Value Is A Buyer Word Not A Seller Word

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Would you pay $7 for movie theater popcorn?

Would you pay $400 for tickets to Hamilton?

Would you pay $1500 to upgrade the sound system in your new car?

There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. It all depends on whether or not you think the value is there.

That’s true of every purchase and it’s different for every buyer!

Here’s a recap of everything in this episode of 5 Minute Sales Training:

I fly……a lot. In fact, I have got status on three different airlines. I’m not proud of that fact.

It’s such a glamorous life, travel, what with weather delays and flights being cancelled and screaming babies, not to mention the delicious airport food.

Recently I flew from Sacramento to Seattle. I got to the airport late in the day and there weren’t a lot of people around, so I figured there were seats available in first class.

I went up to the counter and I asked, “Is first-class full and if not, what’s the price to upgrade?”

The gate agent politely entered the information into the computer and she looked up and she said, “First-class, it’s a $52 upgrade.”

Would you pay $52 to upgrade to first class?

For me? In a heartbeat.

My Uncle Ed wouldn’t. No, my Uncle Ed would say, “The back of the plane gets there at the same time as the front of the plane.”

Yes, but the front is more comfortable.

We’re not nearly as boxed in, maybe we get a little bit of breathing room, maybe a refreshing adult beverage at the end of the day.

For $52, is it worth it to you? Now look, I get it, it’s not worth it to everyone. But this is the way it works.

We make value equations in our minds and we do it all the time. Our customers are constantly making these value equations, too.

And we’re all asking the question, “Is it worth it to me?”

This leads me to a very important point. Pay attention, please.

Value is a buyer word, not a seller word. Value is a buyer word.

The buyer owns that word and if it’s not valuable to the buyer, it ain’t valuable. What is valuable to you may not be valuable to me.

That all sounds obvious, right?

But here’s the problem, oftentimes we have salespeople that spend too much time sharing what they think is valuable.

Can I make a suggestion to you? Stop inflicting the customer with your version of value. Find out what’s valuable to them.

How do you avoid sharing value that’s not value? Ask. Ask your customer.

The more you understand about their values, the more likely it is that you will be of service to them.

Now, there are two ways you can ask this question.

Option 1: “What is most important to you going forward?” “What’s on your must-have list?” “What does this look like when the problem is solved?”

That’s important.

Option 2 (and the one that usually gets missed): “Where are you coming from?” “What’s not working now?” “What is uncomfortable in your life?”

If I can figure out what they’re coming from and what they’re moving to and why, that’s when I understand their sense of value.

Look, it’s okay to find your product valuable. It’s not okay to inflict your sense of value on the customer.

Because value is a buyer word, not a seller word.

Learn more, to earn more.


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About the Author: Jeff Shore

Jeff Shore is the Founder and CEO of Shore Consulting, Inc. a company specializing in psychology-based sales training programs. Using these modern, game-changing techniques, Jeff Shore’s clients delivered over 145,000 new homes generating $54 billion in revenue last year.