Who does the selling inside your business?
If you’re involved, your business will be less valuable than if you weren’t. Investors and acquirers are reluctant to invest in a business where the owner is the rainmaker of the company.
The team at the Value Builder System™ analyzed more than 70,000 businesses, and the data revealed that companies that can sustain a three-month absence of the owner are more than twice as likely to receive a premium acquisition offer (defined as greater than 6x pre-tax profit). In other words, to maximize the value of your business, you need to get other people doing the selling.
Easier said than done.
Why Employees Can’t Sell Like the Owner
Unsurprisingly, most young recruits struggle to sell at the same level as the founder. In addition to having experience on your side, you also have a built-in advantage over your young reps based on your job title.
Founders often sell by offering customers a great experience, which is believable coming from you. After all, you are the expert in your industry, you control who works on each project, and, if something goes wrong, a customer always knows they can call you to fix it.
When junior salespeople try to use your company’s reputation for customer service as a selling point, it often sounds like a hollow promise. That’s why Matt Dixon, the author of The Challenger Sale, suggests you arm new salespeople with the answer to a simple question: “Why should your prospects buy from you?”
There’s just one catch. The answer can’t have anything to do with the customer service you provide.
To figure out your answer, keep in mind that a great selling proposition includes three elements. It must be something that:
- customers care about;
- makes you different; and
- is believable.
Arm your salespeople with a compelling point of differentiation, and you’ll have given them the raw material they need to sell without you, making your business more valuable in the process.
