This approach to selling first appeared in Mack Hanan's book "Consultative Selling" in 1970. It is a must-have skill for marketers of all stripes who want to be successful in a world where everything changes so rapidly that understanding consumers is essential. the only way to adjust your sales price outlook , while delivering significant value to them.
Differences between consultative approach and product-focused selling
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The shift from product-focused selling to need-focused selling has been a direct result of market changes. Increased competitiveness and ease of access to information has affected both sellers and buyers. Today consumers are more informed and anticipated than ever, they have the necessary preparation and sufficient options to make their decision correct.
- More information and preparation.
- Greater number of options.
- Increased skepticism.
- Greater aversion to risk.
- Greater ambiguity and complexity.
- Lower loyalty to usual suppliers and solutions.
The above points have a clear effect on sales processes , which often slow down or stop.
When the buyer is not properly understood, they may never be reached. Consumers are looking for trust, authenticity, and clarity to help them understand all the value that makes your products and services so different from your competition.
There are four characteristics that make any salesperson a consultative salesperson:
- They are productively interested.
- They choose to facilitate customized solutions and sales strategies rather than generic ones.
- Their conversations are two-way.
- They provide insights to your prospects and consumers.
All consultative sales techniques have in common the dialogue that is established between seller and buyer to discover together the needs and solutions of the prospect before talking about a product.
7 effective techniques for consultative selling
It is about transforming all the knowledge about the product into an individual solution, based on the needs and language of each client.
Achieving it also goes through a self-learning process that allows a deeper understanding of the consultative selling approach . Sellers can consult multiple sources to improve, although it is also necessary to buy
jump in and prepare for every sales meeting with a potential customer.
However, the key any salesperson has to improving their mastery of consultative selling is to maintain an honest dialogue. For this there are certain sales techniques that can help.
How to build a consultative sales process?
The consultative selling process focuses especially on the experience that the prospect feels and perceives during their interactions with the salesperson. It's about finding ways to add value to them in the form of solutions to their problems.
It's not about you, your product, your company, or your metrics. The consultative sales process considers the client as the main axis of your business.
Do you want to learn everything about sales processes? Take a look at our free online course.
It is also sometimes known as solution-based selling. This sales methodology, instead of simply promoting a specific product , focuses on understanding the "suffering" of the customer to deliver a solution with your product / service.
To execute a consultative sale it is necessary to start the conversation with the lead with something like:
Hello Fernando! I have realized that you have requested a tour on our website. I was calling you to tell me a little more about what you hope Efficy will do for your business.
It is important that your message focuses on what the potential customer needs and wants, not what you need and want from the potential customer. What's more, create your own sales pitch over the phone that will help you have solid and easy-to-grasp answers.
The consultative selling process consists of six principles:
- Investigate
Each client brings new data to the company that broadens the knowledge about the target audience the organization is targeting.
By observing your behavior and analyzing your behavior, the data that can be collected allows you to more accurately answer questions about your interests or concerns.
In Efficy you can find information about your customers under the Contacts tab. The most important properties for customer qualification are gathered here: in addition to a quick and detailed description of each lead that, through the application of filters and labels, give you access to the entire potential customer experience with your company to date.
As a bonus, you can take your prospecting further by researching on websites, social networks, blogs or googling the name to see what else it shows you.
Research is crucial so that the rest of the process can have a chance of success.
- Question
When you ask open-ended questions, your prospects can express details that help you get to know them a little better. But, do you think that with a few questions you will already know everything about your clients?
No. Most of the time they don't even know what they want.
The sole purpose of this is to show leads that you are someone worthy of their trust. It's about starting to build and strengthen the relationship between the salesperson and the prospect.
Just focus on finding out who he is and what, where, how and why he does what he does. Try to avoid questions whose answers may be "yes" or "no" , as these answers will not give you any additional details.
In this phase, your priority is to find out:
- What are your goals.
- What plan do you have to achieve them?
- What are the difficulties they face.
- How long they estimate to achieve them.
You should also know what their sales budget is and the authority level of the person you are speaking with. It is not the same to deal with the final consumer, with the decision maker or with the person responsible for the budget. All this you can find out if you ask the right questions.
- Listen
Active listening is your great ally during any consultative sales process . You simply have to focus on the words of your contact to respond and repeat what they say. He has to convince himself that you understand what he is telling you.
During the conversation, it is imperative that you take note of everything you say. This information will be useful to first qualify and then close the negotiation successfully .
- Instruct
As your conversation takes place, between question and answer, you must leave room for teaching.
eye! It is not about demonstrating your knowledge of your product / service. Rather, your task is to help your interlocutor achieve his dreams and overcome the barriers that separate him from them.
It may be necessary to use your product or service for this. Maybe not. In any case, the main thing is to try to help your lead no matter how.
- Qualify
This step is unavoidable. A qualified lead has goals and, although they may not know how to reach them, the reality is that they will always have challenges to overcome in a period of time and under a certain budget.
The keys to qualify quickly? Be obsessed with helping, be friendly, and act determined. The faster you can differentiate your opportunities that qualify from those that do not, the sooner you will close your sales.
- Close
Negotiations with qualified clients are the easiest to create. If you can't, you may need to go over the reasons why it wasn't possible.
The closing comes naturally and the better qualified your clients are, the better retention rates you will achieve.
By following this process, you can easily create your own consultative selling methodology. Sellers who report the best results are those who understand that this process is only one part of a safe sale. If your leads feel that your intention is to help them, your chances of closing the sale will multiply by 10.
Bonus: Take advantage of this guide on how to create sales plans, which will give you many possible prospects to increase your income.
