Selling Solutions

It’s true for artists, bankers, consultants, doctors, and on through the alphabet. Regardless of your occupation or title, everyone needs to be comfortable selling. Selling is integral to the success of any business or practice, so you must become adept at it to thrive.

Problem: You are trained to be a great doctor, electrician, or financier, but you have no formal sales training.

Fact: Professional success is created from a two-part equation: one part occupational skill, the other part sales. Having one without the other means that you are leaving valuable opportunities up to chance.

A lot of us don’t much like the idea of being a salesperson. We want to let our work speak for itself. Of course, it’s vitally important that our work or product is top-quality. That is the baseline. But, it’s not enough. We can’t sit in our offices waiting for the phone to ring.

Solution: Getting beyond your disdain for sales may be as simple as replacing the word selling with the word solution. In fact, that’s what good salespeople do. Their product or service provides a solution, which in turn meets the needs of a customer.

Selling is a skill. Selling can be learned. And it must be practiced. Happily, there may be steps in the process that you are already very good at. Did you know that half of selling is listening? To start you on your way to increased sales, here is a six-step “solution-selling” guide:

1. Ask open-ended questions. Ask lots of questions. If you are selling art, ask what kind of art your customer likes, what museums they visit, what they already have at home. DO NOT start with what kind of art you are selling; start with what they have and what they are interested in.

2. Listen. Listen actively. You will be listening to discover needs and wishes. When the person stops talking, ask them another question. Uncover needs. The idea is to (eventually) provide a solution to those needs, but not yet. DO NOT jump to solutions. You have not won their trust yet.

3. Pay attention to body language. Listen some more, and pay attention to the messages you are getting, both verbal and non-verbal. If your client is pulling back, you might need to soften up; if they are sitting forward, they are connecting with what you are saying. Try to mirror your own body language to match theirs. DO NOT bulldoze. Pay attention.

4. Clarify. Make sure you understand what you are hearing. Ask more questions. Get more specific.

5. Provide solutions. Once your have a good understanding of exactly what your client needs, you can start sharing with them how your product or service authentically meets those needs. Watch out – even now, your client will probably come up with some obstacles (lack of time, money, or information). Be ready for them. DO NOT talk about features of your product; talk about benefits to your customer.

6. Facilitate action. Instead of asking for the sale – the much anticipated “close” – ask a question that will move the process forward. Usually these questions start with what, where, when, or how. It’s a question that is not easily answered with a yes or a no. If the signals align, assume the sale. Ask: Which of these pieces of art most interests you? What can we do so that you can take this home today?

Try it out. Practice the art of providing solutions. It means first uncovering the needs your customers truly have. It also means untangling from your mind the negative stereotypes you have about sales. Whatever your product or service, you are in the business of meeting customers needs. You are a salesperson. You provide solutions.

Resources:

Duncan, Todd. High Trust Selling. Thomas Nelson Publishers. 2002. A great book, easy to read, yet offering an in-depth approach to the art and science of selling.

Vass, Jerry. Soft Selling in a Hard World. Running Press, 1998. This is the nuts and bolts of selling. No frills, but good information in a straightforward, condensed format.

© 2005 Kristin Thalheimer, MBA & Coach

Selling Solutions - To learn more about this author, visit Kristin Thalheimer's Website.

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