The concept of value-added selling has been a popular one for a number of years. In today's marketplace, where so many products and services are viewed as a commodity, the ability to add value to your product or service is an absolute necessity. There is no doubt that in the absence of value-added components virtually any product or service can be driven down to the most bottom line— price. The problem? When you are only selling price you'll never be able to sell any degree of high-margin sales and that is where profitability, long-term growth and sales success resides.

Promotional Consultant Today shares these six ways to add value to your product or service no matter what you sell.

1. Provide expert advice and a tremendously high level of professionalism. Lots of consulting organizations, accounting firms and even medical professionals are paid a tidy sum for the level of advice they provide. However, in order for you as a sales professional to be able to provide value, you need to also provide a level of advice that is significantly higher, more sophisticated and a lot more valuable than that of your competition. What this means is a higher level of sophistication, wisdom and understanding about what it is that you do.

2. Bundling and packaging. I'm not only talking here about the way your product or service actually looks. I'm also talking about being able to put together desirable packages, purchasing levels and a series of added benefits that are significant in value and are, together, a whole lot more valuable than simply selling a single product.

3. Service levels. It is possible for you to differentiate yourself not only by providing a higher level of service but by adding different levels of service based upon someone's size, frequency or amount of purchase. For example, you may want to have gold, platinum or silver levels of service for which people qualify, are willing to pay for and receive when they do business with you.

4. Transition and education. As new customers come on stream with your organization, you may want to provide action or transition teams to help them to be better able to use the products or services you sell them. By the same token, the more education they have related to those products or services, the more capable they'll be at using them.

5. Recognition and reward levels. This particular concept behind value-added means you can provide recognition to clients or customers based upon their ability to use your product or service, maximize its potential, buy certain levels from you, etc. Recognizing them for being outstanding customers is a beneficial way to further good relationships and show good will.

6. Qualitative preference. Based upon someone's level of purchase, involvement or interaction, you can provide higher-quality products, perhaps a more sophisticated level of service, dedicated personnel, dedicated phone lines, or the like, that gives them a higher level of service than the typical customer. You may even use this for introductory customers as a value-added component.

These six tactics for adding value can all be applied to your day-to-day sales activity. Pick two that you plan to adopt right away, and let PCT know how it goes.

Source: Jeb Brooks is president and CEO of The Brooks Group, a firm that assesses, trains, and coaches sales and sales management superstars.