Control the Value Proposition
One of the most important parts of any deal is the value proposition. A value proposition explains why a customer should choose your product or service. It is not only about price. It is about the total worth that your company brings to the buyer’s world. But here’s the problem: if you don’t set the value, the buyer will. And most of the time, what they come up with will not reflect the real value of what you offer. It will likely be based on price alone, or worse, on wrong assumptions. This is why the seller must always take charge of defining, presenting, and reinforcing the value proposition.
Buyers may act like they want control. But what they desire most is clarity and confidence. That only comes when the seller explains why their offer is different, better, and worth it. Without that, the buyer fills in the blanks. And they default to the price because it levels the playing field. When value is unclear, decisions are based on cost alone. That leads to shallow comparisons. For sellers, this is lost opportunity. All because we failed to differentiate our advantages. If you don't define your value, you become one of many options instead of the clear and obvious choice.
When you control the value conversation, you shape the story. You get to frame the offer in a way that highlights what matters most to the customer. It could be that your prospect needs to reduce risk. It could be the need to save time. Most are interested in increasing revenue. Some of the boldest prospects will be willing to unlock new opportunities. But this is your chance to help the buyer see what they may not see on their own. This act of guiding the conversation doesn’t take away the buyer’s power. It actually empowers them to make a better choice. They will be armed with this power. They will understand, with clarity, what they are choosing.
When we avoid defining value, we risk being viewed as a commodity. And in commodity markets, the lowest price wins. The Harvard Business Review says, “Companies that compete on price alone lose 24% more deals. That is when compared to those who compete on differentiated value.” That means value-driven sellers win more often. But it doesn’t happen by accident. It happens through deliberate effort. It happens by crafting a message that connects your product to the specific problems or goals they have. Sellers must paint a picture of what success looks like. And how this success is achieved using their offer. You have to prove your utility.
Buyers don’t always know what to ask for. Many don’t understand what they need. They know they have a pain point. They may even know what result they want. But they usually don’t know how to get there. That’s where the best sellers step in. And they don't launch into more features or discounts. They lead with market intelligence and consumer insight. They help clarify the path. They introduce new thinking. And they build trust by showing how their product solves not only the surface problem, but the deeper challenge. This is called solution selling. And it only works when the seller is in charge of driving the value conversation.
According to McKinsey & Company, “70% of B2B buyers will define their needs before engaging with a sales rep.” That means by the time a seller shows up, the buyer already has ideas in their head. But here’s the catch: those ideas may be wrong. They could be incomplete. Or the decision is based on old information. If the seller does not reframe the conversation, this is a misstep. If we go along with the buyer’s current beliefs and go along with this conventional wisdom, we will miss the chance to shift perception. And shifting perception is key. Because value is not found in what the product does, but in what the product means to that buyer, at that moment. It is about the utility of the offer.
The Challenger Sale is a well-known study by Gartner. Here we find top-performing salespeople do not just build relationships. We challenge our clients to think a little different. It often requires rowing against the tide. We teach. We tailor. We take control of the sales conversation. And one of the most important things we do is reframe the value of what we are selling. When you control the frame, you control how the buyer sees the solution. And when the buyer sees the solution with clarity, price becomes a smaller part of the equation. You move from being a cost to being an investment.
When you are out in the market, meeting with business owners and decision-makers, the clock is ticking. You have a limited window to make your case. If you waste that time talking about features, or trying to be liked, or letting the buyer set the tone, you’re giving up the most powerful advantage you have. And that is the chance to define what success looks like. And define how your solution gets them there. Selling is not only about asking questions. It’s about leading with purpose.
There’s another risk in letting the buyer define the value. They may compare you to solutions that are not even in the same category. This is called a false equivalency. If you sell a high-performance, high-impact solution and the buyer compares it to a cheap spot package, they are missing the context. And if you let that comparison stand, you’re not only losing the sale, but you are also devaluing your entire offering. Your job is to make sure the buyer is using the right lens. That means educating them, guiding them, and anchoring the value in the right outcomes.
Warren Buffett claimed, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” Many buyers confuse the two. They think paying less means they are saving money. But that’s only true if the cheaper option delivers the same value. And it usually doesn’t. If a seller can’t explain what the buyer is getting, the long-term benefit, the hidden risk, the added support, then the only thing left to judge is price. That’s why sellers must take ownership of the value conversation. It’s not optional. It’s essential.
Buyers don’t trust every seller. In fact, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, only 44% of people trust salespeople in general. But trust increases when the seller is seen as knowledgeable, honest, and helpful. When you communicate value and do it in a way that speaks to the buyer’s needs, you earn credibility. And credibility is the seed of trust. Trusted sellers don’t need to lower their prices. They don’t have to compete on cost. They win because they move themselves into the partner position. The rest are seen as peddlers.
Think about how often buyers delay decisions. It’s not because they’re lazy. It’s because they’re unsure. Confusion creates hesitation. And hesitation kills deals. If you’re not leading the value conversation, you’re leaving space for doubt. And doubt turns into delay. The clearer the value, the faster the decision. That’s why smart sellers front-load the conversation with clarity. They expect objections. They show proof. They tell stories. They walk the buyer through what success looks like. They eliminate the gray area, so the buyer can move forward with confidence.
Value is personal. Value is selfish. What matters to one buyer might not matter to another. This is why canned pitches fail. Every client has a different set of needs, goals, risks, and priorities. The best sellers don’t talk first. They listen. They gather insight. Then they customize how they frame the value. Not by changing the product, but by changing the message. Value is not one-size-fits-all. It’s one-size-fits-this-client. Controlling the value means knowing what matters most to the person across the table.
This customization is where true selling happens. It is not the scripted line or the glossy brochure. It is in the way a seller interprets a buyer’s needs and repositions their solution to match. It is strategic communication. It is empathy. It is a professional judgment. And it is also the difference between winning and losing deals in a competitive selling space. When a buyer feels that a seller understands them better than they understand themselves, they stop comparing prices. They start seeing real value.
Think of the buyer’s brain as a crowded room. There are dozens of competing thoughts. There are internal pressures. They have their own deadlines. There are conflicting opinions in their own buildings. You must also factor in past failures. And because of this the buyer often has fears about making the wrong decision. That is the room where your proposal goes to live. If you don’t define exactly where it fits and what problem it solves, your offer gets drowned out by the noise. But if you arrive with clarity, certainty, and a meaningful definition of value, you can cut through the noise. You become the answer instead of another question.
Too often, sellers try to win by being agreeable. We say yes to everything. We want to avoid tough conversations. We assume that a smooth meeting equals progress. But real progress doesn’t come from being agreeable. It comes from being useful. And usefulness means helping the buyer make a better decision. That requires courage. It means pushing back when the buyer wants to compare you, ever unfairly. It means explaining why your solution costs more, and why it’s worth it. And it means owning the value proposition, even when it's uncomfortable. It means trading on the utility of what you sell.
In his book Influence, Dr. Robert Cialdini explains that authority is one of the strongest drivers of persuasion. People are more likely to follow the lead of someone who seems to know what they are talking about. For us, controlling the value proposition is one of the most effective ways to show authority. When you confidently lay out what makes your offer valuable you start winning. When you back it up with evidence, stories, and insight, you take on the role of a trusted advisor. And advisors win more deals than order takers.
Let’s not forget the role of storytelling. A good value proposition isn’t a list of features. It’s a story of transformation. It’s a before-and-after picture. It helps the buyer imagine what their business, their team, or their results will look like after they make the investment. When sellers control the story, they can highlight the pain avoided. We can talk about the gains achieved. We can show a glimpse of a future that feels possible. But this doesn’t happen if you don't control the narrative. What happens is the buyer writes their own ending. And this ending doesn't include you or your solution. They will leave out all the detail that matter, to avoid anything uncomfortable.
Now consider the cost of silence. When you let the buyer talk 90% of the time and never reframe or redirect the conversation, you are not being a good listener. You are being passive. Listening is only powerful when followed by action. When you listen closely, then reposition the offer around the buyer’s true priorities, you become valuable. A seller who listens and nods and offers only the price at the end becomes forgettable. Silence in the value conversation is not a strategy. It’s surrender.
In longer sales cycles, one pitch won’t carry the deal. Value must be reinforced again and again. Decision-makers shift, budgets change, and priorities evolve. If you aren't consistently restating the value tied to outcomes, not your features, the deal weakens. Buyers need reminders of why your solution matters at every step. Some fear being pushy, but persuasion isn’t pressure; it’s clarity. Own the value proposition. This will help your buyer connect the emotion and logic of the deal. Decisions will be made to impact their person and their company. Salesforce reports that 78% of business buyers prefer vendors who understand their needs. But understanding isn’t only having the right product. It is about communicating the right value. HubSpot found that top sales teams are 2.8 times more likely to use both content and conversation to educate buyers. That education starts with a strong value proposition. Defining value is thought leadership when it comes to your customers. If you don’t lead the buyer to clarity, someone else will lead them in a different direction.
When you own the value proposition, everything changes. You will stop justifying your price. You will stop chasing poor fits. You will focus on the right kinds of buyers. This shift drives better conversions, larger deals, and stronger loyalty. The buyer’s role is to decide. The seller’s role is to guide that decision by showing what’s at stake, what’s possible, and why it matters. And doing so with an expert's clarity and simplicity. If you don’t define the value, the buyer will. And they will get it wrong. Personalize the solution. Customize the narrative. Impact the outcome with your utility.
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