Jun 24, 2019
Why you have to check out today’s podcast:
- Learn more of the meaning of value
- Discover the two best-selling pricing and negotiation books that B2B companies are raving for
- Know the differentiators that will drive prices
Reed Holden is an author, keynote speaker, coach, and founder of Holden Advisors– a team of seasoned practitioners that provides B2B pricing and negotiating advice to clients builds go-to-market strategies.
Reed specializes in helping sales teams avoid the procurement buzz saw by implementing strategies to recognize and counter margin-reducing buying tactics.
Today’s episode steers on the definition of value and the different methods to analyze it. Know how services, products, and other differentiators will drive prices, especially if there is heavy competition. Reed will tell more of his expertise in B2B pricing through his must-read and thought-leading books – Negotiating with Backbone and Pricing with Confidence.
“Conversations with procurement people are like playing a game of poker. And the way to win the game is by bluffing. And unless you’re prepared to play the game back, you’re going to lose each and every time.”
– Reed Holden
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Topics Covered:
02:02 – Reed back story as a luminary in Pricing
03:34 – The definition of “value” according to Reed
04:52 – Various analysis made when value is in use
06:36 – The value in using ROI calculators
08:57 – Why focusing on the value of a product will increase the likelihood that customers will buy it
10:36 – Telling about the Negotiating with Backbone book and why you should read it
13:35 – How Reed coaches a company about value and shares the related contents in his Pricing with Confidence book
15:38 – Narrating a short story inside this book about a company selling dirt
21:10 – How other services and other differentiators will drive prices if there is substantial price competition of the product
27:12 – A piece of pricing advice from Reed – “Keep it simple.”
Key Takeaways:
“In the world of B2B, we have this amazing advantage that says, if you can’t put a dollar value on a feature, on a product, as in how much money your customer is going to make or save because they bought your product, no one’s going to buy your product.” – Mark Stiving
“As we get into sales teams in organizations that had deployed Roi calculators, one of the biggest problems that organizations have is the salespeople don’t use them. And if the sales people don’t use them, then certainly customers don’t see them.” – Reed Holden
“Nobody buys a product feature. People only value of the product and so they teach their salespeople about the product and the product features. I’m talking about the product and the product features and no wonder we never capture value is this.” – Mark Stiving
Resources mentioned:
- Negotiating with Backbone
- Pricing with Confidence
- The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing – Second Edition
- The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing
– Third Edition
Connect with Reed Holden:
Connect with Mark Stiving