Why Consultative Selling is the only way to Sell
When the economy shrinks and more people are vying for less business, how you sell will be the difference between winning an account or not.
When people think in negative terms about sales people, they will invariably have an image of a pushy sales person who is only interested in the sale. The pushy sales person wants to sell you no matter what your needs are. In fact often they won't even know what your needs are, as they either don't take the time or know how to find out. This type of sales person is commonly referred to as an order taker/product sales person rather than as a consultative sales person, who is client and solution focused.
Clients want to deal with experts who can diagnose their challenges and come up with high level solutions to meet/solve those challenges. Clients will value an informed expert opinion when you have taken the time to listen to their needs and show that meeting those are your top priority.
The difference is simply in whether you ask more or tell more. Some sales people will talk ad nauseum about their product/service without regard to whether it interests the client. They are so in love with their product/service, that they risk alienating the client in the process. A consultative sales person will ask more questions to uncover what challenges the client is facing and come up with innovative solutions to make their life easier in terms of saving time, effort or money (or all three).
The order taker will use this process: Tell, Tell, Tell and Ask for the order.
The Consultative Sales Person's process looks more like this: Ask (about their business, challenges, goals), tell how their service/product might assist/solve their problems and then Asks for the order.
The difference is that a dialogue is entered into in the consultative process whilst only a monologue is used in the order taking process.
An example of this is that some companies prepare a presentation or proposal for a client company before they have even met with them. This will in effect turn into a monologue about your service/product which is an ineffective sales tool and shortens the sales process. First of all you have more than likely alienated the client, secondly you will not be able to optimise your chances of conversion as you have no idea what they need/want and lastly you cannot organise another meeting to present your proposal as you have already presented the first time. Statistically we know you have to have between 4-7 contacts or touch points with a client before they buy from you and now you have closed the door on one of the most powerful touch points by doing your proposal upfront. If you adopt the consultative sales process you can tailor your proposal to what the client needs, rather than adopting the "this is what we offer and we hope it fits with your needs" approach.
The client will buy from whom they believe to be experts who care about their business, not from order takers who don't take the time to understand their business.
So use powerful questions to start the dialogue with your prospective client, hear what they need and if you don't know how to solve their problem, it's more than okay to say "let me think about your situation and come back to you with some options". Clients love this attention and your genuine approach, which will guarantee you more conversions and ensure your success regardless of the economy!
Why Consultative Selling is the only way to Sell - To learn more about this author, visit Sophie Robertson's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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