I came across this pearl of wisdom while surfing the net for additional ideas on the meaning of Value. It’s a quotation from the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian-born philosopher of the early 1900s, and appeared on a web site for Global Value Investing. The quotation accompanied an illustrated page from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, which shows Humpty Dumpty on a wall, looking down at Alice. The caption reads:

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean different things.”

“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty “which is the master – that’s all.”

In this dialogue there lies the significance of Wittgenstein’s observation. If you gain acceptance on the meaning of words and phrases, you master situations or events where the vocabulary is crucial to the outcome. That’s a powerful concept, and one that salespeople must understand, and make every effort to implement.

The Global Value piece, which I cite above, developed the notion of Value as it applies to stock evaluations. But its rationale applies equally to Value’s meaning for products and services. Repeatedly, it makes the point that price is not value. Price is a transaction phenomenon. It’s the amount of money that changes hands between buyer and seller. But why it’s the specific amount that changes hands can be the result of many factors. Certainly, competition vitally influences price. But there are other factors, and I submit a critically important one is Value perceptions. What is your Value perception of the product or service you’re selling? What is your customers’ or prospect’s perception? Are they the same? If they’re not, there’s a strong likelihood that your customer or prospect will perceive no difference between low price and Value. This is particularly the case if the transaction is a competitive one. I submit that this is a factor that salespeople overlook, or badly understand.

Back to Wittgenstein. “He who controls vocabulary, controls thought.” Perceptions are thoughts, and you influence your customer’s thoughts through the words and phrases you use. If you believe that low price and Value are not the same thing, then you must structure the vocabulary you use to demonstrate the difference.

Much of my consulting and training experience has been working with companies to develop marketing strategies and selling techniques to implement what I call “Value Selling.” I must admit that my reading the Global Value Investing piece was my first acquaintance with the Wittgenstein quotation. But, intuitively, I must have long recognized and believed his observation. Vocabulary does control thought, and I can’t preach Value Selling without first establishing what I mean by Value. That’s why I define the term in as clear and unambiguous a way as I can. And for emphasis, I repeat, that definition again and again: “Value is the satisfaction of customer requirements at the lowest total cost of acquisition, ownership, and use.”

This is a brief but comprehensive meaning of Value, which only requires detailed fleshing-out for real selling situations.

The words and phrases of this Value definition have a clear objective. They’re intended to influence how the customer thinks, because how he thinks influences how he acts. This definition of Value does not ignore price; it puts it into proper perspective. Specifically, the customer buys to satisfy requirements. So how does your offering satisfy those requirements more fully and reliably than what your competitor offers? In making the buying decision, your customer or prospect will set in motion a stream of costs. Yes, price is one cost, but there are also costs of specifying, sourcing, receiving, handling, inspecting, using, maintaining, replacing, not to mention the costs of quality, delivery, and support failure. How does your offering impact total costs to you customer as against your competitor’s offering? Can you identify and quantify them? Can you relate them to current and prospective technology, market, and competitive conditions? In brief, can you back up, substantively, this Value definition? If you can, your vocabulary can go a long way in mastering the sales situation. If you can’t or don’t know how to, like Humpty Dumpty, you’re headed for a great fall.