Sales Differentiation

Book excerpt: "If we don't drop our price, we will lose the deal." That's the desperate cry from salespeople as they try to win deals in competitive marketplaces. While the easy answer is to lower the price, the company sacrifices margin--oftentimes unnecessarily. To win deals at the prices you want,the strategy needed is differentiation. Most executives think marketing is the sole source of differentiation. But what about the sales function of the company? This commonly neglected differentiation opportunity provides a multitude of ways to stand out from the competition. This groundbreaking book teaches you how to develop those strategies. In Sales Differentiation, sales management strategist, Lee B. Salz presents nineteen easy-to-implement concepts to help salespeople win deals while protecting margins. These concepts apply to any salesperson in any industry and are based on the foundation that "how you sell, not just what you sell, differentiates you." The strategies are presented in easy-to-understand stories and can quickly be put into practice. Divided into two sections, the "what you sell" chapters help salespeople: Recognize that the expression "we are the best" causes differentiation to backfire. Avoid the introspective question that frustrates salespeople and ask the right question to fire them up. Understand what their true differentiators are and how to effectively position them with buyers. Find differentiators in every nook and cranny of the company using the six components of the "Sales Differentiation Universe." Create strategies to position differentiators so buyers see value in them. The "how you sell" section teaches salespeople how to provide meaningful value to buyers and differentiate themselves in every stage of the sales process. This section helps salespeople: Develop strategies to engage buyers and turn buyer objections into sales differentiation opportunities. Shape buyer decision criteria around differentiators. Turn a commoditized Request for Proposal (RFP) process into a differentiation opportunity. Use a buyer request for references as a way to stand out from the competition. Leverage the irrefutable, most powerful differentiator...themselves. Whether you've been selling for twenty years or are new to sales, the tools you learn in Sales Differentiation will help you knock-out the competition, build profitable new relationships, and win deals at the prices you want.