In this episode of The Buyer’s World LinkedIn Live, host Hannah Ajikawo is joined by Sagar Sahler, co-founder and CEO of Foresight. They delve into the concept of perceived value and how to build a go-to-market blueprint that prioritizes customer value. The conversation highlights the importance of understanding and measuring value from the customer’s perspective throughout the buyer’s journey.

Sagar Sahler's Background

Sagar shares his journey from starting at a financial services startup competing with Salesforce to co-founding Foresight. His experiences in implementation and pre-sales roles helped him realize the critical importance of understanding and delivering customer value. At Foresight, Sagar and his team provide a framework and technology to help organizations operationalize a customer value-centric approach in both pre-sales and post-sales processes.

Defining Perceived Value

Sagar explains perceived value as the customer’s self-reported benefits from using a solution. He breaks it down into three components:

1. Role of the Individual: Understanding the decision-maker, champion, or end user.

2. Jobs to be Done: The specific tasks or objectives the customer is trying to accomplish.

3. Outcome: The tangible results or benefits the customer experiences from the solution.

He emphasizes that value can only be defined by the customer and must be measured consistently over time.

Systematic and Orchestrated Approach

Hannah and Sagar discuss the need for a systematic and orchestrated approach to understanding and delivering value. Key points include:

• Regular Value Assessments: Conducting assessments at key points in the customer journey (pre-sales, onboarding, post-sales) to measure perceived value.

• Training and Enablement: Upskilling sales and customer success teams to have value-centric conversations.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring all go-to-market teams (sales, customer success, account management) are aligned on delivering and measuring customer value.

Leveraging Post-Sales Insights

The conversation highlights the importance of leveraging insights from post-sales teams to inform pre-sales strategies. Sagar points out that post-sales teams often have valuable knowledge about customer experiences and challenges, which can be used to enhance training programs and improve overall customer engagement.

Realizing and Measuring Value

To realize and measure value effectively, organizations should:

1. Define Value: Establish a clear and aligned internal definition of what value means for the customer.

2. Conduct Litmus Tests: Assess the organization’s current ability to deliver and measure value.

3. Implement a Value Framework: Adopt a structured approach to measure, track, and forecast customer value.

4. Continuous Check-ins: Regularly check in with customers to ensure alignment on value and adjust strategies as needed.

Real-World Examples and Challenges

Sagar shares examples of organizations struggling with transitioning from product-centric to value-centric approaches. He discusses the challenges of upskilling teams and the importance of creating an insurance policy to mitigate risks and ensure ongoing customer satisfaction.

Actionable Takeaways

1. Develop a Value Blueprint: Define what value means for your organization and customers. Ensure alignment across all teams.

2. Regular Assessments: Conduct value assessments at key stages of the customer journey to measure and track perceived value.

3. Upskill Teams: Invest in training programs that enable sales and customer success teams to have value-centric conversations.

4. Leverage Post-Sales Insights: Use insights from post-sales teams to inform pre-sales strategies and enhance customer engagement.

5. Create an Insurance Policy: Continuously check in with customers to ensure they are receiving the promised value and adjust strategies as needed.