With the typical MSP and IT services sales cycle becoming increasingly complex, managed service providers are finding it challenging to attract and close leads. Industry trends indicate the need for a more personalized approach to MSP marketing and sales–one that goes beyond the standard personalized experience offered by MSP marketing automation software platforms. Personalizing your marketing emails to include your prospect’s names won’t help you any more…the year 2023 will be all about value selling for MSPs.
What is value selling?
Value selling is a sales technique that relies on conveying the value of the product or service to the prospect so effectively that it convinces them to invest in it. Value selling is one of the most successful sales tactics and is widely adopted by both, direct and indirect sales channels.
How is value selling different from other sales techniques?
Value selling is different from other sales techniques in the sense that it focuses entirely on the buyer. The value selling technique identifies a gap or need that the buyer is experiencing and communicates to them clearly how the gap can be filled effectively with the product or service that is being sold. Value selling is all about the buyer and not the seller or the product. Instead of focusing on the features of the product or service, value selling dwells on the benefits it offers the buyers.
Value selling involves aligning your marketing and sales communication with the your prospect’s needs
One of the key features of value selling is that it aligns sales and marketing efforts with the buyer’s journey. Since value selling focuses on the buyer and the value the product or service adds to them, all sales communication has to be aligned with the buyer’s position in the sales cycle at any given point of time. In order to effectively engage in value selling, you need have to have a clear view of your prospects and consequently personalize your sales and marketing messaging to appeal to them.
Value selling involves educating your buyers of the value you can add to them
Value selling takes time. You need to educate your buyers of the value you bring to the table. In order to influence buying decisions in your favor, you need to be in constant touch with your leads. However, it becomes difficult to strike a balance between hot leads and leads that are not very far ahead in the sales cycle. And with limited time on their hands, channel partners and salespeople tend to focus on leads that are closer to buying–which means a lot of leads that may closer later are dropped inadvertently. You can change that with lead nurturing tools. Lead nurturing campaigns help keep salespeople and channel partners in touch with their leads till they become warm enough for actual interaction with them.
MSP sales playbooks can play a key role in helping you engage in value selling
To engage in effective value selling, you need plays for different sales scenarios and for prospects who are in different stages of the sales cycle. Sales playbooks address this requirement perfectly by mapping sales and marketing assets to different stages of the buyer’s journey.
Value selling may be a challenging approach to sales, but it is one that definitely works. While it may take time to build the perception of value in the minds of the prospects, MSP sales and marketing automation tools can make this process easier and more effective.
Value selling is just easier with the MSP Advantage Program!
Check out the most comprehensive MSP marketing and sales program in the industry today! A blend of ready-to-use sales and marketing content, tools and support, the MSP Advantage Program is used by more than 10,000 MSP partners, worldwide.
