The Sales Archaeologist

I had been working on a session that would help one of my clients stay focused on selling value when I came across an interesting article in the NY Times that was discussing the latest addition to the Hyundai product line. The Equus.

With a starting price of about $55,000, the Equus is designed and built to take on the top luxury sedans in the country, such as the BMW 7 Series, Lexus LS460 and Mercedes S-Class, executives said as they unveiled the vehicle.

They also admit that this is a space where they have not previously competed. They recognize that as a rule people don't associate Hyundai with luxury and exclusivity. They entered the market and established themselves as the low price player and now they are trying to make a change - so much of what they have established themselves for is working in conflict with the Equus I have to wonder if they can succeed.

Sales people sometimes find themselves in a similar situation. They spend so much time early on in their process focused on the savings and bang for the buck. They allow the client to make unfair comparisons and then at the end they want to be seen as the high quality service provider they are and all the prospect sees is a 60 thousand dollar Hyundai.

Establishing value does not happen overnight - and as far as the sales process goes it certainly doesn't happen at the moment of close. Some sales "experts" teach that this can be established with a strong up front contract or some other tactic that prospects have been slowly becoming tired of. But that is not it.

Establishing value happens at every stage of the sales process. Every call, email, message, demo, presentation and meeting will either add to or subtract from how the prospect views you.

So are you positioning yourself as  a 55K Hyundai - because if I was going to spend 55K on a car it would probably be a Lexus.