Sales leaders have long wanted to answer one vital question: What separates top performers from low performers in the field? 

Does it come down to lead quantity? Do some reps get more business-friendly territories? 

Generally speaking, the answer is no. Companies strive to create equal territories and distribute leads evenly across the field. 

Do high performers get to sell the better products? Are they trained on a better sales process than low performers? Do they have access to better automation technology? 

Again, probably not. Everyone on the same team typically sells the exact same portfolio of products, and most companies take pains to standardize their sales process and technology. 

So what actually separates the top performers from everyone else? Well, according to analyst firm Sirius Decisions, your reps’ success hinges on their capability to articulate value in front of prospects and customers in the field. In fact, Sirius found that 71 percent of leaders identified value conversations as the most important factor in reaching their revenue targets. 

Articulating Value: Defining the Terms 

As we know, “articulating value” is a concept that needs sharp definition. After all, value can seem like a nebulous idea, and if your salespeople are going to improve at communicating it, it needs be made more concrete and addressable. In essence, articulating value comes down to how proficient your reps are at linking your solutions to your prospects’ business problems. 

In every buying cycle, there are really three value conversation “moments of truth” that your reps must master to get buyers to say “yes” to making a change and “yes” to choosing you. In addition, to articulate value throughout the buying cycle, your reps need to be great at all three of them. Because when everything else is the same, the best stories, told the best way, will win every time. 

Moment #1: Create Value (Differentiation) 

Objective: Defeat the status quo bias and differentiate your solution. 

We’ve heard a lot of hype about how buyers are mostly done with their journey by the time they engage a sales rep. But just because a prospect meets with your rep doesn’t necessarily mean he or she has committed to doing something different. In all likelihood, your rep still needs to tell a compelling “why change” story that convinces them to leave their status quo. That means your rep has to be adept at messaging in the language of change management. In other words, they have to be equipped with the tools and skills to show prospects how their current situation is unsafe, and how doing something different can resolve the challenges they can’t avoid by staying the course. 

By addressing the “why change” question first, your reps position themselves to establish the buying vision—and thus create more value in the mind’s eye of prospects. More importantly, by defeating the status quo first, you give yourself the best chance to win the “why you” conversation to follow. 

Moment #2: Elevate Value (Justification) 

Objective: Secure executive buy-in and build a business impact model. 

For the second value conversation, reps must have the business acumen and high-level industry knowledge to go toe-to-toe with executives, speaking to the business-oriented concerns that matter to them. In this type of environment, standard product presentations aren’t going to cut it. Research from analyst firm IDC validates just how much the high-level business conversation matters in the executive arena. IDC also found that 80 percent of business-to-business decisions are made by decision makers with vice president or higher titles. 

It’s for that reason that your reps have to deliver value propositions that demonstrate the business impact of your solution, free up the budget for an opportunity, and justify customer investment. 

Moment #3: Capture Value (Maximization) 

Objective: Protect margins and maintain deal size. 

When it comes to sales negotiations, a common misconception is that discounting only happens when purchasing starts demanding a lower price. In reality, that’s not the case. Your reps have actually been negotiating all throughout the buying cycle, and many of the things you’ve been giving away to move the deal forward—early price concessions, trial runs, meetings, and so forth—have been leaking value from your deal all along. 

To stop these value leaks from eroding your pricing, your salespeople need to focus on exchanging value throughout the buying cycle rather than giving it away. Reps should try to identify and execute “pivotal agreements.” Basically, these are milestones you reach throughout the buying cycle, which you can then use as leverage for preserving the value of your deals. This approach ensures your reps will maintain and even enhance value throughout your negotiations. 

These three value conversation “moments of truth” are best thought of as distinct but complementary. They’re distinct because they have separate objectives and outcomes. But they’re complementary in that the skills necessary to thrive in each will ensure that your reps articulate value from the first sales conversation to close.