Many people mistakenly interchange “money” and “value.” However, value comes first. Value is the relative worth of a service or product. Value is always from the perspective of the buyer. Our guest today is Bob Berg, Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Bob has written many books on sales and his perspective on value is critically important for leaders. Bob clarifies what he means with the quote “money is an echo of value.”
Target Audience: Bob serves the entrepreneurial market. Specifically, he targets those who love what they do, understand what they provide but are also uncomfortable with the sales process. They may not be completely aware of their worth. Bob aims to helps them develop better communication skills. Inevitably he then shows them how to make more money and serve more people.
“Value is always in the eyes of the beholder” – Bob Burg
By helping his clients to identify their value, they can then more effectively communicate it to their prospects so that they understand it too. According to Bob, value must be defined first. Then you can place it in relation to price (which is a finite thing). Value is relative. Value is perceptual. And it’s actually the buyer who decides the worth and value of your offer – not you.
Effectively communicating the value you bring is key. How do you convey the high value you bring so they can do business with you? Creating a solid, trusting relationship first is important. It is also crucial to collect many, many testimonial endorsements and make them as specific as possible from a number of different people so that there are those relatable to your prospects. You basically want to become an authority in your field by having OTHER people call you an expert.
“In order to influence correctly, it must tie into what that other person wants” – Bob Burg
When you ask for references, it’s really important that you are mindful about how you ask people for it. Help them by providing a specific context for people. Make the context so specific that they are able to funnel their entire world into smaller one so that they can identify those people which also matches your niche. The more specific you can be, the better.
Bob’s newest book – Adversaries into Allies is all about how to get the results you want with prospects while making them feel genuinely good about themselves, the situation and you. When you’ve achieved this, you’ll feel a high level of confidence and will be more attractive to others. Bob adds it also makes life less stressful and more profitable.
“Communicate how it will be of great value to them. Business will be the result of doing so effectively.” – Bob Burg
What needs to be understood is that ultimately, people do things for their own reasons – not our reasons. The best influencers always ask themselves questions such as: “How is what I am asking this person to do align with their goals, wants, their needs, desires; How is what i am asking them to do align with their values?” When this is executed from a place of authenticity and not manipulation we come a lot closer to that “buy-in.”
Bob admits that in order to attain this new perspective on leadership, he had to realize that he didn’t have all the answers and that he didn’t need to. He realized there were and are plenty of people around him who know or can help. Bob is comfortable in that this is a continuous growing process.
“Money is an echo of value” – Bob Burg
In this episode we’ll cover:
- The difference between Price and Value
- Why you must be clear on your value
- How to effectively communicate your value
- Why it’s important to understand what your prospect wants
- What Bob attained when he gave up trying to know all the answers
- How coming from an authentic place will get you closer to a sale
Resources and Links
Practical and Actionable
Move from an “I” or “me” and shift your focus to the “other.” Your ability to more abundantly place other people’s interest first (not in a doormat/martyr type of way) the more you can make your win about the other person’s win- which is bringing them to the value they want. This will determine your level of influence and success.
