Did you ever have to work with large discounts just to get a small deal over the line at the end of quarter? Ever lost to the competition based on price, even though your solutions was the perfect fit?
Enter: Value Engineering.
What is Value Engineering?
Value engineering elevates your sales conversations from tactical to strategic level.
It helps you
- overcome price objections
- prove financial justification
- create urgency with an account
In short, it helps you close more larger deals faster.
Key Principles
Your customer's understanding of value is the difference between them buying and not buying
Most software buyers need a financial justification but more often then not, they don't involve the seller in the calculation
Most software value claims are BS
Good value claims are
relevant
easily understood
easily defendable
believable
Value engineering is one of the biggest differentiators of great software sales and presales teams.
How to do it
Find a champion/sponsor and have a big picture conversation with them about the possibility of your software's impact. Align your conversation with their goals and gain buy in to talk to relevant people and get access to data.
Agree on relevant metrics together. Pick them based on your discovery conversation and validate assumptions
Articulate conclusions for every metric and data point. BE CONSERVATIVE with your calculations.
Validate your assessment with the champion. Vet all metrics and value stories with your champion. You're not selling here but agreeing on the narrative. Adjust based on feedback.
Pitch! Work with your champion to present to the right people and be open to tweak data based on objections.