Memecast #83: Queen of Diamonds: Inherent Value and Relative Value

This one is the Queen of Diamonds from the Selling Value card deck.

It's true, buyers are using inherent value or relative value. This is how they think about the decision that they're making. And salespeople's job should be to help buyers make that decision so we should understand what's the decision a buyer is making. What's the information they need at any given point in time?

Well, inherent value is the value of solving a problem. Do I need to buy a new car? Do I need to buy a guitar? Do I need to buy a new dishwasher, a new refrigerator? Do I need to buy a pencil, a new software application? This is the inherent value, what's the value of solving the problem?

So why might I need a new car? Because I just crashed mine. Or it just broke down. Or it's getting old. Or I just got a job where my image is really important. These are all great reasons why I might need to buy a new car. And these are inherent value. Are we thinking about the way our buyers are thinking through do I need to buy one of these or not?

Oftentimes after they said yes, then they go into relative value. And relative value is, how is your product better than a competitor's product, or different than a competitor's product? What does it do? How does it behave? So, we start thinking of relative value as comparing different alternatives.

Our buyers are truly thinking in those two different ways even if they can't articulate it. As salespeople, we should make sure we understand that so we can help buyers make the best decision for them and for us.

We hope you enjoyed this memecast. This is also an example of how Pricing Table Topics works. Grab a deck of our cards, pull a random card, read the saying, then talk for one to two minutes about what that card says. This will improve your understanding and more importantly, your ability to communicate important concepts around value.

If you have any questions or feedback, please email me mark@impactpricing.com.

Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• Email: mark@impactpricing.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/