The 5 Rules of Megavalue Selling, by Mark Holmes

Gatekeeper Press, May 22nd

Why are salespeople struggling to differentiate from competitors and communicate

customer value? What makes them miss annual sales targets?

Annual studies from 2013-2016 indicate it’s due to the inability of salespeople to
articulate a compelling, differentiated value proposition.

“Megavalue Selling” introduces an effective way to articulate a value message and create
distinction among competitors. Readers discover the “VALUE” rules, a five steps
approach salespeople use to win sales on value not price.

The book is written for anyone at any level who is selling business-to-business products
or services. Through the story of a fictional yet realistic company, readers will be able to
relate to the struggles and triumphs as one sales rep discovers how to apply the five rules
of “Megavalue Selling” to close sales.

The book gives readers:

-Helpful questions for identifying a customer’s true value drivers and unrecognized
drivers.

-How to handle price pushback and commoditization.

-Practical approach for presenting proof.

-Actionable steps for identifying all decision influencers and their roles.

-Simple techniques to align value propositions with customer issues.

Here is a highlight of each of the Five V.A.L.U.E. Rules.

V- Verify Value Drivers

Accurately identifying the customer’s value drivers is the chief priority for sales
professionals. Without it, winning the sale is virtually impossible.

In one significant way, customers haven’t changed for over a century: they still want to
deal with a salesperson they can trust, someone who will take the time to understand their
true needs. Salespeople who know how to ask questions strategically have an advantage
over rivals that don’t.

A- Adapt Your Value Message

Customers are won over to a value message for different reasons.

Great salespeople adapt their value message to each customer’s value drivers. This single
talent is so powerful that often you won’t need to have product superiority to win a great
sales opportunity, but you will need to create high customer perceived value. By aligning
the value proposition with the buyer’s value drivers, the salesperson helps them make an
accurate decision based on the positive difference the solution will have on their issues.

L- Listen

Listening is a choice and a skill that makes selling value easier.

The benefits from effective listening for salespeople include the ability to develop
trusting relationships, improve likeability, make a positive impression, process
information more accurately, remember facts more clearly, earn respect and create
confidence for the solutions offered. To a great extent, this strengthens the salesperson’s
influence because good listeners don’t usually make mistakes like misinterpretation,
interrupting people, inattention or daydreaming, all of which can hurt the buyer-seller
relationship.

U- Understand The Buy

Knowing an account’s buying process, timeline and decision influencers is like having
the blueprints for constructing a building. Commented [HDD1]: Effective replacement? ‘Building a
building’ sounded off.
A salesperson must be aware of the dynamics affecting a customer’s purchase and watch
for sudden developments that can create hesitancy, or urgency. It helps to build thorough
understanding of the internal politics, policies and business processes.

E- Emphasize Evidence

Customers put faith in facts not in worn-out claims. Selling value effectively requires
gathering the necessary evidence to justify value to uncertain or uninterested buyers.

There is usually at least one, and most often several points of separation from
competitors. Of the many advantages that could be emphasized, a decision influencer is
attracted to only a select few that matter to them. Therefore, it’s critical to understand the
customer’s issues and desires, and be able to present compelling evidence.

The book is available in retail outlets on May 22, or may be pre-ordered on Amazon now.
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