Consultative Selling

Selling may be hard, but consulting is harder — and it's different!

Don't get caught up in the hype and think that claims of "consultative selling" or "relationship selling" are the answer-all programs of the day. Slow down, take a deep breath, and take a skeptical look at what's being offered—and by whom. Is it the slick talking sales trainer who's trying to sell you the latest version of the same old song and dance?

Consultative selling has these primary components

• Finding and understanding the customer's needs.
• Partnering with the customer. Making the transition from being a salesperson to becoming a resource.
• Helping customers achieve their business objectives (sometimes through the use of your product or service).
• Belief that your business, product and service are the best.
• Belief in yourself, and that you are the best.
• A positive attitude about yourself, your product, and your customer that makes the first five components work to everyone's benefit.

There are no steps to learn, this is not a technique. Consultative Selling is a style and strategy. As a successful salesperson, you must know the science of selling. This process assumes you have that knowledge. The Consultative Selling approach will strengthen and enhance your selling style into a relationship oriented helper.

Basic Elements of Consultative Selling

• Establish and maintain a positive attitude.
• The ability to set and exceed goals.
• Taking pride in what you do.
• Being able to accept responsibility.
• Being able to listen.
• Confidence in your abilities.
• Personal ethics.
• Knowledge of the science of selling.
• Be prepared to sell.
• Knowledge of your product, business, and industry.
• Knowledge of your customers' business and industry.
• Advance knowledge of your prospect.
• Know the prospect’s buying process.
• Know your desired objective (of the meeting or phone call) before you begin.
• Personal success experiences.
• A strong desire to help others.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Knowing when to sell and when to back-off.

Who To Turn To For Help? Sales or Consulting

The answer? Hire a consulting company to teach your sales people how to be consultants who sell, rather than hiring sales trainers to teach your people how to sell like consultants. What's the difference? To a sales training company, consultative selling is a tactic and a strategy—to a consulting company it's a basic philosophy of problem solving and value building.

Consulting is a different set of skills. To teach your people this new skill set, the training source you want is a company that knows consulting and teaches consultative selling at the next level—that is, using the value of information to earn the sale. Forget the old "box close", the assumptive close and all those hackneyed tricks all customers recognize today.

For a free initial meeting, contact Tom Long at: telong@SolidOakConsulting.com.

[ return to top ]