Shadrack Wanjohi recently published a great overview of value-based selling on the HubSpot Sales Blog: 7 Key Principles of Value-Based Selling — What Experts Have to Say. His article highlights the essential mindset shift from “what we sell” to “how we help.” It’s a highly recommended read and provides a strong foundation for anyone looking to understand the basics of this approach.
But let’s take the conversation one step further.
Because in complex B2B sales, value-based selling isn’t just about building trust and resonating with the customer—it’s about translating that resonance into concrete, measurable business outcomes.
From High-Level Benefits to Measurable Value
Too often, sales teams stop at high-level benefits:
- “We help you save time.”
- “Our solution reduces risk.”
- “You’ll gain more transparency.”
While true, these are generic statements. They rarely drive executive-level decision-making because they don’t connect to what matters most: business objectives and KPIs.
The leap that top-performing sales teams make is converting benefits into metrics:
- “We reduce manual processing time by 25%, enabling a productivity gain equal to €1.2M annually.”
- “We lower compliance incidents by 40%, reducing regulatory fines and associated reputational risk.”
- “We improve order accuracy by 15%, directly boosting customer satisfaction scores and repeat business.”
This shift—from abstract to tangible—changes the conversation. The buyer no longer sees a feature; they see a business case.
Why Value-Based Selling is Superior
Shadrack’s framework of Resonate, Differentiate, Substantiate is an excellent guide. Yet, the superiority of value-based selling lies in how far it can go beyond traditional solution selling:
- Alignment with Strategic Objectives
Value-based selling maps the solution not just to pain points, but to board-level priorities: growth, margin improvement, risk mitigation, or regulatory compliance. - Quantification of Impact
Instead of promising “better outcomes,” it assigns financial value, operational KPIs, or risk metrics to each improvement. This creates a quantifiable ROI story that justifies investment. - Shared Success Metrics
Buyer and seller co-define what success looks like—be it revenue uplift, churn reduction, or efficiency gains. This shared scorecard builds accountability and long-term trust. - Stronger Differentiation
Features can be copied, but measurable business outcomes tied to your unique expertise cannot. That’s the true differentiator.
Practical Example: Turning Features into KPIs
- Feature: Automated reporting
- Benefit: Saves time
- Value Objective: Reduce monthly reporting time from 5 days to 1
- KPI: Finance team capacity redeployed, equivalent to €250K in productivity per year
This is the path from “nice to have” to “must have, with proven business impact.”
The Takeaway
Shadrack’s blog makes a crucial point: sales must move from pushing products to creating value. The next level is ensuring that value is defined, quantified, and measured.
When sales professionals adopt this discipline, they elevate conversations from “what our product does” to “what your business gains.”
That is where decisions are made, budgets are unlocked, and long-term partnerships are built.
Read Shadrack Wanjohi’s full article here for a solid introduction: HubSpot Blog – 7 Key Principles of Value-Based Selling.