How can we implement "value selling"

My BU deals with a commodity product day in and day out. Although we do as much as we can to differentiate ourselves, customers including the sales themselves take it as a transactional product. The main theme sometimes the only theme is price.

BU invests a lot of money trying to implant the value selling concept into sales head. But in reality, how much the concept is incorporated into our daily sales activity? I guess less than 10%.

I don't want to blame sales. As always, anything in our life has two sides. On the one side, sales might to work hard enough to implement the value selling; on the other side, do they have to do so or are they able to do so? The market is Oligopoly with few players. As the market leader, we have our advantage to penetrate the market without paying too much effort. In addition, customers don't appreciate the value selling so heartedly. The purchases manager only cares to get the product at possibly lowest price.

The pictures looks quite gloomy. But the answer is not hard to grasp. First, from sales end, they must be trained to use the value selling concept continuously and in long term. It would never be possible to change customer's paradigm overtime. The idea needs to be percolate into their heads little by little. It takes time and stamina to do so. But it will be paid off once the idea is getting through. Second, we need to build the "value selling" into the target setting and performance evaluation. The one who is doing it should get rewarded, who is not should get "punished".

People's mindset is always hard to change. Not mention to change both sales and customer's mindset. The right incentive and management force must be in place to make it happen.

Weather from financial crisis

It has been a long time since I posted my last blog. Although moving to Beijing made a big change of my life pace, it is not the only reason I drop the blogging. Simple put, blog is out of my mind and I am pushed around by all kinds of meetings,tasks and projects, therefore, it is not my focus anymore.

Today,I received a phone call from an old time friends, she told me that she got the notification to leave her job by the end of March. She also mentioned that she read some of my blogs. In combination of the two, I re-start my blog, for how long? I have no idea.

Back to topic, in the past months, not a day passes without bad news coming up. If you are a frequent Financial Times reader, you can see all the headlines are gloomy. Job cutting, bail-out, fund-injection, bankrupcy etc. In our company, we also receive a vague message which implies the overall cost cut by 5%.

I have heard about the big scale lay-offs in China, Like Intel, Dell, Sony and so on. My company's top management was also reshuffled. 4 our of 7 management board members left the company. Although CEO tried to comfort the employees with the statement of no play to cut the workforce. However, employees are very realistic and nobody would take that as a parachute to get off this unprecedent crisis.

What we can about it? Almost nothing. It is not the prolblem we create and it is not a problem we can avoid either. The surviving tactics I can conceieve is first, cut your expense, don't make any big spending under such a circumstance, like buying a house or a car. Cash is the king, you never know whether tomorrow you will have have the income you get today. Second, be a nice and dedicate employee. Don't arrive late and leave early. Become the last one your boss can think of to be fired. Securing your job is your top priority. Third, if you already lost your job, don't get devastated. Pull yourself together, you will have someone counting on you. On the one hand, unremittingly to make yourself re-employeed. In the meanwhile, you can also try to get some new skill training. So when the economy bounce back, you are prepared to snatch the new chance.