimension of customer value. Salespeople can add to or detract from customer value depending on criteria such as:

• Customer and market knowledge: is the salesperson knowledgeable about the customer’s business, competition, and market conditions?
• Coordination: does the salesperson coordinate with others in their company to solve customer problems or provide opportunities to the customer
• Efficiency: is time spent with this salesperson worthwhile, and can he or she get things done?
• Strategic alignment: does the salesperson understand and contribute to achieving the customer’s strategic priorities?
• Trustworthiness: can the salesperson be trusted, i.e., is this person competent, customer-oriented, honest, dependable and compatible with customers? (Chapter 2, pp. 5–6)

 

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Reference

Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., Avila, R. A., Schwepker, C. H., Jr., & Williams, M. R. (2015). Instructor manual for Sales management: Analysis and decision making (9th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.