How Trusted Advisors Discuss Price, Value, and Budget

Author:

Keith Reznick

According to Ian Brodie, who runs The Rainmaker Academy in Cheshire, England, “It’s the holy grail of Professional Services – to become a trusted advisor to your senior clients – to be viewed and sought out as a source of valued advice and support. The benefits from a business development perspective are clear: the professional, who is the first port of call for a client with a business problem, is in a tremendous position to help shape that client’s thinking, to build a deep understanding of the situation, and to establish strong credibility through the discussions. In other words, they will be in position (of strong competitive advantage) to win any related work.” Is Brodie referring to internal customers, external customers, or both?

Both trade show/event managers and industry suppliers have to put a great deal of effort into nurturing relationships with customers to gain their trust and support, and earn the right to be perceived as a trusted advisor. In their book The Trusted Advisor, authors David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford explain that “The key to professional success is the ability to earn the trust and confidence of clients. It is impossible to be a trusted advisor without a strong relationship with the other party. At the heart of being a trusted advisor is a focus on the other person, rather than one’s self.” When show/event managers focus primarily on a show’s success or the success of their program, they can inadvertently convey to their internal customers: “I need this from you so that I will be successful or so that this show will be successful.” When account managers focus more on making the sale than on helping their customers succeed, they can inadvertently convey: “I need the sale more than you need the solution.”

When and how you discuss price, value, and budget with customers will influence how you are perceived, when and how decisions are made, and ultimately, your relationship with your customers. Trade show/event managers who are perceived as tactical implementers rarely discuss price, value, and budget with their customers. Suppliers who are perceived as vendors talk about price because it’s often all they try to differentiate. When all involved focus on this show or this decision, the sharing of information is minimal, trust is limited and the relationship is transactional.

People who have earned the right to be perceived as trusted advisors – the ‘go to resource’ in their company, industry, or both – focus on their customers’ short- and long-term success. They have learned that it is only through their customers’ long-term success that they can be successful. Trusted advisors inform, educate, and keep their customers current. They ask both tactical and strategic questions and develop insight by really listening to what their customers say (and how they say it). Their responses to customer’s questions and comments foster ongoing dialogue. Trusted advisors create options for mutual gain and discuss the pros, cons, costs, and potential value of each option. They guide their customers’ decision making process and then track, measure and evaluate results and discuss the data with customers to continuously improve.

Discussing Price and Value

According to Warren Buffet, widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” Here are a couple of suggestions for discussing price:

Manage expectations – As early as possible and appropriate, manage your customers’ expectations about: (1) their overall investment in a show or event; or (2) the price of your products and/or services.
Provide a price range (price ‘conditioning’) – If your customer asks about price but you can not provide it until you’ have discussed everything that needs to be discussed, provide a ‘price range’ and explain that you will provide specific pricing information as soon as you possibly can. Price ‘conditioning’ helps the customer understand the range into which your price will fall.
Price shoppers and bundling – It is time-consuming and aggravating to deal with price shoppers. If the opportunity cost of your time is more valuable than the revenue to be generated, walk away. Gracefully. Professionally. If you can’t walk away, bundle as many things as possible and price them as a bundle to reduce the number of items the price shopper will want to discuss.
Put price in perspective – price is often secondary to actual and perceived value (especially at the executive level).

One of the most difficult lessons a trusted advisor must learn is that they do not define value – their customers do. No matter how much value the trusted advisor attaches to “it,” no matter how great the trusted advisor’s last ten customers thought “it” was, if the person with whom the trusted advisor is in dialogue with doesn’t think that “it” is of value, it’s not. Other things will be of value.

Asking good open-ended questions and really listening to your customers’ responses will help you develop insight into their definition of value:.

When discussing value with your customers, it is important to keep in mind that there are several types of value including:

Implied Value – This type of value is suggested but not guaranteed.
Perceived Value – “The buyer’s perception is the seller’s reality.” As appropriate, ask your prospects to describe (and quantify) what they perceive to be of value. Their answers should be incorporated into your value proposition.
Actual Value – This type of value is derived from calculations you and/or your customers perform to determine the actual financial impact of your proposed solution.
Personal and Professional Value – Motivation comes from both personal and professional goals and needs. Anything that the buyer perceives to be of value will have that value because it supports either his or her personal or professional needs, or both.

If you take the time to ask your prospects and customers what they perceive to be most importance and of the greatest value, more often than not they will tell you. Do not assume you know – ask questions. Their answers will either surprise you or confirm what you thought prior to asking the question(s). There is a great deal of truth in the expression “Value is in the eyes of the beholder.” The more insight you develop into each customer’s definition of value, the more value you'll be able to provide.

Discussing Budget

Customers share more information with trusted advisors who are often asked to participate in the strategic planning and budgetary processes. The insights they develop enable them to make better recommendations and provide more quantifiable value. Even though trusted advisors have insights into budget, most recognize that budget, like price, should be discussed as early as possible. If budget questions are not asked, how can viable solutions be suggested, or worse, proposed? Here are a few questions you might ask regarding your customer’s budget:

“The options we identify and suggest will depend, in large part, on the budget you have allocated for the overall project. What guidance can you provide us with?”
“What financial resources have been allocated for the show?”
“What is you budget range for this project?”

It is important to continue to ask about the budget throughout the decision making process because customers expect it and because things change (i.e. technology, marketplace, competition, regulatory, etc.). The more on top of change you are, the more you will be able to adjust accordingly.

Developing trust and earning the right to be perceived as a trusted advisor takes time. Discussing price, value, and budget with customers as appropriate throughout the decision making process will help you guide your customers to better options, decisions and results. Each win for your customer will move you incrementally closer to becoming, or solidifying your role as their go to person for face-to-face marketing advice.

Keith Reznick is a sales trainer and president of Creative Training Solutions. He may be reached at 856-784-3466 or keith@creativetraining.com. Visit www.creativetraining.com to learn more about helping your internal and external customers succeed and visit www.tradeshowadvantage.com to learn more about how to help your exhibit staff differentiate your company through superior service at your next show or event.

Keith and Ed Jones recently created two important training modules titled "The Trade Show Advantage™ Online Exhibit Staff Orientation" and "The Trade Show Advantage™ Pre-Show Meeting Kit" which were reviewed by Jose Sancen in an article titled Should On-line Training Completely Replace a Pre-Show Briefing? in AboutFace, Vol 1, No 10.