Anja van der Wurff: You have to change it all around´

Selling value is one of the most difficult activities for sales people. Most often products are being sold based on the price of the production cost, instead of the value of the product for the customer. In the upcoming masterclass organized by IFFI, Value-Based Selling in a B2B context will be the main topic. 

The masterclass, consisting of three modules, will be facilitated by Anja van der Wurff. She is an experienced trainer of sales teams working in international B2B environments as well as a partner at Kenneth Smit. Before switching to becoming an entrepreneur six years ago, she worked for about twenty-five years in various sales and management positions within FrieslandCampina. Her experience in the field complements her current job as a business trainer.

The training is hands-on and focuses on improving commercial skills. No big and broad lectures on theory are given, but practical skills are developed to build the relationship with the customer. Ultimately to find out their needs and potential value for your products and services. Anja knows from practical experience of selling food ingredients what it is like to become a trusted adviser helping companies and managers to achieve their goals together.

One of the take-aways of this masterclass is to move from the ‘cost plus pricing’ strategy to finding out the specific value for the specific customer. Instead of focusing on your own product’s Unique Selling Points, find out the “Unique Buying Reasons” by asking the customer about their company. ‘You have to change it around,’ says Anja, ‘and build a relationship with the customer.’ Ask them what is important to them, what are their long term goals. This varies per customer and per situation. Because the value of a product is unique per individual case, it is not an easy task to find out and it requires commercial skills.

During the Value Based Selling masterclass, which will take place on three consecutive mornings from the 16th to the 18th of June, participants will learn from Anja’s expertise and from each other, by sharing their experiences with value based selling.

Anja van der Wurff, partner of Kenneth Smit