Whatever business you do or industry you are in, you must be selling something – a product or service. What is your sales strategy? Does that include building a rapport or relationship with the prospect? Paying attention to their specific requirements? Listening to their concerns and pain points? Offering a customized and suitable solution to them instead of the regular sales pitch? If you are not doing these and want to rocket your sales quota, numbers and revenue, follow these steps to enhance your consultative selling.
Consultative selling is the art of selling which puts the buyers’ needs and experiences above the company’s product / service. It involves a holistic understanding of the company’s needs. The days of aggressive hard sales pitching are gone. Consultative selling is about knowledge, relationship building, flexibility and being solution oriented.
Communication is a major ingredient in consultative sales process. Listen well, be curious, understand and engage customers in a dialogue. Instead of wielding power in the sales process, yield the power to the buyer. Empathy and helpfulness are other soft skills required by consultative sellers. Being armed with an amazing content is like being fully prepared for the kill.
Key benefits of consultative sales approach:
- It empowers buyers to realize that the product is essential for them
- Increased number of customers
- More loyal customers
- Higher revenue and increased average deal size
- More brand awareness and loyalty
- Increased professional reputation
- More customer engagement
Best practices of consultative selling:
1. Do your homework: Research your customers well – their backgrounds, preferences, lifestyle and professional concerns. Analyze company size, email preferences, social media behavior and company strategies. Understand what content is trending among your customers. Then chalk out how you can address and solve their issues. Connect with buyers through social selling. Utilize the power of social media.
2. Prepare well: Learn to address the concerns and fears of your prospect before they hinder your sales process. Learn conversational skills to influence the outcome of a conversation or experience beforehand. Explain the little things to them in detail. Back your claims with evidence. Don’t shy away from criticism.
3. Ask more questions: The goal of consultative selling is to offer a unique solution to your customer that addresses their pain areas. Ask a lot of open-ended questions to deeply understand their problems. Clearer the problem, better will be solution presentation and acceptance.
4. Listen actively: Listening is an art, imperative for dealing successfully with people. Let the customers speak up. Document everything. This information may come in handy at some later stage such as negotiation. Learn to read between the lines. Allow the prospect to recognize their needs and give them the space to make the decision themselves. You will earn more trust and respect that way.
5. Provide value and exhibit expertise: Your aim here is to provide value to the customer. As an industry expert, be prepared to answer questions and consult in areas not directly related to your product / service. Use killer content to create value. Content creation is an art and a long-term game. Invest in it well. Building rapport and gaining credibility goes a long way. Build knowledge-based trust. Find ways to exceed their expectations. Focus on helping them. You will build trust and a positive image in their minds. When they are ready to invest, they will prioritize you for buying. They might even recommend you to others.
6. Qualify well and early: Evaluate the utility of the lead early in the sales cycle. This will save a lot of time and energy. A qualified lead has defined goals, set challenges to overcome, a set timeline for purchase and an earmarked budget.
7. Use their language and close: If you have followed the above steps well, closure will be fairly easy and natural. It should be a natural culmination for your and your customer. Try to use their language to seal the deal and close. Use emotional power and relationship optimally.
Utilize high quality content while consultative sales approach to be successful. It is a saleable, bankable and duplicable sales method. It brings better results, shortens the sales cycles and increases revenue. Practice these golden rules in your sales pitch without enforcing them.
Inspiring Ink 