Luigi Prestinenzi is Sales IQ Group’s Co-Founder and Head of Growth. He founded this company in 2014 and has been helping companies unlock the full potential of their sales teams since then. Luigi has been in sales his entire career. He hosts the Sales IQ Podcast where he talks with various leaders from around the globe to discuss the art and science of sales and marketing, personal development, and the mindset required to sell more every day. In this episode, Luigi discusses the importance of creating value in your practice, and why understanding your customers is crucial.   Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Find out why you must know what your customer values in order to provide them with what they want; Learn why understanding ICPs and KPIs is important for your sales growth; Rather than losing a client because you thought you did what was right, find out how to close deals effectively.   “Before even going to a point of price and advocating any solutions, ask yourself a question. Do you know the problem they're trying to solve? Do you know the impact, the problem you’d help them achieve? Do you know the outcome that they're looking to achieve? If you can't answer those three questions, you're pricing too early and it's completely irrelevant.” – Luigi Prestinenzi   Topics Covered: 01:49 – Luigi’s narrative on how he got into sales 03:09 – Talking about Sales IQ Group and the importance of knowing what your customer values 05:57 – How does Sales IQ Group help people identify their ideal customer profile (ICP)? 07:39 – Why is it important to understand the KPIs in relation to knowing what your customers value? 10:16 – Mark’s dark days in the sales industry and how it reflects two things that really matter the most whenever one sells anything 13:23 – Luigi talks about derived value as he reminds us that we’re not heroes, just byproducts of what we help people achieve 15:18 – The perspective that effectively works in helping clients find the value piece 19:28 – A CPO client who chose the more expensive option in finding an integrator for areeba; Creating value in seeing unrecognized needs 22:33 – Talking about RFPs; People not going for experts and fixing the problems all by themselves 25:44 – What is Luigi’s pricing advice that could have a big impact on people’s business?   Key Takeaways: “How can you help extract value if you don't understand what the customer's goals and objectives are, and ultimately, what they value? This is where there's a misalignment in the sales profession.” – Luigi Prestinenzi “Companies that are happy with the customer base – they just don't have enough customers – and often what they do is they've got one message for everyone. They've got the same message for an accountant that they might be selling to and a manufacturing business, when fundamentally, those businesses behave very differently. They've got different needs. Their goals and objectives are different. The challenges and their trends are different. They should segment them and then start to think about the message that resonates for the industry sector that they're dealing with.” – Luigi Prestinenzi “They're the two things that really matter when we're selling anything. We’re either helping them achieve a better result, or helping them fix a problem that helps them achieve a better result, or it's de-risking something within the business that could have essentially stopped them from achieving a particular result. Anything outside of that, it doesn't become a priority. The biggest competitor a seller or a company selling a product or service he's competing with is not the competitor; it's the status quo.” – Luigi Prestinenzi “We're not the hero. We're just a byproduct of the outcome we're helping the person achieve. We've got to continue to remember that – we are not the heroes in the conversation.” – Luigi Prestinenzi “Your pricing conversation is not what they're buying. They're buying the outcome that your pricing conversatio