I was listening to Anthony Innarino‘s appearance on Troy Kirby’s podcast last week and Anthony talked about the 4 levels of value in modern selling.
Great stuff! Check out all of them.
But that got me to thinking about what you and I are doing.
In today’s selling, the act of solving a problem is almost useless.
Problem solvers are a dime a dozen.
Anyone can diagnose what is bothering them and call another set of hands.
Sales aren’t where they are? Call a trainer?
Need new marketing copy on your website? I know a great copywriter.
Want to lose weight? Let me talk with the trainer at the gym.
Each of these encounters is a waste of opportunity.
If you get a sales trainer, they are going to offer you training and it might even be good. But did they focus on the root issue?
Your new marketing copy might be awesome, but was it really the copy that wasn’t making your website effective?
Or, the trainer has a great workout for you…but is it really the way you are training that is keeping you out of shape?
In each case, the parties are in the middle of a transaction.
Which may work. It may not work. But I can tell you that it is a missed opportunity.
In today’s world, the transaction versus the relationship is the difference between commodity and value.
In today’s world, you have to strive for the value.
You have to push for the chance to go deeper into the issue.
You have to be confident in your ability to offer higher levels of value.
In the modern world, transactions are cheaper and easier to come by.
But what we really need are the people that are invested in the relationships.
Which do you prefer?