How do you best elevate your conversations with decision makers so they are more engaging and effective?

In this episode of the Value Coffee Talk podcast, Thomas Pisello and April Morley interview Sridhar Parameshwaran, the head of value engineering at Certinia.

They discuss the importance of value enablement throughout the customer lifecycle and how the 4-Es can be used to elevate conversations, expand deal size, expedite the sales cycle, and establish buy-in. 

Sridhar emphasizes the need for value teams to go beyond creating business cases and focus on storytelling and creating a compelling narrative. He also highlights the role of marketing, inside sales, and customer success teams in leveraging value. The episode concludes with a discussion on the importance of having a value charter and executive support in driving value programs.

Takeaways

• Value enablement should be present throughout the entire customer lifecycle, not just in the sales process.
• Elevating conversations with decision makers by focusing on outcomes and aligning with their strategic objectives is crucial.
• Expanding the deal involves discovering new challenges and pain points and offering additional solutions.
• Expedite the sales cycle by creating a common understanding of value across all decision makers.
• Establishing buy-in is important for socializing the value proposition internally within the customer organization.
• Value teams should go beyond calculators and spreadsheets and focus on storytelling and creating a compelling narrative.
• Value should be integrated into marketing, inside sales, and customer success teams.
• Having a value charter and executive support are key to the success of value programs.

Soundites

"If you use value in the right way, not just at the later stages, but across the sales cycle, it creates what I term as the 4E effect."

"If people can understand the value proposition, then socializing it internally becomes that much easier."

"Value can be leveraged with very high impact to build pipeline, to support deal closure, and to support post sales and enable a very rich customer experience."

Chapters

00:00     Introduction

05:17     Elevating Conversations with Decision Makers

11:39     Going Beyond Calculators: The Power of Storytelling

16:17     The Importance of a Value Charter and Executive Support