Value-Based Selling (VBS) is no longer a buzzword. It’s not a trend that will fade away, either. As consumers continue to demand value over price, it makes sense for retailers to adapt their sales strategies accordingly.
Value-based selling is more than just lowering prices or offering discounts—it’s about selling the “why” behind a purchase decision rather than the “what.” You’ll need to think differently about how you present your products and services. If you do it right, value-based selling can help your customers make confident buying decisions. Here are some tips to follow.
How You Can Effectively Use Value-Based Selling
Benefits Over Features
One common mistake luxury brands tend to make is trying to sell people their products by listing the features. While people are interested in what a product offers, they typically don’t buy based on features alone.
For example, a person who sees a car could ask themselves, “how much horsepower does this have?” They’re thinking about how it works, not how much fun they’ll have driving it or how safe they will feel while on the road.
If you want to sell your product successfully, communicate the value of your product by telling your customer about how this item will specifically benefit them rather than just listing its features. You may be surprised at how much easier it is for someone to understand why they should buy something when you focus on the benefits they will receive instead of emphasizing all the cool things your product can do.
If you’re stuck on what value your product adds, start with time. That is the most precious resource for everyone. Think about how your product saves your customers time and talk about that on your website, in your advertising, and in person.
By focusing on what the customer will gain in their life with this item, you will help people feel like they want your product and understand why it is worth the price tag.
The Fruits of Storytelling
Storytelling is one of the most effective ways of creating emotional connections with your customers. Only tell stories that resonate with your target audience. Hence, it’s essential to know who your target audience is and what they care about.
If you’re selling a product or service, think about what makes it different from other similar offerings today. For example, why should people buy yours instead of an identical item from another store?
If there aren’t any significant differences between your product and its competitors’ offerings (or if there aren’t any competitors), then how you present yourself as a brand will be more critical than ever before.
For consumers to emotionally connect with you, they need to relate to who you are as a company. Storytelling and a strong brand image is one way of doing this.
Know and Connect with Your Customers
To know and connect with your customers, you must have clarity around the target customer’s values, needs, and goals. You must understand the buying habits of your target audience. You should also know their demographics and buying preferences.
Additionally, you should understand how often they purchase products in specific categories, which vendors they usually buy from (if any), and what products or services are essential to them based on previous purchases made by that target market.
This information will help you understand what motivates them to make purchases and take action from brands like yours which can lead to better sales results for your business in the long run.
Don’t Sell, Educate and Solve Problems
High-value retail companies don’t sell products. Instead, they educate and solve problems.
You can do this by showing potential customers how to use the product in a way that solves a problem, perhaps one they didn’t even know they had. This is called “value proposition.”
A good value proposition describes precisely how your product will make your customer’s life easier. It should also feature a clear benefit for the customer. In other words, it should show them how their lives will improve.
Create Confidence in Your Brand
The first step to developing a solid relationship with your customers is to create confidence in your brand. You want them to trust that you will deliver a great experience, so they will become loyal and return again and again.
Creating that confidence requires consistent excellence in every aspect of the customer experience, from product quality packaging design to service delivery. It’s also crucial for you to develop a reputation for being dependable, credible, and trustworthy.
This means consistently meeting or exceeding expectations for quality of service or product performance for them (and others) to know what kind of experience they can expect from doing business with you over time.
Moreover, getting past customers talking about the value your product has goes even further than your brand saying the same words. Share reviews that people have left that talk about the value of your product, ask customers if you can video them talking about the value of your product, and share real stories on your blog and social media from customers who find value in your product.
Provide Support for Your Customers Post-Sale
After the sale, you need to provide support for your customers. You can do this by providing them with a user guide and warranty information. However, you also need to provide support beyond that.
For example, if a customer wants to purchase more of your product or recommend it to their friends and family members (likely), then you should be ready with a plan on how you would like them to do this.
You should also be ready to help them utilize their new product as effectively as possible. This way, they get value from it for longer than just purchasing it in the first place.
Take Notes from the Industry Leaders
Take notes from the industry leaders, who are increasingly coming to value-based selling as the de facto approach. One of the best examples is Amazon, which has been a master at leveraging data to make its customers’ experience seamless and efficient.
They know when you want something and how much you’re willing to pay for it. They ensure that nothing gets in your way between placing an order and receiving it on your doorstep.
Amazon has also done well by being hyper-focused on customer needs and wants when serving up products in search results or product pages (as opposed to making them work through a labyrinthine user experience).
This allows them to deliver more relevant results—resulting in higher conversions for sellers who have taken advantage of this aspect of value-based selling by creating content experiences around their buyers’ wants and needs rather than just features and benefits.
Get in Touch With Us Today
In value-based selling, you’re looking to understand your customer’s needs, more than just a surface level. You want them to feel thrilled about their purchase and the improvement it will bring to their lives.
When you do this, you’ll find that even if your product costs more than others in your industry, it will still sell well because your buyer knows they’re getting quality and value for what they’re spending. It’s not hard to see why this strategy is the future of retail sales.
Start crafting your marketing strategy for high-priced retail items today by reaching out to Three29.
Contact us today, and let’s get started on a growth journey.
