Consultative Selling: 7 Ways to Win Deals With Consultative Sales

It might sound like a no-brainer, but it's still worth noting — buyers want to be understood. According to areport from Salesforce, 84% of business buyers are more likely to buy from sales reps who understand their goals. That same study also found that 57% of those buyers believe reps lack adequate knowledge of their business.

So while it might be obvious that buyers want sales reps to be hip to their specific interests and circumstances, developing that kind of understanding isn't so straightforward. One way to get there is through a methodology known as consultative selling. Let's explore the concept further, check out some consultative selling tactics, review the process, and see an example of what it might look like in practice.

Needs-based selling often helps salespeople establish productive, long-term relationships with customers. By taking the time to understand individual customer needs, salespeople can also set themselves up to have more educated, well-rounded prospect interactions as time goes on.

Salespeople need a framework for making the best use of limited time across numerous pitches. The answer to that problem is a consultative approach.

Consultative selling fits the inside sales model hand in glove. It allows sellers to uncover customer needs faster and position more compelling solutions.

Putting this strategy into action requires seven key techniques:

1. Balance questions with insights.

The path to the sale starts by understanding the customer’s needs with careful questioning. Developing this detailed picture is beneficial to the seller because it’s beneficial to the prospect. But all too often, sellers position solutions that aren’t a fit for the customer.

Sellers need to ask questions. However, that process takes time, and asking too many can make a customer feel like they’re being interrogated. The solution? Offer insights along the way.

For instance, say you’re selling an all-in-one CRM software to a prospect primarily interested in sales automation, but the conversation shifts to customer service.

If that were to happen, berating your buyer with questions about their support infrastructure wouldn't be the right approach. Instead, you would want to briefly discuss how well your solution has suited businesses similar to your customer's before moving on.

This earns you the right to ask questions. Insights provide rationale for your questions and build credibility.

2. Build knowledge-based trust.

虽然当今越来越多的客户愿意远程吸引卖家，但实际上，在没有亲自互动的情况下获得信任是一个挑战。卖方可以通过建立基于知识的信任来克服这一障碍：从与单词一致的行动中建立信任的过程。

Sellers should try to deliver on at least one follow-up after the call. You could call your buyer, let them know it was a pleasure to speak with them, reference specific topics that came up in your conversation, and remind them to reach out if they have any questions.

The subject of the follow-up isn’t necessarily its point. That aspect is not as important as the opportunity to show the customer exactly how reliable and thoughtful you are. It shows you’re a person of your word.

This legitimizes your solution’s value and helps build a solid, trustworthy relationship between you and a potential customer.

3. Keep it conversational and genuine.

The process of building trust with a customer extends beyond establishing rapport with knowledge. You’ll need to be disarming, appear approachable, and show you genuinely care about both what you’re selling and who you’re selling it to. That means speaking with real enthusiasm and meaning what you say.

Do what you can to keep your prospect engaged without coming off like a stereotypical, sleazy used car salesperson who puts on a big, fake smile every time someone comes onto their lot — the kind of salesperson who talks about how they wanted to get into whatever field the potential car buyer works in while trying to peddle a busted 1999 Dodge Dart that they haven’t been able to shed for the past 18 months.

That’s not the energy you want to bring to your consultative sales approach. You have to be more real than that. Believe in your product and discuss it with genuine conviction and honesty. If you’re selling that Dodge Dart, sell it like an economy car. Don’t try to convince your buyer it’s a Cadillac.

Understand your product’s value and speak to that. You should also try to identify something personally meaningful to your prospect and spend some time talking about that as well.

In short, be casually compelling, open with your intentions, and authentic with your pitch.

4. Take ownership of the conversation.

Dialogue is the key to the consultative style. However, sellers still need to guide the conversation. The customer needs to understand they’re partnering with someone who can guide them through the complexities of business challenges.

卖方应准备好用简明的消息传递参考客户区域中相关工作的示例 - 自信强调的能力。

Taking ownership demonstrates credibility. The seller’s control of the conversation is a way to shape perceptions. But control doesn’t mean dominance; sellers must also be comfortable with using silence to emphasize key points and let their customers have a turn.

For instance, it can be helpful to be silent after making an offer. This can apply some pressure on prospects while they get a feel for what’s on the table. A lot of people will negotiate on their own to fill the quiet and can even end up talking themselves into very seller-friendly deals.

5. Let feedback guide the process.

There’s no such thing as bad feedback. Even the strongest customer objections offer an invaluable benefit to the seller. When a customer articulates a concern or disagreement, they’re clarifying their needs and indicating what they want to see moving forward.

Therefore, it’s important for the seller to carefully consider every piece of feedback. Be sure to take notes. And don’t be afraid to check with the customer that the solutions discussed meet their challenges.

Asking for the customer’s perspective demonstrates the seller’s commitment to a collaborative, consultative sales process. In some cases, gaining feedback will even offer an opportunity to expand the solution.

If you were selling software solutions for small businesses and a prospect said they were concerned about whether your solution fits a company the size of theirs, you would want to take that to heart. That would help you identify a vulnerable point in your sales pitch that you can pay more attention to as the process goes on.

6. Research customer needs and offer relevant findings.

Sellers need to research the businesses and industries they're approaching in advance. Doing so equips the seller with the requisite base knowledge, allowing them to start with the most incisive questions first.

By researching potential gaps and needs in advance, sellers can identify opportunities to create differentiated value.

For instance, if you’re selling cybersecurity solutions, you should be familiar with the security regulations specific to your prospect’s industry. From there, you can identify the edge your product may have in helping customers achieve compliance with those standards.

一旦了解了这些差异化，卖方就可以将其功能映射到客户需求。最终，客户将接受这些销售人员所说的话，因为他们的信息是相关的。

The key is to limit your ideas to the most relevant, cogent ones. The urge to demonstrate the value of one’s research is often strong, but you need to push back on it. Create a bigger impact with just a few concise insights.

With a hypothetical all-in-one CRM pitch, you wouldn’t want to mull over every last feature of the sales and marketing aspects of the platform if you know your prospect is looking for a solution to improve its customer support infrastructure. Lock down the points you need to make and trim the fat from your consultive approach.

7. Listen intently.

Consultative selling is customer-centric, meaning priority number one has to be hearing what your prospects have to say. Give them some room to talk. As previously mentioned, you should take ownership of the conversation, but there’s a difference between ownership and dominance.

Avoid obnoxious tactics that can come off as competitive or combative. Don’t interrupt their train of thought with your own solutions to their problems. Also, be mindful of other factors that may speak to how well the conversation is going, including any nonverbal cues they may be conveying, like uncomfortable body language or facial expressions.

The key here is to sympathize with your prospects. Let them know that their issues matter to you and that you have a vested interest in solving them.

咨询销售与解决方案销售

Solution selling — a brand of sales where a salesperson takes the time to holistically consider a prospect's circumstances and sells a product or service based on solutions instead of features — is often conflated with consultative selling. And that kind of confusion is fair.

在某些情况下，这些术语甚至可以互换使用。两个销售品牌都源于同理心，并花时间从根本上了解潜在客户的心态和处境。

One distinction that's often made between the two has to do with the nature of value propositions in each respective methodology. Consultative selling value propositions typically have a slightly more product-oriented edge to them — whereas solution selling's value propositions are more purely solution-driven.

Consultative selling, as a concept, is also closely more associated with the relationship-building element of sales. When people use the term, they're generally touching on that aspect of the methodology. The term solution selling, on the other hand, is typically linked to the idea of selling a product or service with a solution as the main focal point.

同样，这两个术语非常相似，并且可以在许多方面相互流血。咨询销售策略在解决方案销售中占有一席之地，为客户解决方案是有效咨询销售的基本宗旨。

Consultative Sales Process

1.研究。

Any solid consultative selling effort starts with thorough research. You can't go into a sale totally blind, banking on your ability to figure out who your prospect is on the fly. You need to have a solid, baseline understanding of who you're selling to.

That includes information related to their industry, their competition, the solutions they're currently leveraging, who has decision-making authority at the company, and any other relevant points that would sway their decision to buy a product or service like yours.

Scour LinkedIn. Pore through their website. Read up on industry-specific educational content. If you have customers that fit a similar bill, go through any information you have on how they leveraged your solution and what kind of success they saw.

One way or another, set yourself up for success by educating yourself as best you can.

2. Ask questions and listen actively.

Once you're in a position where you can directly engage with the prospect, ask thoughtful, open-ended questions that can help you tease out pain points. Most of those questions should have some degree of specificity and personalization — it's an opportunity for you to apply your research.

当您的潜在客户回答这些问题时，请确保积极，专心地倾听。证明您通过保持订婚，解释答案并反映他们所说的话来证明您的声音。

In doing so, you'll gain the insight you need to inform better-targeted solutions and communication through the remainder of the consultative selling process, position yourself as a trustworthy advisor, and start to build a productive relationship with your prospect.

3. Diagnose your prospect's issues, and determine solutions.

Once you've asked a thoughtful line of questions, actively listened to your prospect's answers, and begun to develop your relationship with them, it's time to figure out how you — specifically — can help them.

Figure out what your prospect's main issues, concerns, and priorities were. What came up most consistently? What did they seem to stress more than anything else? If they were to use your product or service, what would they be using it for? What outcomes did they want to see?

This information will ultimately shape your value proposition. Consultative selling value propositions are unique in that they are both solution and product-oriented. Your first priority is to sell your prospect on the outcomes they'll see — to show that you both understand their most pressing problems and know how your solution will remedy them.

然后,你想成为一个更指出of which aspects of your product or service will bring those outcomes to fruition. Both elements need to have a personal edge to them. Successful consultative selling is customer-specific — and your value proposition needs to reflect that.

4. Educate your prospect on the solutions you come up with.

You have your intel and a solid idea of what you can do for your prospect — now, you need to relay that information to them confidently and effectively. Consultative selling pitches, presentations, and conversations need to show a high degree of personalized understanding.

You built a relationship. Now, prove you take it seriously.

您需要证明自己听了。传达一个将有助于其业务的价值主张 - 您不想提供一些关于企业如何与您的产品票价合理或避免其所有功能清单的含糊不清的声音。

不要急切。不要自大。不要积极进取。并准备提出更多问题和潜在的反对意见。您需要做好充分的准备和开放的思想，并始终记住，这与您无关，而是关于他们的。

Consultative Selling Example

For the sake of example, let's imagine a B2B SaaS company that sells construction project management software, and go over how a salesperson from that company might take a consultative approach with a construction contractor currently building franchises for a regional fast-food chain.

1.研究。

Before the salesperson can legitimately engage in consultative selling, they need to know what they're getting into. They'd thoroughly research the firm in question to know for sure that it's a good fit for the product.

他们会看到承包商到目前为止所做的项目。如果可能的话，他们将深入了解目前正在利用的解决方案 - 这样做，他们可能会在其项目管理堆栈中确定差距，找出他们是否使用竞争对手的产品，或者发现他们不是平坦的不是完全使用任何施工管理软件。bob电竞官方下载

They'd also look into the project the contractor is currently working on to see if the type of building the firm is doing could benefit from the kind of software the salesperson is selling. They might also familiarize themselves with company leadership to ensure they're speaking to the right people.

Ultimately, they'd take the necessary strides to approach their conversations with a prospect from an educated, well-prepared vantage point. Consultative selling is about understanding who you're talking to — that process starts well before the conversation does.

2. Ask questions and listen actively.

在与公司的一名决策者联系并进行研究之后，销售人员将通过提出周到，有bob全站app针对性的问题来揭示潜在客户的痛苦点，甚至使他们考虑他们从未考虑过的问题，从而继续进行咨询销售流程。

They might ask questions like:

"You've constructed two franchises in the past year and a half. Are you working at the pace you'd like to be?"

"Have hitches in communication between you and other stakeholders have any impact on your progress?"

“多大的的首要任务是能够帮助法力ge construction remotely for you?"

“质量控制对您来说是个问题吗？”

Through this stage, the salesperson would listen actively and intently — considering what the prospect has to say and asking more questions based on the information they offer. In doing so, the salesperson can better set the stage for a thoughtfully tailored, effective value proposition.

3. Diagnose your prospect's issues, and determine solutions.

Once our rep has had their conversation with the fast-food chain's decision-maker, they can start to piece together a thoughtful solution. Let's say the prospect's answers were indicative of the issues with project visibility — they're struggling to keep their projects organized and prolonging construction as a result.

In that case, our salesperson would take a deep dive into their own product and look at the features that could suit that issue. Let's say the software has features that allow for comprehensive project overviews and the ability for stakeholders to submit tickets with outstanding issues.

Here, the salesperson would piece together a value proposition that would provide hard figures and meaningful solutions related to how much more efficient their software could make the prospect's operations — along with some specific insight on how that would work. If project visibility was a major concern, they'd likely specifically cite the feature I mentioned.

4. Educate your prospect on the solutions you come up with.

Now that our rep has made inroads with the contractor and has a solid grasp on the firm's needs, interests, and circumstances, it's time for them to present their solutions and hopefully land the deal.

The salesperson would outline their understanding of how the prospect's current project management organization is tripping up their progress. Ideally, they'd have some resources to show the prospect about how similar firms have seen improvements in this area as a result of leveraging the salesperson's product or service.

销售人员会自信地确定"what"behind the problem and demonstrate that their product can be the"how"behind its solution. They'd field any objections the contractor might have and take them seriously.

If they've been actively involved from a consultative perspective, they'd probably be able to anticipate the issues the contractor might raise.

The sales landscape is changing, and being able to develop and sustain interpersonal relationships is becoming more and more essential. The consultative approach may be the best way to keep pace with that shift.

The approach also helps sellers apply a consistent methodology to an ever-changing audience and ultimately drive more sales.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.